Review Addison Restaurant - San Diego

Shaun stands out as the most extraordinary restaurant manager I've ever had the pleasure of encountering. His service wasn't just outstanding—it was genuinely awe-inspiring. As a solo diner, Shaun made an extra effort to ensure I felt incredibly welcomed. His dedication to going above and beyond was evident in his eagerness to share fascinating insights about the kitchen, catering perfectly to my enthusiasm as a food aficionado. While the cuisine at Addison was nothing short of superb, it was Shaun's unparalleled service that elevated the entire experience to divine heights. His warm, understanding, and inviting personality made every interaction memorable. The thoughtful gesture of a sweet little treat upon departure was the cherry on top of a flawlessly coordinated dining experience. Having visited other Michelin-starred establishments, I can confidently place Addison in my top three worldwide dining experiences, largely thanks to Shaun's exceptional touch. Truly, a delightful experience in every sense.

What an unbelievable experience at Southern California's most acclaimed fine dining restaurant. Only 3 MICHELIN-Starred restaurant in Southern Cali. California Gastronomy at its best. Our server Olivier was absolutely amazing. Every dish that came out was absolutely unbelievable. Table side Louie XIII just puts the icing on the cake. It’s been a couple months and I still can’t stop thinking about it and talking about it. If you are looking to have a dining experience that will change your life, then you have to go to Addison! Best birthday dinner ever.

My party and I enjoyed a meal at Addison shortly after they received their third Michelin star. The Staff - We were warmly greeted by the hostess upon arriving and led to the fireplace/bar area while our table was being prepared. After being seated at our table, we were taken care of by Patrick and the wait staff. Patrick was a constant professional and ensured we had nothing but the best experience while we progressed through the meal. We were also able to meet Chef Bradley and observe the team in action in the kitchen. Great job by the entire Addison team! Food & Drink - Started off the night by being presented with four champagnes to choose from. Instead of a wine pairing, my party requested a progression of cocktails since we weren't wine connoisseurs. The mixologist made some amazing signature drinks that we enjoyed throughout the meal. The food was delicious, and there was plenty of it! At times, it felt like the food train was never going to end. Overall, we had a great experience! The food was amazing, and the service was at the highest level.

This was one of the best dining experiences that i've ever had. We got the luxury menu which was expensive but worth it to go all out! The dishes are masterpieces, you can tell that they were worked on for a long time and perfected. It was cool how a lot of the courses had table-side pours. "Chips and Dip" was such a fun and unique concept for a fine dining restaurant. One of the things that made this experience even more unique was the kitchen tour, Chef Bradley was so kind and it was very cool to see the kitchen creating these incredible dishes. The service here was insane, it's unlike anywhere else, it was like everyone knew exactly what we needed without us even asking. Every person that we interacted with was extremely friendly and knowledgeable, they knew we were going to some other Michelin started restaurants in California on our trip so they told us more cool things about them and they even told the other restaurants to take good care of us, which was so kind of Addison. This was a dining experience that I will treasure forever, it was so luxurious and I can’t recommend it enough. My favorite courses had to be- "Eggs on rice": The most perfect textures and flavors White asparagus with caviar: This was one of the best white asparagus courses i've ever had and the caviar was incredible. It was so cool how chef Bradley came plated part of it tableside. Tom Kha Goong: i've never had a course like this before, so so yummy A5 Wagyu: The best and most tender wagyu i've ever had, the marbleization was insane, loved the tempura fried broccoli

The service is unbeatable. Absolutely what you would expect from a 3 star. The food was creative, fun and tasty. The wine pairing is worth it and the sommeliers were extremely knowledgeable. Visiting the kitchen was a treat and watching the staff in action was like going to the symphony.

Epic on all fronts. Incredible ambiance, service, and of course food. The incredible flavors, presentation and attention to detail sets Addison a world apart. I was privileged enough to have a 9 course chefs tasting inclusive of caviar, wagyu, truffle and a variety of delicacies from above and below the sea. The A5 Wagyu was absolutely out of this world. Truly a once in a lifetime meal.

