Boulevard Bistro

The night we went the place was packed, which is a MYSTERY to me because the food was awful from beginning to end, although the service was fine. My after dinner "drink" was pepto-bismol!  Need I say more?

This is right around the block from us and we have been there many times.  We love the food and have had only good experiences.  We have had several of their salads and they are very fresh.  I almost always get the chicken parmigiana.  It is the best I have ever had. It is so good that I am reluctant to try other dishes.. Reasonable prices.  Good service. BYOB.  Great spaghetti too- perfectly cooked.

We frequent Westfield restaurants a bit and wanted to try this one, based on a recommendation.  We're sorry we did.  We were a party of 10 last night, and this was everyone's first visit.  We were seated quickly and it was downhill from there.  Our order was taken a while after we were all seated, but we needed to ask for bread for the table, which came after 30 minutes.  Although the bread was good, half our table never received appetizer plates or silverware and needed to ask for those.  We had to repeatedly ask for water, even though it would have been simpler if they just left two carafes on the table.  To say our party was neglected is putting it mildly.  I think a table of 10 is just too difficult for this restaurant.

Salads came and I specifically asked for dressing on the side.  Instead, the salad was drenched.  When I asked the owner about dressing on the side, he said it couldn't be done without waiting for a long while and suggested I take the salad as is.  Since when is dressing on the side a special request at a restaurant?  And if the kitchen cannot handle that, there are serious problems in service. There were many other mix-ups in our salads, and the owner explained that because we weren't regular customers, the kitchen was having a difficult time with the orders.  Say what?  This was our fault?

The food, except for the drenched salads, was surprisingly good considering the chaos I witnessed at the pick-up window between our waitress and the chefs.  (By the way, our waitress was great -- I could see her battling on our behalf, but later learned she was reprimanded by the owner because "they don't do special orders.")  I got the veal marsala, and although lacking a a truly superior marsala sauce, was a tasty, good-sized selection nonetheless.  The veal parmigiana eaten by several others was well-prepared and hearty, with a rich tomato sauce.  The special tilapia with calamari, clams and mussels was also good, in a tomato broth and a nice amount of fresh seafood.  However, the special menu for the evening listed Coconut Shrimp as an appetizer.  Unfortunately they were out of that by the time we ordered it at 7:30.  Poor planning, I'd say.

So the lowdown is, good food, good menu, crappy service (obviously not well trained although kudos to our waitress who did her best) and a disconnected owner who could use a bit of customer service training.  If you go as a couple, you're probably OK.  And if you are regular, not a problem.  As for us, there are plenty of better Italian restaurants in Westfield.