Bistro Le Relais

Recommended for blind dates, family with children, acquaintances that admire planes. This venue is located perfectly for patio dining where patrons can enjoy the take off and landing of various aircraft. Children are kept amused while waiting for dinner. If conversation lags there is often an aircraft to discuss. The waitstaff is friendly, the food arrived cooked as requested, the drinks kept topped off, and there were plenty of aircraft to discuss. Not recommended for those with anaphylaxis food allergies. Very interesting venue to visit. Children highly enjoyed the aircraft.

Really awesome spot, you get to watch the airplanes at Bowman Field from the back patio, while enjoying dinner. And good drinks, good and service.

Wonderful art deco atmosphere that brings you back in time. Excellent food; it helps if you can read a bit of French, the the menu is American with a few French dishes. Good wine selection. Great service, but do not expect fast service. It is more in the European tradition of leisurely dining.

Super cool place tucked away at Bowman Field. Was seated on the back patio and able to watch small planes and helicopters take off. Food was great as well! Worth the stop for a special occasion.

Le Relais (or the Relay) name dates back to what essentially was an early name for a place to stop and change out your horses, get a snack, take a nap, and head back out. So it makes sense it is in an airport terminal. However, I suspect unlike ‘le Relais’ from long ago, this is an up-scale high-end French restaurant. My wife and I make reservations for a Friday night and got what I suspect is one of last times for the night (7:15p). We arrived about 5 minutes early and were immediately greeted when we walked in the front door. There is no ‘lobby’, I suspect to maximize table count, you are in the dining area as soon as you step in. The place was very busy. The greeter seated us immediately and our experience began… Unlike other recent reviewers, we were immediately served by our bus boy with water and then moments later, our waiter, Jered, greeted us and brought menus. We ordered drinks and then with my indecision, a couple of visits later from Jered, we ordered. French onion soup, half-caesar salad and scallops for me, caesar and filet for her. Soup was border line on temperature, luke-warm, but the soup that engorged the crustini was still hot. I suspect that is a sign it sat a bit too long before they brought to me but it was hot in the kitchen, flavor was decent, nothing earth shattering. I would suggest skipping the french onion soup. Salads were good, lots of flavor, partly from anchovies which were in tiny pieces so you would hardly know they were there, but they bring the flavor. The scallops were amazing. Maybe the best I have ever had. The sides (broccolini mix and risotto) they were paired with were so-so, the raspberry reduced sauce was pretty bland and no real detectible raspberry notes from my palet. I think that sauce failed to elevate the dish as it was needed. The filet had a wine-reduction glaze which I think (I stole a bite from my wife) took away from the flavor of the filet some and I also think it was slightly over-cooked, but good none the less. Sides on that plate (potatoes and asparagus were solid wins). We did order the soufflé dessert and the tiramisu. If you like warm sweet creme things, you will love the soufflé (which I did). The tiramisu was light but full of flavor and just wonderful really. Then, my cappuccino arrived and the pairing with the tiramisu was like another level of experience all by itself. Skip the coffee, get the cappuccino, it was $2 more and you can thank me later. All in all the experience was very good. The staff was great, the food was very good. I just think for $200 (after tip) for two people it just didn’t meet the bar for me. Just not enough wow factor for the price. Maybe other dishes are their best. Better filets can definitely be had at other local establishments. The scallops and desserts and cappuccino were by far the big wins for me. I gave 5 stars, but they would be a 4.5 based on the wow factor to price ratio. We will go back someday, as it definitely is a unique place and worth a visit.