Cafe Adam

The food is always over the top delicious for me. Oysters are fresh, local beer, stuffed dates were awesome.

Have now visited Café Adam on three occasions. The first two nudged right up against five stars. The most recent, last night, made me glad I didn’t give in to the temptation, though the evening was still solid on all levels.
Something about the ingredients was lacking last night. The vegetables in the Verdi Verdi pasta dish — and there are many — didn’t make me want to swear off meat as I’d been prepared to during my summer visits. Perhaps local sourcing is to blame — or to credit. In the dead of winter the peas, artichockes, sundried tomatoes and cauliflower lacked the liveliness that I recall from similar concoctions during prior visits.
Another recipe, though ambitious, didn’t quite amaze as anticipated. This was the basic winter staple of butternut squash soup, in bisque form. Added to the conventional presentation were pomegranates and pecans. While the textural change was intriguing, the effect on the palate was far less so. The pecans were fine, but the pomegranate bursts seemed to rival the soup’s smoothness rather than complement it. All-​in-​all still pleasurable, but fascinating more on paper than in the crock.
One dish which out-​and-​out didn’t work for me were fried chickpeas. My companion got there first and ordered them, so I felt no obligation to pop more than a handful before declaring them beyond my culinary comprehension. I mean — and not to get too Roseanne Rosanneadanna about it – but those thin little skins that you can squeeze off in your hand when eating them raw were now crunchy. Crunchy chicken skin? Yes. Crunchy chickpea skin? Bring on the soup.
Happily the final entrée was magnficient. Caramelized sea scallops in some rich sauce or another (with scallops everything else is beside the point if they’re large and fresh) did wonders to restore what was descending rapidly toward an unexpectedly mediocre meal.
Wines by the glass cover all the bases, but they are expensive.
Place was packed and that’s a good thing, because Saturday nights in January in the heart of the Berkshires is not an automatic from a restaurateur’s standpoint. Service was as professional as you’d expect but lacked warmth.
The dining rooms — and there are several — however, did exude warmth, as the lighting was subdued but not nocturnal and the decibel level remained unobtrusive.
Will try again in spring when the menu turns over. Perhaps an appointment to coincide with asparagus season will bring the five-​star scenario back into play.

I ate at Café Adam with my family (a party of 5) on Saturday night (19/​Dec) and we had a VERY negative experience — largely due to the quality of service.
For starters, we had a 7PM reservation, arrived on time and were not seated for OVER 15 minutes. Our waitress left the table before taking my drink order (I was reviewing the drink menu at the time) and never apologized when I told her that I had wanted to order a drink. Service was exceptionally slow all night, and the waitress made us feel like we were her last priority throughout the evening. All of our entrees came out at different times (over a span of 5 minutes) and when we ordered coffee, tea, and a dessert to share the waitress brought out the coffee and tea 10 minutes prior to bringing out the actual dessert — though we had clearly intended to have it all together. Finally, being a vegetarian I was quite disappointed by Café Adam’s vegetarian options… the the only vegetarian entrée was a plate of veggies (called the «Farmers Market»), which was $ 20 and had NO protein — just vegetables. To make matters worse I counted four brown spots in the avocado; something I would find unacceptable at any price point.
I live in Great Barrington and my family was visiting me for the weekend and this was intended to be our fun, special evening out. I carefully chose Café Adam after having very positive dining experiences there last spring and mid-​summer (anniversary dinner with my boyfriend and reunion with an old friend) and feeling like I wanted something a bit more upscale than Allium and Prarie Whale, my usual standbys. It was deeply disappointing that we all had such a negative experience at Café Adam on Saturday and I am sorry to say that I/​we will not be returning.

Delicious food with good selection. lovely interior with good service. the corn soup special was amazing and we enjoyed the burrata salad as well. perfect choice for a birthday dinner! had dinner on the earlier side around 6pm and we were the youngest people there.

I went here recently and really enjoyed everything about the place. The design aesthetic, the large bar, the fantastic wine list and local craft beer selection were all excellent.
The menu and specials were all great, as well as the service from staff. I’d recommend you visit for a meal soon. Enjoy!

Noise level exceeds OSHA limit when crowded, as no sound absorbing materials are used.
IF you can deal with noise, it’s a solid five for service, food and drink.
Very broad wine list. We enjoyed a hard to find white Burgundy (a Pernand-​Vergelesse) at a bargain price. Server was knowledgeable and helpful. If you want cocktails, they have quite a list of those, too. Several unusual gins.
Two different kinds of MA oysters were on offer last night. We tried both; they were quite fresh and served in their high salinity juice. My wife loved her mussels cooked in pastis, an anise liquor mixed wit water.
My bouillabaisse was wonderful, cooked just right, with very nicely seasoned broth. friends said their scallops were great.
Our innkeeper says this is the best restaurant in the Berkshires.

Had an amazing meal here. The food and service blew us all away. The salad we had was a surprising combination that turned out to taste spectacular. The beef tenderloin was out of this world as well. Will be returning for sure. Would recommend highly!!!