Addison is San Diego's only 3 Star Michelin Restaurant, located at the Fairmont Grand Hotel in Del Mar. Showcasing "California Gastronomy", Chef William Bradley highlights local ingredients which are masterfully cooked. Staff is efficient and professional (although the atmosphere can be a bit intimidating). Definitely a special place worth a visit. Would budget approximately $1,000 per couple for an evening meal and an additional $350 per person if opting for any enhancements (wagyu/caviar/truffle). Given the demand for this restaurant, would recommend writing directly for a table and booking a month in advance.

Truly a fine dining experience. The service is perfection. Everyone serving on you is able to talk about each dish laid in front of you. Sommeliers know of the countless options available to help pair with any plate. Each dish is unique with fabulous aromas and flavors. I highly recommend Addison and their staff. An memorable experience.

San Diego’s 3 Michelin star restaurant and it unabashedly let’s you know that from the get go. It was a very unique experience with few negatives and many positives. The staff are for the most part very friendly when they are interacting but there seems to be a “robotic” phase for many of them where it’s “serious business”. Not bad but my preference was interaction with the staff as they all have insightful perspectives on their restaurant, area of expertise, and even the local restaurant scene. We ordered the 9 course tasting menu and the food was unmistakably delicious. Very interesting and elevated takes on familiar flavors. The sourdough was the best I’ve ever had and would make the trip there again just for that.

When you go to a Michelin starred restaurant, you can expect the best of the best. With two under their belt, Addison holds up to its name offering impeccable service and cuisine inspired throughout the world. The fresh ingredients and their take on some classic Asian flavors should serve as an inspiration for others to live up to. It is towards the top of my list of fine restaurants but had some minor misses along the way. Please note, I find it hard to offer any criticism with this group that tirelessly works behind the scenes but it is my hope that they continue to push to achieve the coveted third star. Wine selection- Very good but disappointed that the bottle I requested was not available. I’d expect them to remove it from the list ahead of time so it isn’t a concern. First courses- well done selection of small plates. The modification cucumber salad wasn’t impressive but all other items stood well on their own. Eggs and rice- Slightly salty even when the caviar was mixed in. The rice was slightly overdone and didn’t serve as a contrast to the creamy egg. I like this concept and hope it remains. The bowl is nice to look at but after eating the spoon has no where to go but back onto the table leaving the service unnecessarily table side cleaning up the placemat. Chip and dip- an uninspiring casual break from the more formal meal. I felt this was the weakest part of the menu and a huge opportunity to do something more creative. Coconut soup- very good. Classic flavors and the tomato confit was a perfect adaption. However, the breading on the shrimp was too thick on their own. Dipping them quickly in the soup lightened it up but very quickly lost the crunch. Penna cotta- modified to be nondairy but gelled too much and resembled day old jello instead of being creamy.

This was our anniversary dinner celebration and we could not have been happier. Everyone was extremely helpful and passionate about their job and making sure we had the best service ever! The tasting menu progressed beautifully and some of my favorites were the Kanpachi Sashimi, the caviar, Iberian Ham and of course the wagyu! The sommelier was fantastic at recommending a wine to pair with our courses and then brought out two lovely red wines to pair with the main tasting. Highly recommend if you love amazing food and superior service.

My experience at Addison was akin to the times I've dined at 3 Michelin star restaurants. They've certainly earned their reputation and more. The menu was expertly composed: some staples like caviar atop a delicious pudding of smoked sabayon and rice, a surprising Tom Kha soup expertly paired with Riesling, a wagyu dish that I'll never forget, and the artful balance (in menu as in within the courses) of their multi-bite appetizer and multi-bite dessert. Not one course failed to impress. I must recommend the wine pairing and upgrading to the wagyu beef course. The restaurant sits a small amount of tables, which provides privacy yet ensures a good ambience... something that other notable restaurants extraordinarily fail (e.g., Joël Robuchon). The service was exemplary. The only comparison that comes to mind is the ballet and elegance I recall from Eleven Madison Park before their renovation. The presentation of the courses and wine pairings were informative, friendly, professional and succinct. To top it off, I was invited to tour their kitchen and meet Chef de Cuisine, Stefani de Palma. Bravo all around. I cannot wait to visit again.

