Le Bouillon — Restaurant in Omaha

A $250 punch in the gut. My husband and I dined with another couple here on Valentine's Day. We got the tasting menu with the wine pairings. We are all foodies and have been blown away before by food and wine tasting menus at some of Omaha’s finest like V. Mertz, Boiler Room, Darios, Monarch, & Bella Rose…..and we expected Le Boullion to be up there with these. Unfortunately, we found the food at Le Boullion to be more comparable to what we had at the French restaurant at our all-inclusive Secrets resort in Mexico....which isn't bad, but it's just not a $250 dining experience.

The service was slow and terrible. Our waitress made us feel like every request was a huge chore. IE: We arrived early to enjoy a drink before our friends got there. The waitress told me the only wine I could order would be a 3oz, $12 pour from the wine tasting menu. I explained I was hoping to have something other than what I was already going to have with dinner. She reluctantly dropped a wine menu off with maybe 6 wines on it, no description. I asked if she could elaborate on any of the wines, which she did in a sort of I-can't-believe-you're-such-an-idiot-that-you-don't-know-what-these-wines-are kind of way. She was just really falsely sweet. And when we got into dinner, she'd drop off our food with maybe a 5 word description and nothing to say about the wine that was paired with it. All of us teased about how bad she hated us and how she was probably spitting in our food in the back lol!

The food was the biggest let-down. Before the tasting we ordered two separate appetizers. Shrimp, which were overcooked and the oysters, which were bland. The tasting menu was a total joke. The amuse-bouche was a hushpuppy, a piece of bread and ham on a toothpick, and the WORST I’ve ever witnessed on a tasting menu - a soggy cracker (that we're pretty sure came from Costco) with what appeared to be Easy Cheese on top. Course 1 - Soup, way over-salted. Course 2, the entree, was duck, which was tough and gamey. Course 3 - dessert, which was a mold of what seemed to be Dannon vanilla greek yogurt, and chocolate donut bite which was hard as a rock - I could not even bite into mine.

By the time the bill came we'd been there 3 hours and all of us needed to get home to our babysitters. We did not provide this feedback before leaving (we should have), but all of us were still so disturbed the next day by how ripped off we felt, that I called and spoke to the manager, Katie. She said she would follow-up with me again but I never heard back.

A few good things - The interior design is beautiful and the location is fun. We had a great time with our friends!

Bottom line, if you're looking for an exquisite food, drink and dining experience, do not go to...

This is a continental style dining room with a wine cellar to be visited and appreciated.

As the original sommelier, head bartender and sometimes waiter and dishwasher!!. I appreciate very much what all former employees and present employees did and do today to build the ambiance of this fine French Restaurant and continue to offer the fine continental service and excellent dishes that bring pleasure to the customer's table.

I started with the restaurant in 1969 and loved reading the French newspaper, a small gossip paper which had all the latest gossip about chefs in Paris that our chef knew. He did not have a good education and so needed me to read the paper to him as he prepared the food for the evening.

As the Blackstone hotel had been sold to the Radisson corporation, the continental dining room was being renovated and it was not sure if it would reopen as a continental restaurant. So I left there to build another fine wine cellar full of the finest French wines and a few California bottles here at Le Bouillon then known as the French Cafe.

My cellar was full of Frank Schoonmaker Selection wines from Burgundy, Macon, Beaujolais Grand Cru, Beaujolais Village, Loire Valley whites, Chateuaneuf du Papes. A nice selection of Bordeaux First growth and Second growth. As well as some very fine German estate Mossel and Rhine wines. Our Champaign selection was small but from the famous houses. However our most popular wines at the time were Lancers Rose, Mateus Rose and Cora Asti spumante. I even had a few bottles of Morgan David under cob webs in the small wine closet ( wine cellar) for my favorite Jewish dinners.

Today I feel delighted to visit my old home as it is home to me and the staff makes me feel very proud of this establishment as they continue with the excellent service in wine and beverage which compliments the fine dining as we did long ago.

At your visit be as delightful as mine always...

Le Bouillon creates a culinary experience that transports diners to southwestern France with honest food and a brilliantly integrated menu.

The flavors are layered, authentic, and straight out of the rustic kitchens of the French and Spanish Basque region.

I am a huge fan of James Beard Award nominee Chef Paul Kulik and I’m so grateful for the ways he has elevated the culinary culture of Omaha—Le Bouillon fortifies his legacy as a taste-maker in the city and someone who continues to set the standard for dinning excellence.

With winsome Parisian music quietly playing in the background, Le Bouillon’s ambiance is warm and inviting—modern and tasteful, while simultaneously reminiscent of a traditional Basque dining room. The staff are friendly and hospitable. The wine list is focused, featuring several vintages that are rarely accessible in many major US cities. And everything on the menu is designed to compliment each of its offerings (though diners less accustomed to rustic French food may need a server to guide them through the menu).

Located in the heart of Omaha’s Old Market district, Le Bouillon is destined to be one of the city’s finest restaurants.

Their brunch is fabulous. We're hoping to make it every Sunday we're in town. We ordered the day's pastries with fromage blanc, the waffles with black pepper butter and honey and fried rabbit, the egg in a brioche basket with spinach cream and prosciutto cracklings, and threw in a side of thick cut bacon. Everything was perfect and I would recommend everything we ordered.

You really can’t go wrong with anything on the menu. When in Omaha, Le Bouillon is a must—don’t miss out on this unforgettable...