Reviews (100)
What's not to love about this place? Fantastic food served family-sharing style, very friendly staff and an amazing vibe. They didn't have the drink I wanted but they substituted it with an equally great cocktail.
We were very glad with our particular menu. And while we love doing set menus, we looked at others the next few days, and they weren't quite as appealing. Aim for a day that they offer the fried chicken, as I've heard it's delicious.
A casual eatery by chef Thomas Keller (French Laundry) with a prix fixe 4 course menu that changes daily. Their well known and Fried Chicken is served on Monday's. Reservations are required.
Seems to be overly complicated with the menu around the fried chicken. While the staff is accommodating, it’s just overly complicated that even on days when fried chicken is available it needs to be purchased as a $30 add on / not a substitute for an item on the Prix fix menu.
Every course was incredible, service was excellent.
Thier portion is big. Everyone is expected to order a set of you sit at a table. You can share sets or do a la carte if you sit at the bar. Fried chicken is not always available. Call them or checkout the daily menu. The last time I can they provided fried chicken while its not on the menu.
Ad Hoc in Yountville is an exceptional dining experience that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a memorable culinary adventure. My overall impression of the restaurant was excellent, and I can honestly say that my friends and I had a fantastic time celebrating my birthday there. The fixed menu at Adhoc is a real treat, as it allows you to try a variety of dishes without having to make too many decisions. The service was attentive and friendly, and the food was simply outstanding. The spinach salad was a great starter and really set the tone for the rest of the meal. The herb-roasted chicken was juicy and flavorful, and the pasta amatriciana was perfectly cooked and seasoned. One thing that really impressed me about Ad Hoc was the casual and comfortable atmosphere. Despite the high-quality food and service, the restaurant had a relaxed vibe that made it feel like you were just having dinner with friends. In fact, the courses are served family style. This is a rare quality to find in a fine dining establishment, and it really added to the overall experience. Another highlight of our meal was the wine pairing. Each course was expertly paired with a wine that really brought out the flavors of the dishes. It was the perfect add-on to an already incredible meal. Finally, the cheese platter and spumoni cupcake were the perfect ending to a wonderful meal. The pecorino toscano stagionato was rich and the spumoni cupcake was the perfect combination of light and sweet. Overall, I would highly recommend Adhoc to anyone looking for an exceptional dining experience. The food, service, and atmosphere were all top-notch, and it made for a truly memorable birthday celebration.
This is not a mean review it’s an honest review. I ate at Ad Hoc on April 1st, reopening night. Everything about the experience was average at best. Drinks, food and service; all average. I wish I could say it was outstanding.
I am lucky enough to have been to French laundry (best meal I ever had) and Bouchon and I know this is not meant to be on par with those, but I was disappointed nonetheless. The cavier was the most memorable part of the meal (one from Russian river -saltier- and one from china- smoother- both great). The steak and fried chicken were both cooked perfectly but again nothing better than some restaurants I’ve been to in Sebastopol, Healdsburg, or SF. And the dessert was ok but to me tasted like a breakfast cereal from my childhood. The wine pairing was ok but a little surprising only because none of the 3 wines were from Napa. The waitstaff is very good although the presentation is not airtight and the aesthetics of the food is a little bit lacking , could use more pizazz. I will probably wait awhile before trying this place again as I’m sure it will grow better.
So happy that i could ate here. Everything in the restaurant was 5 stars. Service. Ambiance. Food selection. Wines. They dive you a four course menu and everything is good. Every plate have layers of flavors. Perfect seasoning. They know why the charge what they charge.
Our visit on 2/24 was our 12th visit to Ad Hoc. Up until now it has been one of our favorite Napa dinner spots. We have been to French Laundry as well as Bouchon and stay at Hotel Yountville because of our love for the Keller restaurants. This visit was very disappointing. VERY POOR SERVICE (we felt rushed and did not receive the incredible experience we have enjoyed at every Chef Keller property). The food was sub par and flavorless. When we shared our experience with our host at one of the Harlan properties on Saturday as well as the hotel front desk they both unfortunately said that they have heard the same thing lately. This review is not meant to discourage people from visiting, it is to hopefully encourage the management team to take a close look at what is happening. We look forward to returning in the fall and hope for a better experience.
Great flavors, loud and fun to share family style with the table.
How does this place have a Michelin star? So strange. Steak was chewy and flavorless. Broccoli salad that could be served at Panera Bread. The hot dog was delicious and the dessert was good, but that’s it. Maybe we got got by a tourist trap. Avoid.
