ADEGA Restaurant

Reviews

• Ben C.

  star star star star star_border 2 June 2026

  San Jose's only michelin-starred restaurant, which is very well-deserved. There's multiple options for a la carte, a tasting menu, and 2-3 course meals.
  
  The location is very much out of the way and if it weren't for Michelin this would have been off of my radar. The owners are ever-present and very much obviously care about the quality of experience.
  
  Ever the fan of duck I opted for the arroz de pato and potato soup starter. The main course was enjoyable with the duck cooked to absolutely tender perfection. There's a lot of bonus bites throughout the experience as well.
  
  The only thing I didn't enjoy was the length of time dinner took. Nearly 90 minutes from start to finish for a starter+main seems a bit inordinate.
  
  Would absolutely come here again under the right circumstances

• brandi g.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 28 May 2026

  This is going to be a painful review. It will be long, and detailed, as my experience with this restaurant was not a positive one. Full disclosure, they did discount half the bill, which frankly, wasn't enough given the travesty of this meal. If you don't want to read all the way to the end, the short version is below.
  
  Service- people are very nice, but poorly trained and not terribly competent.
  Food- dismal, unfocused and using low quality ingredients
  Price vs. value- appalling. The food costs at this restaurant can not justify the outrageous prices and the food was mostly awful. The wine pairing was insulting at $120 for around 6 oz or so of wine, per person!
  
  Overall cost needs to be lowered significantly to reflect the level of service and quality of food.
  
  We flew all the way from LA and drove from SF to try this place. My husband had been twice before and had an amazing time. I'm not sure what happened to this place, but it isn't good. I was excited and a little nervous after reading the highly polarized reviews and the massive delta between the good and the bad. My husband had both, I had just the terrible. I can see why they lost their star. They should not be charging more after their fall from grace.
  
  The bill was about $700 BEFORE tip for two 7 course tasting menus with wine pairings and a rib eye steak for our kids to share. The cost of this meal was very similar to a meal at Le Cirque recently. If there were a parallel universe where you paid the same amount for the opposite experience, this would be the place. See my review for how fine dining should be handled. Also, Providence in LA, another Michelin star level establishment, expensive but well worth every penny. I have no problem spending good money on a dining experience, but the food and service needs to be appropriate to the cost paid. This meal was in a higher tier cost wise, and even if they charged $100, I'd be pretty appalled at a few of the items they served. I actually described a few items as revolting and could not eat them. There is almost nothing I won't eat, by the way, so that is saying something.
  
  I'll start with the good, don't worry, it will be short because there wasn't much good in this experience.
  
  1. Great olives
  2.interesting amuse bouche of cantaloupe soup
  3.palate cleanser of orange sorbet with almond
  
  Some of the outrageous things I experienced last night- get ready, you are going to be here for a while.
  
  A bathroom with NO toilet paper. That is unacceptable in a restaurant of this caliber. What is happening here?
  
  Waiting nearly 45 minutes between multiple courses and missing several of the courses from the seven course meal. We didn't get most of the desserts courses, several wines and got about an ounce of wine each time as part of our $240 worth of wine pairing. Absolutely unacceptable.
  
  The seafood travesty of orange foam with fetid seaweed and chunks of old fish may have been the harbinger of the doom to come. It was so nasty I could not even eat it and I begged the waiter to take it away because it smelled so horrible. It was not fresh, at all. It looked (and tasted) like a jetty of rotting seaweed with a sea of orange algae left out in the sun.
  
  The grossest thing I ate was a raw shrimp thing that was never described to me but tasted so bad and the texture was so off, I don't even want to try and figure out what is was. It was actually disgusting. I didn't eat it and no one should serve food like that in a place with or without a Michelin Star. It tasted like something a fishing shop would use as bait.
  
  The gazpacho with watermelon. This looked pretty but the gazpacho that was poured over the attractive cut cherry tomatoes and watermelon tasted like watered down V8 juice. It was almost flavorless and what was left wasn't good. I've had better gazpacho from a grocery store.
  
  We were served refrigerated bread and butter. Bland and mediocre white cold butter, ummm, okay? Refrigerated white bread? That is bizarre. Just no.
  
  Waitstaff knew little to nothing about wine or the food. The "sommelier" had no actual wine knowledge and actually told us in the middle of our meal that he was "clocking out now". Never mind that we weren't even close to done, through no fault of our own, the kitchen had just gone completely off the rails. It was a disaster and that was a tacky thing to do. I should have just left at that point.
  
