The album received generally favourable reviews with Metacritic giving it a score of 80% from 7 reviews.[11]AllMusic awarded the album 3½ stars and in its review by Matt Collar, states "Ultimately, Where Do You Start is an intimate, impressionistic, and probing release that should certainly appeal to longtime fans of Mehldau's nuanced jazz style".[1]The Guardian'sJohn Fordham observed "the dynamics and empathy of this ensemble remain pretty irresistible".[6] On All About Jazz, John Kelman noted "Where Do You Start isn't so much an alternative as it is further evidence—as if any were needed—of this tremendous trio's ability to take any material—old, new, borrowed or original—and make it firmly its own".[4]
BBC Music reviewer, Martin Longley commented "Where Do You Start revives the old Mehldau approach of covering songs from across the decades... Yet Mehldau’s method is so dominant that everything gravitates towards the trio’s signature sound, lending cohesion to a variegated crop... It all points to Mehldau entering a new prime phase in his career, both onstage and in the recording studio".[12] Phil Johnson of The Independent added, "There's not a duff track or dull moment in this 75 minutes of studio material..."[13]
