UPDATE. Are Hurts Donuts as good as Max's perch plate? Stay tuned.

For Hurts, it's all about location location location!

Original 4/4/2016 post, "Max's Farm Table closes its doors for good -- without a word of goodbye", starts here.

At the southeast corner of Parmenter Street and Donna Drive in Middleton, this strip mall has become a jinxed location for restaurants.  The Blue Spoon was unable to make a go of it here, having struggled for nearly 3 years -- September 2007 to August 2010 -- to find an audience.  The space remained empty, for the most part, until Max's opened in October 2015.

I stopped here yesterday once I noticed that all of the signage had been removed.

Not a word of explanation is offered.

The restaurant started out with such great promise.  My older son and I were particularly impressed with the perch plate we ordered on Friday, October 16, 2016.

The perfectly seasoned, crunchy breading enhanced, rather than overwhelmed, the flavor and texture of the moist fish.

"Amazing perch!"  I proclaimed on Facebook.  "Better than the K of C in Two Rivers.  And that's the highest praise."

Unfortunately, on three subsequent visits with my wife, the quality of the meal deteriorated each time.  Even the hand-cut fries and cole slaw made on the premises.  And since service was never the restaurant's strong point, we both figured Max's had a limited shelf life.

In other words, yesterday's discovery came as no surprise.