Bardo Lounge & Supper Club
The kitchen rebuilds porcupine meatballs and broccolini casserole with lemongrass vinegar and mint aioli, and you eat them off vintage metal tray tables.
Why go
The kitchen takes the dishes of a 1962 dinner party literally and then cooks them properly. Michelin's inspector puts it plainly: familiar-sounding items like broccolini casserole and porcupine meatballs have been reimagined with sparkling results,
and names the lemongrass vinegar and the mint aioli that get them there.2 The owners describe the same brief in their own words, a neighborhood lounge and restaurant inspired by the comfort and camaraderie of a mid-century dinner party,
and they run it on classics-inspired cocktails and a rotating seasonal menu.1 The room splits into alcoves downstairs and a dining room upstairs, and the punch bowls do a lot of the work.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: the porcupine meatballs and the broccolini casserole. Those are the two the guide names.2
- Order: the Dinner Party Menu if you would rather not choose. Michelin's line is that it
leaves you in the hands of this capable kitchen.
2 - Avoid: Sunday. They serve Monday through Saturday.1
What locals & experts say
- MICHELIN Guide California, on the cooking:
While nostalgia peppers the carte, familiar-sounding items like broccolini casserole and porcupine meatballs have been reimagined with sparkling results,
with lemongrass vinegar and mint aioli named as the how. The guide does not put a name on its write-ups.2 - MICHELIN Guide California, on the room:
This 'supper club' lets you time travel back to the swinging 60s.
2
Good to know
- Booking: they take reservations for every seat, the bar and the lounge couches included.1
- Hours: Monday to Thursday, 5pm to 10pm.2
- Michelin: the guide's California page for this address is live. Bardo's own site says it has been
recommended by the Michelin Guide 2021-2025,
which is the venue's wording for the span.1
Verdict
should-visit — Michelin has a live California page for this address and its inspector ate here and reported the cooking, which is real evidence that the room does more than dress up 1962. What it is not is a signed piece, because inspectors do not put names on their write-ups, and no East Bay critic has published on this kitchen at all. The guide page also prints no distinction line, so the 2021 to 2025 span comes from the venue itself. One rung below the top on those three gaps.