Boulevard American Bistro

I’ve been hearing good things about this restaurant so I decided to check it out. I had the chicken salad for lunch and though it was a bit pricy, it was very good! I also had a very nice waitress named Ramona that took very good care of me. Her being European with an accent put that edge of classiness that this restaurant perceives. My overall experience was great and I will definitely be coming back!

The food and service was awesome! Nicole suggested the blackened Ribeye and it was so amazing. Great service!

Nothing special whatsoever at this place. Ordered the New York strip (off menu) and my girlfriend ordered the blackened ribeye. Food came out and they brought out the regular ribeye that was rare vs. medium rare. She immediately took the steak back and left my strip on the table until they cook the correct steak for my girlfriend.
About 7 minutes passed and I asked our waitress to take my steak back so that we can eat together when her’s comes out. She did so and then they brought out both steaks once her’s was done. Mine was luke-​warm at best while her’s was steaming hot. I had to ask our waitress to put my steak back on the grill so I could actually enjoy it. It came out slightly charred; our waitress was apologetic about the mixup with the steaks and delay but the entire meal was rather disappointing. All this being said, we were literally the only 2 people in the restaurant and service was spotty and inattentive.
Aside from the issues, the oysters were delicious as an appetizer.

If you have tried Houston’s, then this new place is almost identical. The fish burger is worth a try. So is the kale salad.
My understanding is that the new owners are the old operators of the previous operation.

I wasn’t overly impressed with the food especially given the price. I had the chicken for lunch, and it was decent but in my mind overpriced for what I received.
For our business lunch, I didn’t find the environment private and felt as if everyone around us could listen to our discussion.

I’m going to give this place 3 stars because it’s in the middle. This place is just that. Mediocre.
Reading other reviews you can gather that this place is just Houston’s with a navy blue color palette, holding onto favorites with a couple of replacements. The new owners basically bought the place and recipes, minus my favorite entrée the Hawaiian ribeye, This place comes close in looks, but it’s not all there. It’s definitely not as buzzing as it used to be and I’ll get to why.
The feel of this place is just like the old Houston’s, nothing much really changed in terms of ambiance. Intimate, classic steakhouse type booths, and overhead light. The only thing that really changed is the plating and MAYBE the booth seat cover. Oh, and the globular sugar caddies are replaced with a silver cylinder.
The S.O. took me here just to put my wonders to rest. To be honest I would much rather be in Metairie than downtown to dine, I don’t know why, maybe because I don’t want to feel like a tourist or deal with extra janky streets. So I wanted to see just how similar it was to Houston’s to come here instead of St. Charles. We ordered the smoked salmon, tuna salad, and cheeseburger because it was lunch time and we didn’t want to run an insane bill up.
The smoked salmon is pretty identical. It was served on a wooden board and tastes a tad smokier than Houston’s, but looks darker. Maybe liquid smoke? We asked for extra toast off the cuff, and our server happily obliged and gave us more toast points and spread as soon as we were low. Service is phenomenal by the way, everything from seating to receiving the bill was timed perfectly. Someone left a bunch of knives by my S.O.‘s head though. Don’t know when they got there but they were probably there for the duration of our meal and he noticed them on the way back from the bathroom. But I digress.
The tuna salad tasted pretty much the same. Spring mix, mango, avocado, chopped red onion, tomato, white ginger and seared tuna with special dressing. The fish was seasoned well and seared rare. Here are my gripes with it. It tasted fishy on the first bite. You may think to yourself, well it’s fish, it should taste fishy. NO. Fresh fish does not taste fishy! Especially when you’re eating raw tuna with a sear I want it to taste fresh out the ocean. Okay realistically not really. Looking back at my photo I see it’s a great cut of fish, but purple when fresh tuna should be closer to red. The way they plate it makes the portion seem so small, sort of like a deconstructed salad. Your tuna here, your ginger here, everything else in a small heap over here. For $ 18 I’m looking for at least a mountain of lettuce, you can keep the amount of protein the same. Either put it on a smaller, less awkward plate or more greens, make people feel like you’re getting what you pay for. I was searching for mango and I got 3 small chunks. Why? Who cuts a mango and slices 3 pieces off? I was sitting there portioning my bites to ensure I got a little of everything as it was intended.
My S.O. had the burger, again we were here during lunch and it is American fare, burgers are (sort of) American right? It is a beef burger with pickles, tomato, shredded lettuce, and cheese on a brioche bun. The brioche is HUGE by the way. I told the waitress everything tasted great before I knew he wasn’t enjoying it. He was very unimpressed and I kept asking him if he wanted something else. His thoughts were that it was unseasoned, something like you can make at home and «whatever.» $ 15 for whatever. He only had half and he was super hungry before we came. I took the rest home to try it so I can properly review it myself, maybe give a small bite of the patty to my dog. However, we were both running to the restroom after we left the restaurant. Needless to say it went in the trash, and I hate wasting food but not sacrificing another trip to the restroom for it.
I really wanted to give this place the benefit of the doubt and justify their pricing because they were serving high quality ingredients. High quality doesn’t mean anything if it’s not fresh. Something was off and still served to us. On top of that, the prices seem even higher than I last saw at Houston’s at Metairie, and that’s with the last price increase that I remember. I know I know, food prices have gone up but it’s getting a little ridiculous when you increase the price yet give less. If you’re around Metairie and you want Houston’s spinach dip, fried oysters Rockefeller, smoked salmon and don’t feel like trekking to St. Charles, come here. You will be sacrificing some seasoning with that decision though and get less polished dishes. We will probably not return unless they do a revamp with their menu or to test their entrees, still highly doubtful on that. We will take the trip to Houston’s and at least get some live jazz and a romantic date out of it.