  The egg desert thing was like a nest, which looked okay but was kind of soft and rubbery strings of egg with a custard in the center. The custard was fine but the nest seemed like it was prepared previously, and not that recently.  It was weak, at best.
  
  There were other issues, the worst is that we didn't even get a seven course meal. We got ripped off, even paying half price. This wasn't an $800 meal, not even a $450 one, honestly.
  
  Hard, hard pass. I wrote this review to spare others this terrible and costly mistake.

• Aly A.

  star star star star star 24 May 2026

  Delectable and  Exceptional
  
  Absolutely the most delicious Portuguese flavors I have had in the U.S.  
  Adega has a wide selection of fine wines. For starters, Pasteis de Bacalhau had the expected taste. The best starter for me was Creme de Marisco with very rich flavors. It should not be missed. For Entree, we picked Polvo (Octopus) and Bacalau (Cod) which are typical in Portugal. Both had outstanding taste. A number of complimentary items were brought and all were fantastic.
  Complements to the pastry chef. The deserts , Arroz Doce and Mousse de Chocolate, were delicious. Service was terrific. We had a wonderful experience..

• Karen C.

  star star star star_border star_border 18 May 2026

  A friend and I had dinner here recently and we enjoyed the food.  The service was hit or miss but overall a nice evening.  The restaurant is in a bit of a bad area of San Jose but you are transformed into a lovely place when you enter inside.  
  
  Our waiter, Joseph, seemed to be new and did not know a lot about the menu and the wines.  He kept having to go ask others our questions.  There was a lady server, Andreia, that was great though.  Very helpful and friendly.  And the other lady refilling water was very rude to my friend.  She asked for ice for her water and kept blocking the top of her glass so it would not be refilled and the lady kept on pouring.  This happened several times.  
  
  The start by giving you a bowl of small flavorful olives, house-made butter and humus.  I loved the olives.  Nice briny flavor.  They had three types of bread.  Sliced white bread, sweet rolls (my favorite) and a sausage bread.  My friend really liked the sausage bread.  
  
  The restaurant provides a lot of amuse boche items before and after the meal.  We started with a chilled cantaloupe soup with a Port wine reduction.  The soup had a very strong cantaloupe flavor.  The Port wine was just in the bottom of the glass and not really eatable.  Then they served us a spoonful of sardine mousse (I hated this but my friend loved it) and a fish pastry bite.  I did like the pastry bite, nice seafood flavor instead.  
  
  They had a couple of special appetizers that night.  We ordered the plate of 5-year aged iberico ham. This was really tasty.  Nice ham flavor, great with the bread.  
  
  We did the three course pre-fixe menu.  We started with these appetizers. My friend had the Barriga de Porco e Ervilhas: Braised pork belly, pea purée, sautéed peas and poached quail egg.  My friend enjoyed this.  Thought the egg was too small but it is from a quail.   I had the Creme de Marisco Seafood bisque with fresh handmade lobster ravioli.  They brought the bowl to the table with just the ravioli than poured the soup tableside into the bowl.  I really enjoyed this soup.  The ravioli was flavorful and the soup was delicious.  A nice seafood bisque.  
  
  For entrees, my friend had the Arroz de Mariscos: seafood rice cooked with lobster, scallop, shrimp, oysters, clams, mussels, onions,
  and peppers.  She had them skip the clams and mussels and add more shrimp.  She was a bit disappointed in this.  Thought it was a bit one note and bland while some of the seafood was overcooked.  For my entree, I had the Arroz de Pato: Seared duck breast over chouriço and bacon shredded duck rice with a duck sauce. I really enjoyed this dish.  The duck was tender and flavorful.  The rice was tender too and had a nice flavor.  It was all brown though so maybe some color would have made it more visually appealing.
  
  Before dessert, we were served an orange sorbet with almond crumble. This was really nice and a good pallet cleanser.  For dessert, I had the Pudim Flan: Flan pudding, caramel sauce, caramel tile and vanilla ice cream.  I really liked this. Strong caramel flavor.  My friend had the Mousse de Chocolate: Duo of dark and white chocolate mousses, chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream.  The plate was beautiful.  Not too heavy.  Good flavors.
  
