Desserts On The Boulevard

About 3.5 stars out of 5.
OK so I think I should write an update to this, since it’s already been quite a while since our event on May 2^nd.
For those who didn’t hear about it due to my incessant posting on the Unilocal talk/​events pages, my boyfriend, Sean H. and I held a charity fundraiser event at Desserts on the Boulevard on May 2^nd earlier this month. It was to raise money for Child’s Play Charity, a wonderful organization that donates videogames and game equipment to childrens hospitals. We had our proceeds go to Barnes Jewish to keep things as local as possible.
I called Dessert’s a little over a month in advance to plan this, around late March. It took me a few tries to get an appointment with one of the owners, but we finally sat down with her and worked out all of the details. Everything sounded pretty good. I called again, late April to verify the number of people who were likely to show up. Obviously if over 100+ people were coming, they would need to be closed to the public but since the headcount was 30 ish tops, we figured they should probably stay open for business to other customers who were walking in as well. That was ultimately their choice, though, I might add.
We arrived early to setup and they offer to help out which was nice of them, and Sean and I ordered some food ahead of time so we could eat before the rush of people since we were both starved (I was preparing for finals at the time, so needless to say it had been a looong Wednesday for me.)
People began to trickle in at 7pm and we had everything set up nicely. (See the photos here:
)
Eventually more people came and they migrated to the main dining area where our DJ, Steve, was setting up to do trivia. Somehow there had been some miscommunications… basically they were understaffed which confused me because they knew we were coming and I had told them on the phone the headcount. Granted, the person I spoke with sounded like a young guy and not like either of the owners so it could just be that he forgot to relay the message to them or perhaps I should have gone there in person a few days before the event to let them know the headcount. It was also difficult for me seeing as I had no way of knowing how many of the «maybes» on facebook/​yelp were actual «I am coming’s» so yeah… not sure if any of that played a role or not but needless to say one person at the event was not satisfied with the time it took to cook her meal and bring it to her, plus they messed up her order. She was really pissed and ended up going to McD’s across the street. I guess if she was starving I really can’t blame her but I did feel a little guilty too as if it was somehow my fault as the event organizer.
Anyway. Also the DJ mentioned something to me after about the sound system being. odd…or they didn’t realize he needed a PA system even though I told them back in March that he did. It wasn’t a super huge deal, though, and it didn’t hinder the event by any means, but things could have gone smoother to say the least.
For the food I had, it was about ³⁄₅ stars. It was well plated, and nicely presented, but the quality of some of the ingredients was… questionable. The fish I had smelled REALLY fishy which is a red flag. I didn’t get ill so I am not complaining too much but if you read Stephen W.‘s review, you’ll see what I mean. (Stephen and I shared some of our food, and his food was even fishier than mine…) Not going to lie, I found the scallops to be very tasty and some with the lobster sliders but I could tell it wasn’t top-​notch.
I definitely want to go back maybe on a Friday night to hear their live music though. Maybe on a night when they know how busy things will be, the service and food will be better.
I also want to point out that the couple who owns this place has other jobs in the day and this is their side business. I think the woman who owns it is a nurse and she’s über busy. I can understand that, as my mom was a nurse, but I think she really needs to hire more people to manage the place when she’s not around and make sure they are trained really well. Training in restaurant management is probably half the battle, although I can’t speak from experience but one of the guests at my event used to manage a restaurant he mentioned some of that to me.
I will be back, and I want these people to do well!

I went here a few weeks ago and was disappointed and impressed at the same time. I ordered two appetizers, the Mac n Cheese and the crab pastry (I don’t think these were the actual names). The Mac n Cheese was AMAZING! Some of the best I have ever had. It had shrimp and bacon in it. I would LOVE to come back here and get it again. The Crab pastry was worse than meh… I didn’t eat it. First off it smelled… BAD. I love seafood and this smelled like it was old and would make me sick. I still decided to try it and it tasted EXTREMELY fishy almost like low grade tuna. The pastry was burnt on the bottom as well. We had to actually move the plate to another table until the waiter came to pick it up because it smelled so bad. The cheesecake was very good at the end of the meal. I also tried their turkey sandwich and thought it tasted a little bland even though it was supposed to have pepper jack cheese. I like how this place is setup on the inside and I feel they use their space extremely well. Because of the crab dish I am going to give this a 2 out of 5 star rating. If I come back I might raise it.