My husband and I went here for our wedding anniversary. I will say that the experience was somewhat mixed and that surprisingly enough, I enjoyed my vegetarian meal more than my husband enjoyed his meaty meal (usually that’s the opposite for us).
I absolutely adored the crispy artichoke with saffron aioli appetizer. The artichokes were super-​crisp, yet tender inside and the dipping sauce was a flavor punch. I would actually probably get two orders of this if I went back and make of meal of it. They were so good and perfectly seasoned! The spring pasta was pretty tasty, but I’m not sure it was worth the $ 24 price tag. I appreciated the creative spring veggies included (e.g., fava beans, peas, asparagus), but was sad there were no fiddle head ferns included in this entrée (the menu stated the dish included fiddle heads!). I liked the ramp broth, but would have liked even more to be included in the dish. Overall, quite tasty, but not mind blowing.
My husband had the bacon wrapped dates and really enjoyed them. Apparently, the four of them were actually really filling too. So, despite sounding like a small quantity, he stated four was plenty for him to enjoy. He really like the chevre, bacon, date, mustard flavor combination. He was less-​enthused about the veal meatball dish he ordered. He said it was just okay. It was an odd presentation– a large pile of dryish looking fettuccine with some meatballs on top. The chorizo sauce was mainly at the bottom of the bowl and didn’t really coat the pasta particularly well. He was disappointed with the dish.
Finally, we ordered two specials from the daily specials menu that were mediocre. The summer fruit cobbler was somewhat bland– the fruit lacked both sweetness and acidity– making the flavor somewhat flat. My husband liked the gazpacho, which is surprising because he doesn’t like tomatoes that much. To me, it didn’t taste like only fresh tomatoes were used in it– maybe it had canned tomato juice? Not worth the price tag to me.
The service was somewhat mixed. When we arrived, we were given complimentary champagne and they wished us a happy anniversary, which was a very nice touch. However, the service was a bit slow and uneven thereafter. For whatever reason, our waiter took the order of the table next to us, who arrived after us, before taking our order. Their food was delivered faster and their check processed faster. Perhaps they were moving slowly because it was our anniversary and they wanted to give us more time? It was just a bit odd to be waiting for our food while the table next to us was enjoying their appetizers, despite arriving 10 minutes after us. Additionally, we were never given bread. The guy delivering bread gave it to all tables but ours. It may have been for the better, since we had enough other food, but it looked tasty and I would have liked to gotten to try it. I kept thinking it would arrive, so didn’t ask about it until it seemed like it would be too late.
I will try this place again possibly when visiting the family, but will order carefully.

Enjoyed another 5 Star meal last night. Adam’s creations are wonderfully conceived & presented. Each dish is the flavor of freshness & impeccable preparation. We enjoyed the super fresh oysters, the chicken over quinoa & vegetable & the bouillabaisse & ended with the chocolate moltano!
Service is always attentive & friendly. Adam & Sylvia have created a special food experience!

Café Adam was excellent. We started with fresh baked bread and rosemary infused love oil to accompany our cocktails. Then split the Japanese marinated cucumbers and lobster crab salad. Very Fresh and clean. Dad had hangar steak– perfectly tender, vibrant green sauce. I had veal meatball fettuccini– lots of different flavored, perhaps too many to really be cohesive. Lots of interesting dessert but ice cream and Sauternes was our choice. The place has a nice friendly vibe. Looking forwArd to exploring menu this summer

Not sure what the others are referring. This was a class operation with class service and excellent food. Sure a little expensive.
My wife had the hanger steak. loved it
I had the NE Bouillabaisse I guess that means NE fishes. Anyway it was excellent. I really enjoyed it.
Thank You

I will not return to this establishment because I ate here a few weeks ago and got food poisoning. I was sick all evening, visiting the restroom every hour.
I called Café Adam a few days later and spoke with the manager. He asked what I ate and I told him. He said it must have been the oysters (which tasted good at the time). He said he would tell the chef.
I was disappointed with the level of concern expressed for my experience. I understand that this can happen, especially during the slow season, and that — if it was the oysters — it may have been outside of their control. However, there was not really any expression of concern for what I experienced or apology. The manager did not even ask how long I had food poisoning, if I was over it or if I had needed medical attention. Food poisoning can kill and should be of grave concern to a restaurant.
My experience left me with the impression my bout with food poisoning was not that big a concern for Café Adam.

Food here was great. I did not like the way they ran the seating arrangements. We got there at 8PM without a res and we were seated at the bar. By 1030 when we left, the entire restaurant area was pretty empty. the same as it was when we came in.

Café Adam may be the highest quality food and dining experience in Great Barrington. It is not in the downtown, but on the northern end of GB on Route 7. I’ve eaten at Café Adam twice and each time was an excellent foodie and dining experience. Great menu and wine list. You won’t be disappointed.

Wine list. Amazing! Actually, wine spectator award of excellence!
Food was amazing! Would have never thought that this kind of culinary masterpiece would be found in such a small place.
Service was amazing and attentive!
Highly recommend.