  We got one more gift before we left.  They brought a cute little stack of drawers with a sweet treat in each one. One was chocolate bon bon.  This was super tasty, not too dark.  2nd was a super-tart passion fruit gummy.  Definitely tart!  3rd was a flavorless meringue which had no chewy texture according to my friend (I don't like meringue). The 4th was broken up pieces of coconut egg tart. Really tasty.  Loved the coconut flavor.
  
  So overall a good dinner, not great.  Service was hit or miss as well.  Definitely a great date night or special celebration place.  Just be careful of the location.

• Lorianne L.

  star star star star_border star_border 9 May 2026

  3  1/2 stars for ADEGA. After hearing so much praise, I must say I was underwhelmed. ADEGA had received a lot of good press and I was looking forward to my first visit.
  
  For those of you who aren't familiar with the area, Alum Rock near 101 on the East side of San Jose isn't the safest, so be aware of your surroundings. I lucked out and got the last open spot in the small lot behind the restaurant.
  
  I arrived a few minutes before my friend. The hostess warmly greeted me and invited me to sit at the bar or lounge area while I waited. As other reviewers have noted, the decor is very eclectic. When my friend arrived, we were immediately seated in the dining room, where Joseph greeted us and asked if we wanted any beverages. My friend asked for a wine recommendation, but Joseph said he was unfamiliar with the wines but would find someone who could assist. Andreia came to help and recommended a wine that was perfect for my friend's tastes.
  
  Joseph came back to take our order, but was unable to answer a question about one of the dishes, so he went to the kitchen to ask. Props to Joseph for seeking assistance instead of making things up, but not the typical level of service I've had at Michelin starred restaurants. The woman filling up water seemed kind of grumpy. Again, she may have had an off night, but that RBF did not help create a welcoming or helpful atmosphere.
  
  My friend and I love tasting menus, but the items on the three-course pre-fixe sounded more appealing to us, so we went that route. We each selected a Starter, Entree, and Dessert from the assorted options. After ordering, we were told there were two appetizers available that night. One was a cheese course and the other was a plate of 5-year aged iberico ham. We decided to start with the Jamon. I love me some salted pork products!
  
  Our first amuse was a chilled cantaloupe soup with a port wine reduction. It tasted like cantaloupe. Even after stirring the dark reduction on the bottom, the flavor did not change.
  
  Bread service included sliced white, sweet rolls, and a chorizo bread that reminded me of foccacia. The breads were served with homemade butter, humus, and garlic olives. None of the breads or toppings were especially noteworthy. The iberico was tasty though. Our second amuse included a mixed-fish filled pastry and an anchovy pate. I thought both were fine, but my friend who did not grow up eating anchovies thought the pate was way too fishy for her.
  
  My friend really enjoyed her starter, which was the lobster ravioli seafood bisque. The bisque was poured at the table. I started with the braised pork belly w/pea puree and a poached quail egg. The pork belly was perfectly tender, but it was odd to have a cooked pork belly dish be room temperature instead of hot. I don't know if that is a Portuguese thing, poor timing, or something else, but the overall effect didn't make me swoon as fatty pork usually does.
  
  For our entrees, my friend had the duck which was seared breast and served over bacon and shredded duck rice with a dark duck sauce. She liked the taste, but it was not a visually attractive dish--all dark brown. My entree, on the other hand, was beautiful to look at but pretty bland in flavor. I had the seafood rice (think risotto) with lobster, scallop, clams, and shrimp. The shrimp and one thin slice of scallop were cooked nicely, but the lobster and clams were overcooked.  
  
  Before dessert, we were served an orange sorbet with almond crumble. It was the perfect little palate cleanser. Both of our desserts were beautiful and tasty. My friend had the flan with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. I had the dark and white chocolate mousses with thin layers of chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream.
  
  Our meal ended with four candies, including a flavorless meringue which had no chewy texture and a super-tart passion fruit gummy. I don't like coconut, but my friend loved the broken up pieces of coconut egg tart. Our favorite last bite was the chocolate bon bons.
  
  ADEGA is a pretty casual and relaxed space. The dining room was full during our visit and we noticed the volume of all of the conversations was moderate to high. The quality of service seemed to be mixed, so we were glad whenever Andreia was helping us. She did an excellent job. I am not an expert on Portuguese food, but I have eaten at many michelin starred restaurants. Nothing we ate at ADEGA made me ooh and ahh or do the happy dance. It was worth trying once, but that's enough for me.