AOC Brentwood

Top notch restaurant in Brentwood - had dinner here with 7 other conference attendees last night.

We took an Uber from the Skirball Cultural Center (only in LA do you get picked up by a top of the line latest luxury SUV!), so we didn't have to worry about parking. The restaurant was quite noisy when we got there around 7:30 pm but became quieter as the evening wore on.

We started with appetizers (the cheese and bread plate was excellent) and wine (I had a Cabernet Sauvignon), then we all ordered an entrée to share. I selected the Spanish fried chicken which was superb, and also enjoyed the gnocchi and vegetarian meatballs.

Dessert - a decadent chocolate tray and pavlovas - was a perfect way to end the meal.

Service was decent, and the bathrooms were clean. Will return next time I'm in the area.

Awful food, amazing service, cool ambience.

Went there for dinner, service was amazing but the food was horrendous.

We got several dishes; some were just ok/edible others were down right heinous.

I would suggest NOT getting the scallops or the lobster pasta. The scallops were a soupy mess and the lobster was rubbery and drowning on some sort of sauce.

Despite the entrée debacle, I will say that the wine was good and that the coconut sorbet was awesome but not enough to compensate for the main dishes.

They did take some of the items off of our bill, which was nice of them.

Overall, if you must go here, go for the drinks just make sure you eat before hand.

Website say they serve lunch until 2:30 . Not true. They close earlier so don't believe times On site.

Try Altair's instead, open all day

Healthy place to dine- healthy options that is. Fun ambience as well. Cute block to grab brunch. Valet parking is available or if you're lucky you can find street parking.

Green quinoa dumplings a fun sharing dish. It came with 3 falafel size looking balls. The sauce was good. It had a sour taste to it - very unique and delicious!

Grilled market fish of the day (sea bass) - this dish was very good! The sauce was excellent.

Of course it's more fine dining so portions are on the smaller size

If you're in a hurry you may want to let the staff know you're on a time limit.

I enjoyed the dinning experience here and would come again.

Amazing. Lively and good energy in the room. Fresh options farm to table. Food was great!
Our server Dana was fantastic. Attentive, personable and always smiling. She was on the entire night and had such a beautiful and pleasant personality. Any requests was a no problem happy to do that response. She offered to have us try the champagne/ wine before committing to a glass which made it extra special and nice. I love restaurants that offer that. It makes it that much better! Dana is a gem! She made a positive impact to my birthday dinner.

To be clear, AOC is not Tavern, even though several reviews call it Tavern. Also, when AOC Brentwood calls you to confirm your reservation, Tavern shows up on Caller ID. (It's the same owners, in fact.) Though they prefer/rely on OpenTable, that app could not accommodate me for a party numbering other than 2 on an upcoming Monday. Undaunted, I called AOC Brentwood and over the phone they set us up for the ressy. So very convenient.

I don't mind Reservation apps, but I prefer to go direct. AOC Brentwood told me in person that OT works for them, and in fact, most of their reviews (they say) come from OT. So, I looked it up, and sure enough, there are lots of reviews there -- recent ones, too. And, nobody refers to them as Tavern.
But, most of the those reviews are a sentence long saying yay or nay, without much detail. To me, those reviews are unhelpful. Which brings me here.

I want a review that might tell me, for instance, that our server was polished and friendly, and never rushed us. Our server was able to describe the various wines-by-the-glass of varietals I had never heard of. We found the equalivent of a Pinot Grigio and the same for a Sancerre. Both were fine, though the 'Sancerre' one was more complex and flavorful. This stuff matters to me.

I want a review that might say that the 'To Start' portion of the dinner menu is a great way to get things going. We opted for both The Farmer's Plate and the Charcuterie board. In the former, the muhamarra and chickpea purée added a great flavor to the roasted veggies, burrata and grilled toast. And yes, the waiter didn't have any difficulty relaying what muhamarra is (roasted red peppers, walnuts, breadcrumbs, chile flakes, and pomegranate molasses).

