La Boca Steakhouse — Restaurant in New Orleans

Please forgive my photos as i wasn't planning on writing a review, but I was so satisfied that I decided to do so. The first night was perfect. Appetizer: Empanadas were good, not greasy and crispy shells, but nothing special until you added the red chili sauce, which was the absolute best of the 3 house sauces they bring. Main course: The wagyu flank steak was amazing. It was a bit tough but expected for a flank steak, especially when you are used to filet mignon. It was a perfect cook, medium rare throughout with a nice char, seasoned right without butter or anything else to detract from the steak. I never had a steak served sliced, which was a surprise, but it didn't detract from the food. I'm not sure the reason other than to check the cook. I can't emphasize the last time I had a perfectly cooked steak that wasn't drowning in butter. I was completely satisfied and would usually stop there, but I was so happy I went for desert, and I am glad I did. Dessert: The dessert sampler was phenomenal. My favorite was tied between the ice cream cake and the crepes. The chocolate cake was good, super dense, almost like Fudge due to it being flourless and the crispy almond butter bits on top with the chocolate sauce went perfect with a piece of ice cream cake but I didn't discover that until the second day I had it. The crepes were to die for along with the coconut ice cream cake. Crepes were like eating a perfectly rosted marshmallow filled with smooth chocolate cream and brought me back to a memory around the campfire as a child. The coconut was roasted on the ice cream cake, which really set it off well. I don't care for raw coconut, but I loved this. I suggest allowing the cake time to soften a bit before digging in and mixing some bites with the chocolate cake. I would order the crepes and coconut cake by themselves but would have a hard time not getting both, which when dining alone meant the sampler. The second night was good, but there were small differences that separated the 2 meals. The NY strip was a bit over cooked for medium rare, imo, in comparison to my first steak. My photos don't capture it well, but the wagyu was perfect medium rare throughout the edges, which were charred vs. the strip with no char. I also have to admit the cook on the strip wasn't far off of most medium rare cooks I have experienced at other places and I do wonder if the wagyu cook was different due in part to the amount of fat in a wagyu cut. It just felt like the 2 steaks were cooked by different people in different ways, hense the grill marks on the strip but no char taste and the wagyu without the grill marks but a nice crispy char taste and texture. I tried the "Noqui La Boca," which was ok. The dumplings were super heavy, and the gravy it came with made it really great, but I would have just preferred more gravy given the size and heaviness of the gnocchi. The dessert crepe also needed a bit more torch to caramelize the sugar on top. The first night, it tasted like a toasted marshmallow, which was not as prevalent the second night. I recommend going during the week. The first night was a week night, which I enjoyed more than the busy weekend, and I think the chef had more attention to detail being less busy. Both nights, the bill was under $100 before tip and ranged from 101 to 113 after 25% tip. I didn't try any sides, but if I did, I would have chosen the fries. A different appetizer I wish I would have tried over the gnocchi would be the Provoleta(decadent cheese) or the Chorizo de la casa(house made pork sausage) I highly recommend LaBoca if you are detail oriented and long for a perfect steak that isn't ruined by being served in a bowl of butter or unessessarily topped with some seafood. Their process is to season the steak and cook it. I highly recommend them and will be going back for sure. Just be sure not to skip dessert. You...

La Boca is a high-end Argentine steakhouse, which does not make it all too different than high-end American steakhouses except in its different chimichurri sauces offered, empanadas, and nuevo tango music playing in the background. Aside from the empanadas, La Boca offers USDA Prime beef in a good variety of cuts (some of which are atypical), sides-for-sharing, sweetbreads, and various house-made sausages.

Atmosphere is dark and intimate, service staff (including their very attentive and friendly maître d') is outstanding.

The past couple of times I went to La Boca, I ordered their rib eye cooked medium rare, which was perfectly salted and cooked. Each steak is paired with three chimichurri options: a traditional green chimichurri sauce, a horseradish/mustard sauce, and an incomparable red chimi that has a little bit of bite to it. The rib eye is the star of the show though, and is just as good with no sauce. One would be challenged to have a more delicious rib eye at La Boca's price range.

On my most recent trip to La Boca, I branched out and ordered the "Entraña Fina con la Piel", which is described as a 14 ounce skirt steak, "slow cooked", with "skin." When raw, the skin is actually a silver membrane that covers the steak. Normally removed by most restaurants during skirt steak preparation, La Boca uses the skin to add a unique texture. The "skin" amazingly crisps up with a nice meaty char, providing a protective sheath around the steak inside, which retains its juiciness and flavor. Described as "slow cooked", I expected this steak to have a "braised beef" feel and flavor, but it did not. It is a very unique steak experience that one must have for themselves to fully grasp, and one that I cannot relate to any other I've ever had. What I can say for sure is that it is delicious. As I write this, I am having insane cravings for more of the Entraña Fina con la Piel.

The sides don't necessarily shine, but they meet expectations. Service staff will encourage you to try their garlic-y french fries, which I've had and are alright. I'm not a fries guy, so I prefer their mashed potatoes -- whipped, covered in cheese, then baked and served in a cast iron skillet. The mashed potatoes are enough for 2-3 people.

There are many steak options in New Orleans, but La Boca is a "must try." I'm convinced that La Boca is not just the best steakhouse in New Orleans, it's one of the best...

The following rating is not based off of the food, but the service. My wife's friend set up dinner last night at La Boca. We had a great dinner between four friends and had been enjoying some after dinner drinks. We just closed out our tab of $693.00 and had maybe 15 more minutes left to finish out the rest of our wine. A hostess came to our table asking for us to get up and move to another table. At first I was listening, but then looked around at the rest of our glasses and then realized that we had just spent nearly $700 on a dinner, where we had reservations and only 2-1/2 hours had passed since we had sat down. So I told the hostess No thank you and we would finish our drinks and leave. She then raised her voice and started arguing with me. At that point I was very upset, I worked in the restaurant business for 4 years back in college and I would have been fired if I spoke to customers that way. So literally 15 minutes later we finished our wine and we were walking out of the restaurant. I had gone back in to get the business cards on the hostess stand so I could follow up with them today. To my dismay a older man sitting behind the hostess desk stated that he was the Owner of the restaurant and stood up and got in my face stating that they needed the table to seat a 9 top and that it was not an out of line request since they had offered a complimentary drink. If the hostess would have came and stated that they were sorry for the inconvenience and we would like to get you all a drink at the bar we would have moved, but the manner that she approached us was not that way. If the man that got in my face was the actual owner I feel sorry for the restaurant because it was a terrible representation. We are locals here in the city and the way my wife was treated there on her birthday was completely unacceptable and disgraceful. I am very upset at how the last 20 minutes of our dinner was ruined because of the restaurants greedy need to move us out the way for a 9 top, which they arranged two tables behind us for the 9 top just fine without our table. The hostess name was Kristi and we believe the "owner's" name was Garcia. The two cards that I had gone back in for was Daniel Bolzner and Rolando Figueros, although Rolando is the chef and he was not present during this event. Hopefully there is another Owner involved to make some necessary culture changes and/or personnel changes in...