First time here and so far I’m not impressed. I was seated at my table a good 7 min before anyone came over to greet me. Finally a gentlemen came over and asked if I wanted something to drink. I had to ask for his name because he did not introduce himself. He stated his name was Pete and that Ivan would be my server. I asked for water with lemon. A few moments later another gentlemen appeared and handed me a plain water and then proceeded to ask me if I knew what I wanted. Again I had to ask for his name because he too did not introduce himself. He told me his name was Ivan so I concluded that he was my server. I asked him if anyone ever introduced themselves, he chuckled and said yes we do. But in fact they didn’t. So I placed my order for a house salad with added chicken and asked Ivan to bring the lemon I had previously asked for. He did. When my salad was brought out it was slathered in dressing. I would have preferred to have the dressing on the side in case I wanted to take salad home. Now I can’t. Salad was mediocre at best. I will not be back.

The fiancé and I stopped in for dinner last Thursday and I have to say it felt like I was back at my favorite restaurant! Food was on point and the wait staff was just as courteous and friendly as one would expect it to be. I definitely will be a regular at my old favorite spot!
Having the chicken for the first time. Delicious

The service was great but something is not working right in the kitchen. The shrimp were overcooked and the sauce was broken and oily. The fish was also overcooked. For the prices of these entrees there should be fewer mistakes. I also think the menu could expand a bit as far as entrée options. I read on here after my visit that it’s the same as Hustons pretty much, and I never liked Hustons at all. Makes sense!

Visited after they opened– simply out of curiosity. My husband and I visited the venue before — when it was Houston’s. We were upset to see it go, but happy to see that some of our favorites were still on the menu– spinach dip, grilled chicken salad.
Our first experience was amazing. The wait staff payed attention to every detail. Because we were impressed, we decided to make reservations and treat our family to a nice meal. Unfortunately– we weren’t seated until 30 minutes after arriving (and we had reservations). The bar was packed and the waiting area was full… Making the wait even worse. Weekend or not– if you take reservations… Keep the reservations.
The food is ok… The grilled chicken salad is wonderful! My favorite part– you can bring your own bottle of wine and NOT pay a corkage fee. We will definitely visit again based on the ability to bring your own wine, the location and the salad.