We then split two entrees, and both were wonderful. The Liberty Duck Breast was smooth, tender and juicy - prepared with apples, chicories and Pedro Ximénez. (You go look that one up!)

We also enjoyed the house specialty, Spanish Fried Chicken. There's a reason it's well-known here, and quite simply, it's delicious. Think outstanding chicken fingers - moist and full of flavor. The Romesco aioli and the chili-cumin butter only make it more delicious. Somebody at the table needs to order this.

We were satisfied with just about everything, including the abundant cold spring water. They don't change out the plates as much I'd like, but they will accommodate if you ask. Dessert will have to wait for another time.

The room is gorgeous and roomy, as many mention. The music was not as loud and obnoxious as some reviews suggest. I thought the decibel level was good for the room, and it didn't overpower. As the evening wore on and an even more chill crowd came in, the music shifted from Alt Hits of the 70s & 80s to a more bluesy and soulful selection.

When I read up on a restaurant, I want much more than 'It's great' or 'We always come here when in town'. I'm hungry for more than that. Once you get to AOC Brentwood, they can take care of that just fine. You just might need to call them first.

And don't call them Tavern.

We enjoyed a nice birthday lunch on a mellow Sunday afternoon during the LA Marathon, it was pretty light crowd. We ordered one burger which was very good, perfectly medium cooked. The fries are ok, barely warm. We also ordered 2 of the Stout brisket mash with fried potatoes. This is a very fatty dish, more fat than meat. My friends had more meat than mine. The soft poached egg runs into the fatty sauce making it less appealing to eat. The potatoes, spinach, and onions were good. I would not recommend this dish, also has too much salt. Service was nice. I'm very put off by their default 6% extra service charge for employee health. The plandemic is long over, most restaurants don't add this tax, and for an expensive place to charge this seems very tacky. You can ask them not to charge it but that's more hassle, so I just deduct 6% off my tip. I don't expect to return. Dinner menu is better in my experience. The pistachio dessert was ok, a little sweet.

We came during LA week and had the lunch menu. This is a very nice restaurant, the food was amazingly good, but the service was a bit slow.

Had nothing short of a 5 star experience! We came here for brunch on a Sunday morning with a group of ten. We made a reservation prior but even so they could only fit our sized group inside so we missed out on the patio, which looked really cute.

The whole restaurant is so aesthetic and cozy. The bar is beautiful, the fireplace was a lovely touch and the building itself, covered in draping vines and colorful tiles was stunning. Their menu is vast from charcuterie boards, to sticky buns, to chicken and waffles. I ordered the brioche and HOT DAMN. My mouth waters just thinking about it. Big fluffy brioche bread topped with cheese, prosciutto, frisee and an over easy egg (though mine was more over medium so I didn't get the full drippy effect). It was a huge plate and I ate every last crumb. The frisee was citrusy and refreshing which helped cut the saltiness of the prosciutto. The chicken and waffles is a must order. It was one of the best I have had in LA! I know, bold statement. The cornmeal waffle was spectacular. While there were no other kids or families there, I brought my baby and it wasn't a big deal.

Waitstaff was on top of it with making sure we had what we needed, refills and cleaning up unwanted plates. Would definitely come back again for a girls brunch or for a glass of wine at the bar.

The food was awful. There were 8 of us, and all 8 entrees were terrible. My scallops were not "charred". They were burnt. Couldn't get the burnt taste out of my mouth. Sent that back and then tried the polenta. It was runny and flavorless. I sent it back because what chef puts raw garlic in an entree? Huge mistake because the bitter taste overpowered any possible flavor. Every entree and every appetizer was below mid, not to mention, was every entree supposed to be like a three-bite tapas size, but for the price of a typical LA entree? I am literally embarrassed for them. I will stick with Baltaire, Funke, Elephante, Avra, Osteria Mozza, and Catch LA, etc. They should use the 6% additional service charge, which I was happy to pay, to hire a new chef and revamp their menu to include flavor and more food on a plate.