The name Maimo comes from "Maxime" in Provençal. A little family gem nestled in the heart of Sainte-Maxime, it offers a truly special experience - one that has made evenings at Maïmo so renowned.
Maimo | The restaurant
Some restaurants announce themselves loudly. Maimo does the opposite. In the centre of Sainte-Maxime, it is a family-run room where the welcome feels personal long before a single plate arrives: the server introduces themselves by name, the bar doubles as a dining space, and the evening settles into something warm and easy. The cooking carries a quiet ambition to match - dishes that step a little outside the ordinary, from a celebrated beef Wellington to the langoustine that now defines the menu. By night the room loosens further, into karaoke on Wednesdays and an unabashed disco on Saturdays. The result is a place that takes its food seriously and itself rather less so, and is all the better for it.
The name tells you something about the approach. Maimo comes from Maxime: a nod to Sainte-Maxime itself, and to the idea that this is a place rooted in where it is. "Behind this restaurant, there is above all a family story," says Stéphane Pellegrin, who oversees both Maimo and Prao Beach alongside his son Tom, who has grown into the business alongside him. Booking in advance is recommended.
A family adventure
Behind Maimo is the Pellegrin family, already well known in Sainte-Maxime for Prao Beach. In 2023, just as they were finalising the acquisition and renovation of this new restaurant, a fire struck Prao Beach at the height of the season. A particularly intense period, which the family got through thanks to a close-knit team and unfailing commitment.
Today, Stéphane Pellegrin divides his time between his two establishments, while his son Tom plays an active role in the day-to-day running of the restaurant. The family's involvement is also reflected in the decor, imagined and created by the family themselves, who have carefully shaped each space. "It was a united family and a mobilized team that enabled us to move forward. We did a lot of the work ourselves, which makes this adventure even more personal and meaningful," confides Stéphane Pellegrin.
"Behind this restaurant is above all a family story. In 2023, the Prao caught fire in the middle of the season, just as we were acquiring Maimo. The situation was particularly complex: we had to manage both the renovation and the consequences of the fire. Thanks to a close-knit family and a committed team, we were able to successfully complete both projects. We carried out much of the work with our own hands, which makes this adventure even more personal and meaningful for us" - Stéphane Pellegrin, on the Maimo story.
The welcome at Maimo
One detail sets the tone from the start: servers introduce themselves to guests by name. It sounds like a small thing. In practice, it shifts the register of the whole meal. You are not anonymous. The person looking after you is not either. The rest of the service follows accordingly. "We want each guest to feel at home, recognised and valued," says Stéphane. "Creating that sense of connection is essential to us." Booking is strongly recommended, particularly in the busier periods.
The space
Maimo seats around 80 covers, with additional bar seating that functions as a full dining area for the evening service. The bar is not an afterthought: the bartender serves guests directly, which creates a more intimate atmosphere than a conventional table-service arrangement. The room is close, convivial, and easy. About fifteen staff run the lunch and evening services, with two sittings in the evening.
Wednesdays and Saturdays at Maimo
Two evenings define Maimo's character beyond the food. Wednesday is karaoke night: not a background addition, but a central event that books up early and draws a mixed crowd. Saturday is Disco Fever, an 80s-inspired evening designed to bring together a varied clientele in a convivial atmosphere. Neither night takes itself too seriously. Both are reliably full. Music plays on all other evenings. In summer, Maimo closes at lunchtime: the heat makes a midday service impractical, and the energy concentrates into two evening sittings that run until around 10.30pm or 11pm.
What to eat
The food at Maimo is built around a clear instinct: offer something out of the ordinary. An earlier signature was the beef Wellington, a dish that requires considerable kitchen commitment and is rarely found on menus along this stretch of coast. Today, langoustine has taken that role: a centrepiece that suits the setting, the season, and the kind of evening Maimo is designed to be. It is the dish guests come back for specifically.
"We always try to offer dishes that step outside the ordinary and give our guests a different experience," says Stéphane. The Wellington was a statement of ambition; the langoustine is a continuation of it. The menu moves with what is available and what is best, rather than following a fixed format, which means returning guests rarely encounter the same card twice. It is a kitchen that understands the difference between a reliable menu and a memorable one, and prefers the latter.
Maimo opened under extraordinary circumstances and settled quickly into something confident and genuinely its own. The name, the karaoke, the langoustine, the servers who introduce themselves: all of it adds up to a restaurant that knows exactly what it wants to be.
À bientôt,