DELISH!
I was with a party of six for lunch today. We all loved our food.
We ordered:
Smoked salmon appetizer: perfect (my favorite)
Crab cakes: perfect, a lot of crabmeat
Redfish with lump crabmeat: delish
Caesar salad with fried oysters: delish
Club sandwich with homemade French fries: delish
Baked potatoes: delish
Service: excellent waitress, I wish I knew her name
My friend said that she wished she could eat there everyday!!!

Had dinner at the bar with Pete and Garrett! Grilled artichokes, baked potato soup and grilled snapper with asparagus… key lime pie for desert… outstanding food and service!!!

Grilled Artichokes are amazing ! Friendly service, love the atmosphere entrees are awesome ! No complaints so far and we have been 3 times.

Let me start off my saying I have been wanting to try this place since Houstons closed down. My family and I visited this restaurant Wednesday March 23^rd and was sadly disappointed.
We had the cream spinach and oyster appetizer. The cream spinach was great however, the oyster appetizer wasn’t that appetizing. The oyster weren’t fired that hard and also taste as if they were reheated and the spinach was cold. I didn’t put up a fuss because I was looking forward to dinner.
Dinner has arrived.
My husband ordered a Medium well ribeye and received a VERY VERY VERY well done steak he was not pleased.
I ordered the redfish topped with crabmeat it looked so delicious but upon first bite it was C O L D! After this I wasn’t happy.
However with the food being the worse the serve was exceptional. Our waiter Derrick was GREAT!!!
This restaurant has only been up open a few months. I would love for them to get everything together and prepare the food a lot better. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations AT ALL!

Solid four stars. Firm as a rock. On both occasions I have been here, I have been promptly greeted and politely shown to a table. The host even pointed out the step ups at various locations and reminded me to step up. There is plenty of seating on the main floor that doesn’t require one to step up in order to be seated for handicapped patrons, and the entrance is also handicapped accessible
Once seated, there is prompt beverage service. I really like how you are given the perfect amount of time between being seated, and asked for beverage, if you have any questions, ordering food and receiving the food, then receipt of the tip. Exactly perfect timing. Impressive. The food was great, I am not sure which was my favorite meal. The chicken was good, perfectly moist, but still on the bone. The mashed potatoes were perfection. The salmon was perfectly cooked, but the coleslaw was just ok. The salt on the tomato (it came out of the kitchen salted, I did not salt them) was too much for my taste, but good and fresh. The cobbler for desert was awesome.
The restaurant was very neat and clean. Parking is plenty in this u-​shaped strip mall. One star deduction because while I do not like a brightly lit restaurant, it was a bit too dark for me to read, as I often do when dining out alone. I will be back!

Based on my singular experience so far, this place basically hasn’t changed since it was Houston’s Restaurant. I was pleased by this because I happened to LOVE the Kale Salad and Cheeseburger at Houston’s and was very sad when I learned they had closed down. So I was pleased to see it almost completely unchanged. I had no complaints about the service either and I guess that is saying a lot for going out to eat on Valentines weekend. It was packed but they were able to seat us very efficiently.
The menu and prices are about 90% unchanged as well. I did notice they took the Hickory Burger off the menu so maybe an entrée or two has been switched out but other than that… you can basically pretend you are still at Houston’s. I DID enjoy one of their new appetizers called Boulevard Oysters… they were the bomb… I still dream about them. Get them! You won’t be disappointed! I know there are probably a lot of other amazing things on their menu worth trying but I’m going to stick to this place for my regular cheeseburger fixes.

So happy my Mom and I finally got over to Boulevard American Bistro! We’ve missed our favorite Metairie dining out spot for awhile now. First of all, the new renovations give it a new and fresh feel. Still very rich inside.
Kevin was our waiter. Very attentive. Service was on point! Recognized a lot of the same staff so that was great to see.
The Food! Appetizer, the Boulevard Oysters. Awesome! They were huge and juicy! See pic.
Entrees, We both had the Filet. Perfection!
Dessert, Kevin recommend the Apple Cobbler and that didn’t disappoint either! It came out piping hot in a cast iron rectangular dish. It had pecans maybe walnuts with cinnamon brown sugar who knows but it was even better than the five nut brownie we used to split.
A little tip… we got there right before the dinner rush around 4:45 and then all of the sudden it got packed!
Can’t wait to return for lunch in the near future!