On a quick work trip to San Diego I had to stop in to eat at the newly minted 2 Michelin Star Addison. Reservations are a must and were a breeze on Open Table. The restaurant is at the swanky Fairmont Grand Del Mar, a little ways from downtown SD where I was staying. Not a big deal as there was ample parking when I arrived. I checked for a dress code prior to arriving and it seemed pretty relaxed. There were people in casual attire but many were dressed up for the evening. I was taking my aunt to dinner so thought we might as well dress up for this special gastronomic experience. The service was impeccable from the moment I arrived at the door. I was greeted and asked for my reservation to which we were promptly led thru the rich and luxurious speakeasy bar/Lounge to the elegant dining halls bordered by windows overlooking the golf course. Our table was by the windows and our servers pulled out our chairs, gave my aunt a stool for her purse, and we were greeted by one of the many servers that evening. They placed napkins on our laps, continually filled our water and were always nearby. Never once did we need to call anyone over for anything for they were attentive to our every need. We were offered the "Luxury Tasting Menu" upgrade- A5 wagyu beef from Japan and white truffles flown in overnight from Italy to enhance the already incredible meal. This was my aunt's first classy meal and so we just had to do it. I highly recommend you do too. The food was superb and the presentation excellent. There were 9 courses in all and each one was exquisite. The flavors were each unique, bold and imaginative. There were a lot of Asian inspired dishes that delighted my aunt as well as the more colorful French inspired plates. Many of the dishes were little works of bite sized art bursting with flavor. By the end of the evening we were full but not overly stuffed. Don't expect a grand meal like this to be "cheap." The meal for two without drinks was roughly $1153 before tip. However, imo it is worth every penny. The food, service and ambiance at the Addison is impeccable. As we left the nice lady at the front gave us a parting gift of breakfast oats/granola. A truly wonderful present reminding of us of our time here. If anything, seeing my 93yr old aunt absolutely enjoying her first fancy meal, a 2 star Michelin gastronomic experience, is priceless. I'm happy I was able to take her here. As the Michelin star states, the Addison has excellent cooking and is definitely worth a detour on a quick worktrip to San Diego.

Best dinner I’ve had in a really long time. The food was unbelievably good. Fantastic variation and flavors. Honestly 3 star quality. Everyone must try at some point. Too 3 restaurant in all of CA for sure.

Celebrated my birthday here. Did the 5-course with wine pairing. Was so stuffed, glad I didn’t do the 10-course. The wine pairings were well done. The staff was incredibly attentive and friendly. The view and setting is marvelous, the outdoor heaters are overhead so it’s just enough to keep you warm but not hot. Some of my favorite items in the meal were the seaweed caviar, hash brown and prosciutto (and everything in the first course honestly), the Australian white wine, and the orange sorbet cake. I will say, there were quite a few of the courses I wasn’t thrilled with which was a shame considering the amount of money I paid for the meal. The anis-orange drink texture was very coarse and it was sour. The strawberry cake was super crumbly and stuck dry in the throat. The pigeon course just had a lot of different things going on both, also was not a big fan of the beet mousse that came with it either (had a bitter aftertaste). The sour dough bread was fine but nothing special, and it was a massive loaf that just came with some brown butter.

I love the food. The courses are diverse and international with high qualities. We had a great time there to celebrate the joy and happiness with finest dishes. Although it’s pricey, the food and service deserves it. Hopefully next time, black truffle ;-)

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!! One of the most brilliant chef tasting and overall dining experiences I've ever had. From when we arrived to when we left everything was top notch! Service and friendliness of the entire staff alone was worthy of a 5 star rating but paired with the amazing menu makes the ADDISON one of my favorite restaurants ever! Just so you know it will come at a hefty price tag but anything worth having usually does.

