Boulevard Restaurant

Any opinions on Boulevard? I am taking the Mrs. there for our anniversary. Would like to hear how others think it is. We don't go out too often, this is a special night for her, would like it to be nice. Thanks Mucho.... Bud E.

[Paul H]

Boulevard is a great restaurant. I've been many times and the food has always been outstanding. I would have no qualms about taking someone there for a special evening.

[axejazz]

Had the best pork chop I've ever eaten there, but agree about the poor service; it made us resentful about paying the hefty bill.

[petereats]

Ate at Boulevard last night with 3 others. Sampled the caprese (billed as buffalo mozzarella w/ heirloom tomatoes), dungeness crab salad, duck breast, and baked alaska. The caprese was pretty much a failure due to oversalted mozzarella, the crab salad was an underwhelming mayo-based mash served with a chunk of overcooked crab atop a slice of melon (IMHO the melon didn't work here), and the duck was barely pink after pleading with the waitress for it to be done rare (she would only go as low as medium-rare, which it certainly was not). Baked alaska was the highlight of the evening, even though I found it a bit too sweet for my tastes.

One of my companions didn't eat more than a single bite of his king salmon, although I did not try it and cannot comment.

Service was a disaster; at one point a busboy came over to refill my glass of water as I was taking a sip from it, and signaled with his hands for me to place it back on the table immediately so he could top it off and get out of there..

I had left to go to the bathroom just after ordering dessert, and upon my return discovered that my napkin had been removed from the table.

Our waitress and server could not identify the difference between the two butters served with the bread other than that one was "salted" and the other "very expensive, good stuff from Vermont" with sea salt on top. Call me crazy, but if I'm served two different types of butter (obviously different since one was white and one yellow), I expect some sort of guidance from my waiter as to what's going on.

All in all, a lackluster experience. Overrated? Yes. Overpriced? Absolutely. Do I miss New York even more now? Yes!!!

We have eaten there any number of times and it's our favorite place to take guests who have never been here. Had my birthday dinner there this year and it was perfect. Like Morton said, anything from the wood fired oven is excellent. Since I have a sweet tooth, I think the desserts are outstanding also.

And, be sure to get a table in the back for the great view. Have a wonderful time.

Boulevard is a wonderful restaurant. Call and see if you can claim a table with a bay view.

My faves on the menu are the seared foie gras and any meat that comes out of the wood fire oven. The wood fire oven rack of lamb is one of the best preparations of lamb in the Bay Area.

My only complaints about Boulevard are that the soup and salad are not good values i.e. expensive, small portion, good but probably not worth it. This is definitely not a place to skip the entrees and order a selection of apps. Also, the desserts are too sweet for my taste though I'm very particular about my desserts and most people love the dessert there.

Nancy Oakes is famous for her Foie, so i would take advantage of trying it there (if you like foie) before PETA get's their way and manages to convince some politico to make foie banning their platform.....

I have never been a fan of lamb... but learned to appreciate it very much at my first visit to Boulevard a few years ago.

I have fond memories of excellent cosmopolitans and the scallop risotto...

The best dessert I ever had at a restaurant was when I was at Boulevard and asked if they would serve me some simple fresh berries with cream. It wasn't on the menu, but berries were in season, they had cream, so they served it to me. The dessert was delicious. I really appreciate that kind of accommodation.

Liz