The food and cocktails served here is top notch!!! The wait staff is knowledgeable and very attentive. The food is appealingly plated and tastes as good as it looks. The prices are reasonable. This is a nice date night restaurant. Stop by and see for yourself. ;)

I rarely give a review after one visit, I actually have a three visit system that I stick to pretty faithfully as it is difficult to contextually assess anything based on a single encounter. Nevertheless, on a calming 50 degree and surprisingly none windy Wednesday evening, I decided to finally dine at The Boulevard to find out just how much Houston’s would be missed, if it would be missed at all.
Let me preface this review by saying I, unlike some of the others who have left reviews, was not a regular or an avid Houston’s patron. In fact in the nine or so years that I have spent such an ample amount of time in New Orleans I have only been to each Houston’s location a handful of times. Therefore, there were no slivered heart strings or feelings of nostalgic loss in Houston’s choice to abandon the Metairie location. That said my experience at this new Houston’s like replacement was remarkable.
As I walked in I was quickly greeted by two beautiful young women, I quickly declined traditional seating and parked myself on one of the white alligator upholstered bar chairs. I often sit at the bar when dining alone, as the bartender gives one the greatess access to information needed when learning the terrain of a new resturant. Pete, my bartender, was the ideal man on the other side of the counter. He’d worked for Houston’s before the transition and had a tremendous amount of insight on both why they left and it’s new replacement. Not long after setting down my dinner napkin, handing me the menu and placing my complimentary water before me, Pete suggested the clam chowder. It was a exquisite suggestion, as it may have been the best new England style clam chowder I’ve ever had.
For my main course I ordered the red fish with a side of red cabbage. The fish was cooked very well and the mashed potatoes that came with the dish were a nice complement. The red cabbage was a bit too sweet for my liking; I believe had it been given in a smaller portion it may have provided the plate and my palate with a more piquant and balanced collection of flavor. But it was a relatively healthy portion so I salted generously to lessen its saccharine wallop. I washed it all down with a ginger ale and I was quite satisfied having choosen to come on this night.
I would definitely suggest this resturant to anyone dining in the Metarie area. Above Legacy Kitchen, Bone Fish Grill, Bobby Herbert’s, and Zea, it’s very likely to be the best option on the Boulevard.

Boulevard is located in the old Houston’s building on Veterans near Houma. We were disappointed when Houston’s closed and decided to check this new place out once we heard that they were open.
Dining with me were my wife and two kids, both of whom are under six. Entering the restaurant, I noticed that it looks exactly like Houston’s did… I don’t think much was done to alter the décor.
We sat in a booth up by the bar… I ordered an Abita Amber (which was one of only two beers on draft) and everyone else had soft drinks.
Our waiter was young and had a hard time getting through the specials… we ordered the smoked salmon appetizer, followed by a cheeseburger and roasted chicken breast for the kids and my wife and I each had a salad. I added a cup of the soup de jour, which was a texas style chicken soup.
The salmon was good… it was served warm and with a fresh garlic aioili and crustinis. The smoked flavor was just right and the fresh garlic and dill evident in the aioli added the perfect touch. This was my favorite part of the meal.
The soup wasn’t great… it was a creamy chicken with cheese, avocado and a few other ingredients. There was a scoop of jambalaya dropped in the middle that didn’t do the dish any favors. It was bland and actually kind of cold… and the serving was too large for what I think they were trying to accomplish with the flavor.
The salads were nothing special either… I had a house salad with an herb vinaigrette. There was way too much dressing and the salad needed softer lettuce… too much frisée. I only ate a few bites.
By the end of the meal, we spent over $ 100. We had the salmon appetizer, two kids meals, two salads, a cup of soup and two beers. With a 15% tip, the bill total was $ 103… which I thought was overpriced for what we received. If we would have had some of the entrees, we would have spent closer to $ 150.
BOTTOM LINE: Similar to what you would remember from Houston’s, but overpriced and not quite as good. We won’t be hurrying back.