I recently visited the fine city of San Diego. I chose San Diego because it's allegedly one of the best foodie cities in the country. I'm sure a large reason of why that is is because it's one of the few cities in the country that qualifies for the Michelin Star honor. There are two one-star restaurants, and one two-star restaurants. The Addison is the two star. So I HAD to come here. This is a tasting menu. It offers one item to order, their tasting menu. You could upgrade to a version of the menu that had like, truffles shaved over everything, but that sounded overly hoity toity, so we passed. It's a hole show where they have people who's entire job it is to fill your water cup, they have a person who carries the food to the table, and the other person explains what you are eating, and the nuances of the dish, and they have a legit sommelier who keep the wines paired all night long. Depending on what you count as a course, there were around 14 courses. I don't wanna mention all 14 of them. It would be too much work, you'd get TLDR syndrome, and it would honestly ruin the surprise for you. But I will go over some highlights. One of the very first courses had a little tiny salad that was built on a crouton, and in that crouton was the dressing! This is the kind of fun whimsy that earned this place those stars. Very creative. They have a soup that has uni. LOTS of uni. It was truly luxurious. Have never been served this much uni. But the broth and ingredients it was served with really calmed it down and made sure the quantity wasn't overwhelming. The BEST dish of the night was the Eggs & Rice which was nice caviar over a Japanese rice topped with a smoked sabayon sauce. The salty popping over the smokey, cream sauce and both of them just oozing into the rice. Good God. I wish I had 14 courses of just this dish. There was a fun little interlude from real food that was a wild twisted potato chip that was house-made. It was like two feet of potato chip all put together. And it came with a dip of some sort. Fun! They had a Thai soup that started off as a diced scallop in a bowl. They pour the broth in and boom, the scallop explodes and swirls around the bowl. Very fragrant, too. Lots of fresh herbs. Delicious. There was a bread course that was a loaf of house-baked sourdough with two spreads, one buttery, one sweet. It was the best sourdough I've had in my life. I'm not kidding. The crunch, the chew, the aroma. It was magical. Literally. And dessert. They had a honeycomb brittle thing that was really something. It was crunchy and just sweet enough and had such a natural honey vibe going. Like the bee just made it for me. Overall, this place was ridiculous. If anyone gives it any less than the five stars, they are truly morons. Every course was well conceived. The flavors were very natural and the ingredients were super fresh. I just, I can't. I can't say for sure that I'll be back. But I can say that I really would love to come back. Amazing.

Exquisite. Allow the chef to surprise you. They have a chef's tasting menu. Choose it. Think of the most delectable morsel that has ever tantalized each of your sleepy taste buds and this experience will be log orders above it with each of the 10+ courses. Tender octopus (impossible right?), Osetra caviar with gold, ... I can't even begin to describe each dish - so perfectly celebrated - every delicate flavor tenderly coaxed and harmoniously melded so you find yourself in awe of such creative culinary genius. It is nothing less than the most incredible tasting experience you may ever have. It should be on the list of 100 places to visit before you die. Not to mention the service - impeccable. A silver tray brought out for my husband's iPhone, every question answered respectfully and with surprising knowledge of the origins and preparation involved (only provided when asked). Life is too short. Experience it - and if you decide to order from the menu instead of allowing the chef to surprise you, you will likely only experience a third or less of the chef's expertise and you may be slightly disappointed. Akin to going on the world's best roller coaster then getting off a third of the way through or seeing the Mona Lisa and not checking out anything else in the Louvre - you might interpret the experience as decent but not exceptional.

Heavenly food and exceptional service. From the moment we stepped in to the building, we were greeted by name by the entire staff, then proceeded to have a magical evening. Every detail was carefully planned and executed and we were blown away by our experience. Mere 5 stars is not enough to rate my satisfaction for this place!