I really want to write the review from hell. It deserves the review from hell. However, I will hold off until I experience this place again simply because I feel it is unfair to judge a place that was understaffed for an event that they weren’t completely prepared for and it was not fully their fault.
I will make this comment though really quick — under no circumstances should a restaurant make me feel so disgusted about my food where it drives me to walk across the street to the McDonald’s to get something better tasting than what they’ve brought out to my table an hour and a half later. Yeah, that’s how long I waited for my burger and side salad…

The concept is great. The execution? Not so much. First, the live music was being blasted to all corners of the restaurant. Not just a little too loud — I’m talking migraine inducing loud. It was really difficult to carry on a conversation.
For a place with desserts in the name, I thought the options would be more refined. I had the «Rendezvous» — a brownie with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. It was tasty, but nothing I couldn’t have made at home. My husband had the mussels with a spicy vodka sauce. His report: vodka was too harsh and mussels were a combination of over/​under cooked.
The server was super awkward. I don’t think she had ever waited tables before (she brought the bottle of zinfandel we ordered in a chiller). While I think she was well-​intentioned, her discomfort made us feel uncomfortable as well. For the price, I expect better service.

I’ve been wanting to try Desserts for awhile now, and was especially excited about this concept that «everything should feel like a dessert… not just sweets.» I finally checked it out on Saturday night, and overall I liked it, but didn’t love it.
What I do love is that they’re doing something like this in the strip mall on Lindell. It totally feels like a different world inside — almost lounge swanky-​ish, with lots of light. I really love to see more and more places going a little further east in the CWE. The inside has a cool vibe, and they had this awesome saxophone player doing live music.
We ordered a couple of their small plates to share, and the tuna dish we had was good, however, the bruschetta was another story. It was literally a piece of bread drenched in tomato sauce. I would not order it again. I didn’t do any of the traditionally desserts, although what people had did look yummy.
I don’t think it’s going to be a regular hangout spot, but I do think it would be perfect for something like a good girls’ night out or even drinks before a movie (since it’s not too far from Moolah or the Chase). Overall, a cool place to grab some drinks, but I’ll probably skip the food next time.

I met my cousin and her friend here for lunch today, and it was very enjoyable even with them arriving 45 after me. I had a wonderful soup and sandwich and of course got the bacon shrimp mac and cheeseto take home for my son. My cousin had the salmon wrap which she enjoyed and her friend ordered the same as I. All of our meal were awesome. With a bottle of Late Harvest Cab it was a perfect girl’s lunch meetup and we’ll back!
Check it out!

Stopped in yesterday evening for some dessert and music and it turned out to be a great choice. The band Tribal Funk was performing; what a wonderful treat. The overall atmosphere of the place was warm and inviting. I tried the Tryst dessert, warm cake w/​carmel drizzle & Serendipity Vanilla Ice cream… OMG! I enjoyed every bite of that dessert. I could see having that on a regular basis. Definitely a nice place to visit on the weekend when you are looking for something outside of a night club setting. Looking forward to future visits and live bands.

This place is amazing. Fairly new, the owners are very involved and care about your dining experience. We went on a Friday night, the owner served as a hostess, opened the door for us and seated us. Live music was playing, a very lively sax player. We were at the cusp of happy hour (4 – 7) and were able to get the happy hr price for our appetizer. We got the scallops w/​prosciutto which was well prepared, the scallops were thick and melted in your mouth, just a tad salty due to the pork but would order again. we shared a steak flatbread which was also very well prepared and flavorful and lastly took the owners advice and got the fetish– a bread pudding dish– for dessert. the wait staff was very attentive, music was great, and the environment was very festive w/​not only a seating area but an area up front w/​high boys where ppl could stand and socialize if desired.
In short, would definitely recommend. I will def return! this is a place you really want to give your patronage to b/​c I got the sense that the owners are caring and would bend over backwards to ensure your satisfaction.