There’s a bit of a trend of very successful, famous chefs opening restaurants to be more accessible to a broader public, themed around more… universally known and appreciated dishes. Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc is such a place, as is, for example, Grant Achatz’ Roister. There is a difference between the two though; Roister, itself a Michelin-starred restaurant, built a menu that has fried chicken at its center, but the quality and refinement of the food, as well as the service, is still centered around a very high aspiration when it comes to experience. It seems that Ad Hoc has also tweaked the experience elements to be more geared towards the masses, and while not a bad thing per se, we had to adjust our expectations a bit. One of their gimmicks is serving soft drinks strictly in cans - which is kind of a fun element for sure. The unclean tables and sticky floor were not as great an element though, and really not what we expected. Part of what didn’t give us the best possible experience was the fact that we sat next to a family with three small kids, who were loud and very active/running around, and whose parents didn’t seem too interested in keeping their volume somewhat under control. Service was friendly, but a bit more hands off than I would’ve expected and not super engaging. The food was spectacular - not because of how refined it was, but definitely because of how it tasted. We were somewhat disappointed that the famous fried chicken wasn’t on the menu the night we visited, but the potato salad, pork chops and the brats with sauerkraut more than made up for it - absolutely stellar. What was rather odd was the portion sizes. The brats were an optional add-in to the menu and because I *love* sauerkraut, I really wanted to experience those. I expected them to be modest and “refined” in style and size, but after a huge bowl of absolutely delicious potato salad, followed by a gigantic plate with two massive pork chops and a mountain of mashed potatoes, they brou
A friend recommended this place to us saying they had the best fried chicken. So, we stopped in on a Thursday night & found out they only serve chicken on Fridays & Saturdays for lunch. It's also an add on & not the main dish. We left & came back for lunch on Friday. We opted to sit at a table which meant we had to EACH order whatever the menu was for the day & then we could add the fried chicken to our meal(s). We couldn't share it unless we sat at the bar, then we could order a la carte or share. Please keep in mind, we are not fancy eaters. We don't drink wine. We're just basic humans that like good tasting food minus the fancy names & ingredients. With that said, we didn't care for the salad at all. The Bouchon Bakery bread with butter was good. The steak with potatoes, which was the main course, was ok. Nothing to rave about in our opinion. The pistachio pudding was ok. Not our favorite thing for dessert. But, the chicken...that buttermilk fried chicken was THEE best we've ever had at a restaurant! Hands down!! It was cooked to perfection. Perfectly moist. Perfectly crunchy. Just perfect. 😋 If we had it to do over again we would've sat at the bar (even though we don't drink) just so we could order a la carte what we really wanted instead of all the other food we didn't really care for AND it would've saved us a lot of money & wasted food. The service was great although we did wait a really long time between courses. The music went up obnoxiously loud on a few songs, not sure why, but wanted to mention it. My husband ordered a soda, but they only have cans & not fountain sodas. I didn't see one child in the restaurant on Thursday night or at lunch on Friday. Kinda strange. Not sure if they'd make you order a meal just for a child? That could get outrageously expensive. All in all, I'd go back, sit at the bar & order fried chicken again in a heartbeat. It was delicious!!
I would love to have eaten here, as myself and three friends made a special trip. We had reservations, but were told the prix fixe menu for the day was steak. Myself and my friend do not eat red meat. The hostess suggested I cancel my reservations and just eat at the bar, and that would be super easy and not a problem as we could order the fried chicken then. We arrived at around 1:30 and were told it would be 30-45 minutes. Which was fine. We returned when we had not heard from the restaurant after an hour. At which point the hostess had seated two sets of two's who had just arrived at the bar...instead of the 4 of us who had already waited an hour. At which point she said it was just easier to seat 2 people and we would have to continue to wait. She stated a couple was just finishing up and we would be seated in 10 min or so. We decided to wait...after another 45 minutes, and her seating another walk in of 2 we decided it was ridiculous and left. Its unfortunate that you cannot just have the fried chicken at the tables, but instead have to order the prix fixe menu and the chicken is then a $30 add on. I am sure its great, but the customer service is definitely lacking.
Ad Hoc is a some what casual establishment, with a pre-set menu served family style. The service is wonderful and attentive. The food is stellar esp for the price point.
Delicious iceberg salad, fried chicken with two sides, truffle mac n cheese, pierre robert with fresh biscuits, and pineapple upside down cake with coconut lime sorbet. But it was pricey. $600 for four people which included the food, drinks and tip.
Trust the chef and go for a delicious (and refreshed daily) 3 course menu served family style. If you're lucky, you might be able to add an order of the best fried chicken you can have. All the food we had was well made and tasteful and the service was top notch as well. This is one of Thomas Keller endeavours in Yountville, definitely a worth visiting one.
Your entrée tonight was chicken fried steak. I decided to book dinner because I grew up in Texas and I loved chicken fried steak as as kid growing up. We live in the valley and have been to Ad Hoc many times but tonight was a disaster. The tomato soup was fair but really too thick. The entrée, chicken fried steak in a gravy on greens was just a salty glop. The fried steak was cooked to death. It pains me to write such a bad review on what has been consistently a good place to eat. The cheese and spiced honey was nice, And the apple crisp was well, apple crisp. Please don’t try chicken fried steak again. You just don’t know how to make it.