Chef took us on an amazing journey with his tasting menu. Every dish seemed to build & develop off the previous one. It was one of the best meals of my life! Can't say enough about their customer service either. It was exceptional from the moment we pulled up to the restaurant (celebrating our anniversary & they congratulated us immediately). The service was subtle enough to enjoy each other's company even with all the courses being served. We will never forget this dining experience ~ again, amazing!

First this is a beautiful location. We had 8 in our party and chose the chefs choice dinning experience. I am allergic to fish and my friend loathes mushrooms - they accommodated us while preparing the other 6 in unison. The food is art, pint size explosions of the most interesting combinations that are riveting. You simply cannot describe this you must experience it for yourself. Hardly last is the quality of service. First class, regal, a subtle synchronization of your food delivery. This was as impressive as the food. It is hard to use words to describe this wonderful experience. It simply cannot be beat !

Exceptional. One of the best dining experiences ever. Ambiance is stunning. Service is impeccable. Cuisine is superb. A special place in San Diego to experience fine dining.

Wow, talk about a fantastic experience! Each course was very unique and delectable! The wait staff was just awesome. Knowledgeable, friendly, and articulate. It was my hubby’s birthday and they made sure it was special for him. Highly recommend this gem. Crazy amazing.

Best food I've ever eaten in my entire life. It was my dad's 60th birthday and everything was spectacular. The Chef's tasting menu is a must.

Absolutely fabulous. The Chefs tasting menu is the way to go. The appetizer alone was worth it all, with surprising amuse bouche. Fabulous wine pairing and selection. Truly remarkable experience.

Exceptional cuisine! I highly recommend the chef's tasting menu and wine pairings. The service was amazing and perfectly orchestrated. Definitely a memorable dining experience!

We were fortunate to dine at Addison last week and had the Chefs Menu with matching wine and what a culinary masterpiece. The food was Michelin Star in my book and the wine matching was exquisite. If you are in the San Diego area do yourself a favour and enjoy the food wine and service.

Hands down one of the finest culinary experiences I have ever had. The service was superb and the cuisine beyond compare. You'd be hard pressed to find competition for Addison at the Grand Del Mar outside of Europe.

Had to try it since it’s our last name! Amazing experience- from the service, the food and wine, it was off the charts! I would give it 10 stars!

There are few restaurants in the world that deserve the accolade of "exquisite in every way". From flaweless service, precise execution, and sumptuous flavors! Those who are fortunate enough to experience the epicurean delights of Addison, will be rewarded with perfection!

Exquisite wine selection followed by impeccable service. The food was prepared with such precision ! A once in a lifetime experience.

This was my second visit, and the second was better than the first! Our servers were excellent, and was definitely a Michelin 3 Star visit! Well done! Truly One of the Top 3 places in the world where I have ever eaten! Bravo Chef!

While the food is wonderful, as you would expect, I have to share how truly extraordinary the service is. Never before have I experienced such a level of perfection, where the entire staff is always prepared to assist, but never in your way. The staff never 'hovers' to await the completion of a course, but they appear as if out of thin air to retrieve a freshly finished course, in tandem, and swiftly remove the plates. If you try to retreat to the restroom by yourself, another of the ninja staff will find you and escort you, but again you will not see from where they emerged. The staff never interrupted us mid-bite, or mid-sip of our wine, and the wine service was perfectly timed every single time. Furthermore, what was truly the glaze on the pastry for me was that not only did every member of the staff know our names, including those we had never met, but when we left, and I was told to retrieve my wine case with my spare bottle in it at the hostess' desk, I asked, and was told 'we took the liberty of placing it inside your vehicle for you'. I immediately smiled and replied 'of course you did!' and when the rear door was opened for me to place my coat, I noticed the case was placed EXACTLY as I had originally brought it in the vehicle, secured with a booster seat so it did not tilt over, yet the valet was not the same as who we had met when we arrived! I've never experienced such truly perfect service, and I can't imagine a better choice for a very special occasion, as this was.