Restaurant Review: BLVD (Chicago)

BLVD was designed to evoke Old Hollywood glamour. The interior is dark to the point where you’ll need a flashlight to navigate and the patio is filled with people who are more concerned with taking selfies and showing off then food quality. The food here is awful and the people are not much better. This is a place to bring an escort before adjourning to a nearby hotel. The chef was brought over from Rose Mary (full review here), but it does not look like he will even be able to make this place serve good meals.

Anthony’s Take: BLVD is expensive and not worth one-fifth of the prices it charges. The crowd is a bunch of low-class wannabes and the food is awful. This is a restaurant to avoid and one that I will not be returning to in the future. My steak was sent back because it had a caustic, chemical taste to it that burned my throat for the rest of the evening. The only positive was the overly-friendly and excited server.

Decor & Vibe

We sat on the patio, which is lovely. It has been nicely appointed with plants and light fixtures and works well for dining most of the year. They say it is open all year, but even with an overhead heater, I would not sit out here in the dead of winter. A lighted tunnel leads to the patio. This space was filled with diners taking selfies almost the entire time we were there.

Lots of plants surround the outdoor patio.

The space is comfortable and elegant.

Food

The menu offers typical steakhouse fare with prices to match. It tries to seem classic with innovative twists, but it fails across the board. We did not think any of the dishes were good and some were inedible.

A bread basket was brought out first. No complaints, but nothing great either.

I started with the Crab Cake. It was overcooked and a little burnt on the one side.

My husband had the Onion Soup Fondue. The flavors were fine, but the portion was really small.

I ordered the eight-ounce Filet Mignon. It was served with roasted garlic. I took a bite of the steak and my mouth and throat burned. It had a chemical taste that was caustic and made the steak inedible. I sent it back and did not want anything else. My throat burned for some time after dinner.

My husband had the Grilled Lamb Chops. He said they were fine, but nothing notable.

We order Mac & Cheese and Sautéed Spinach as sides. The Mac & Cheese was probably the best dish we had. The Sautéed Spinach was awful. It was all stems and bitter.

Drinks

BLVD has a full bar, cocktail menu, wine list, beer, and soft drinks.

We had a glass of Brut Rosé and a Champagne Cocktail. They were both fine.

We also ordered a bottle of water. I was happy to have it to flush some of the awful taste from my mouth.

Overall Impression:

The service and atmosphere are great at BLVD. I would not recommend dining here, though. The food is awful, it’s expensive, and it attracts a crowd that is there to show off on Instagram versus actually care about the meal. Avoid at all costs.

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