A California Avenue cocktail bar from the Michelin-starred Protégé team, serving creative Japanese and American-influenced cocktails, highballs, and chef-driven East Asian bar snacks. No reservations.
Bar Underdog at 299 California Avenue in Palo Alto is the cocktail bar from Master Sommelier Dennis Kelly and Executive Chef Anthony Secviar, the French Laundry alumni behind Michelin-starred Protégé directly across the street. The name reflects the team’s own origin story: they opened Protégé without financial backing and earned a Michelin star within nine months. Bar Underdog is their version of a dive bar without the grit — neighborhood in feel, but anything but ordinary in execution.
The bar was designed with Tokyo, London, and New York as its inspiration, blending Japanese bartending precision with American mixology ease. The cocktail program is the main event, built around house-made ingredients, house-infused spirits, and Japanese techniques including a dedicated carbonation machine for highballs. Signature drinks include the Toki Whisky Highball, the XXX (a take on a porn star martini elevated with Champagne pearls), a C.P.R. Sazerac-style cocktail with house-made cola, and the mezcal-driven Pickle Juice with lactose-fermented cucumber and nasturtium. Sake, beer, and wine are also available. A Moonlight Menu offers happy hour deals during the last hour of service.
Chef Secviar’s snack menu leans into East Asian flavor profiles: mochiko fried chicken, wagyu shumai, Korean corn-cheese puffs, tuna tartare, and thrice-cooked potato wedges with Japanese curry mayo. The space seats 40, including a 14-seat bar. No reservations — first come, first served. Open Tuesday through Thursday 4 PM to 11 PM, Friday and Saturday until midnight. Closed Sunday and Monday.
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Diner Notes
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