The new Boa Steakhouse looks pretty but lacks flavor. The verdict? Half-a-star.

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What is up with Boa’s new über-chic flagship restaurant in West Hollywood?

First meal, first week, not brilliant, but decent. A few weeks later, second meal: awful in every way. My first impulse is to think I just happened to latch onto the best menu items on that initial visit. Caesar salad. Prime steak tartare. New York strip dry-aged 40 days. Corn with lime butter. Fries.

That’s part of it, certainly. But I had a similar experience at Boa Santa Monica, where the restaurant showed well early on and went quickly downhill after that.
Owned by Innovative Dining Group, the group behind Sushi Roku and Katana, Boa has built its reputation as the swinging steakhouse for a new generation. Gone are the old-school fusty leather booths, the portraits of old Hollywood or signed caricatures, the sawdust on the floor, along with the obnoxious show and tell with lobsters and football-size potatoes. Appetizers and sides sound more California than East Coast, and the look is smart and contemporary.

To read the rest of S. Irene Virbila’s review and look at a very chic photo gallery, click here.