"This was a creation, not a renovation," Daniel Boulud told the New York Post about Brasserie Boulud, the 225-seat restaurant that opened on October 8 at 1900 Broadway, facing the Lincoln Center plaza. The address is three rooms under one name: a daytime café, a dinner brasserie and a late lounge. Each keeps its own schedule, and none of them was built around the Metropolitan Opera's or the New York Philharmonic's calendar.
So in November, the Lincoln Center neighbor's real question is which of the three is open before or after your curtain.
Fifteen Months of Dark Windows on Lincoln Plaza
The space has a long history. Bar Boulud opened in 2008, and Boulud Sud and Épicerie Boulud followed in 2011, according to West Side Rag. All three closed in June 2025. West Side Rag gives the date as June 22, while Eater NY gives June 23. Boulud told Eater it was simply time for something new. The Épicerie closure applied only to this one shop. Eater noted that the other four Manhattan Épicerie locations stayed open.
Reopening took longer than planned. The Post reported that the Dinex Group needed months of construction, that the grab-and-go Épicerie was shrunk and moved from its old spot between the two restaurants to the side, and that the permits involved a slew of city agencies. All told, the storefronts went about fifteen and a half months without a Boulud restaurant. Now the row facing the plaza is complete again, with Cafe Fiorello and The Smith on the same block.
Three Rooms, Three Schedules
Rockwell Group designed the space around a floating oval bar with a zinc top. The main room has leather banquettes and cerused-oak arches, and three private dining rooms sit on the lower level. But on a performance night, the floor plan matters less than which part of the building is open when you are free.
| Room | Hours at opening | Reservations | What it serves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Épicerie Boulud café | Tuesday to Sunday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. | Not required, dine in or to go | Coffee, croissants, breakfast items, sandwiches, salads |
| Brasserie Boulud dining room | Tuesday to Sunday, 4:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. | Strongly suggested on Resy, walk-ins when available | The full brasserie menu |
| Bar Viv lounge | 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. | None, 40 seats | Cocktails, adults only |
The café is the cheapest way in. A croissant on the Épicerie menu is $5 and a breakfast sandwich is $12. Bar Viv is the strictest. Boulud told the Post, "It's an adult bar, no children, no dogs." The lounge is named for the late Vivian Milstein, a major financial supporter of Lincoln Center and the mother of building owner Philip Milstein.
The hours may still change. The restaurant's own menu page lists dinner from 4:30 to 10:30 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. But the Post reported on October 21 that hours were under review, with last orders taken until 11 p.m. on weeknights and 11:30 on Saturday. Check the site the day you plan to go.
Matching the Room to the Curtain
The November schedules across the plaza line up with those three rooms in a few clear ways.
- Evening curtains at 7:30. The Philharmonic's Thibaudet Performs Liszt plays David Geffen Hall on November 4, 5 and 7, each at 7:30 p.m. The Met's Medea opens at 7:30 p.m. on November 4, 10 and 13. With the dining room opening at 4:30, an early dinner fits easily, as long as you have a reservation.
- Saturday matinees. The Met's Tosca starts at 1 p.m. on November 14, and Jenůfa starts at 1 p.m. on November 21 and 28. For now, the dining room doesn't serve before 4:30, so a pre-show meal on those afternoons means a sandwich or salad from the Épicerie.
- A Friday morning concert. Frank Huang Performs Mendelssohn has an 11 a.m. performance on Friday, November 20, between evening shows on the 19th and 21st. Only the café is open at that hour, and it opens at 7 a.m.
- 8 p.m. curtains. On Saturday, November 21, Medea starts at 8 p.m. On Saturday, November 28, La Bohème starts at 8 p.m. After a late start, Bar Viv is the one room announced to stay open until midnight, and it takes no reservations.
The busiest Saturdays have both a matinee and an evening show. On November 28, Jenůfa is at 1 p.m., La Bohème is at 8 p.m., and the Philharmonic plays Rouvali's Schubert program at 7:30 p.m. All three rooms will see audience traffic that day, each at a different time.
On Met Mondays, Every Room Is Closed
Brasserie Boulud is closed on Mondays, the Post reported. The Met performs on Mondays.
- November 9: Tosca, 7:30 p.m.
- November 16: Jenůfa, 7:30 p.m.
- November 23: Jenůfa, 7:30 p.m.
- November 30: Jenůfa, 7:30 p.m.
On all four of those nights, the café, the dining room and Bar Viv are all closed at once. That makes a Monday at the Met the one performance night this month when the new restaurant isn't an option at all.
The Theater Menu Hasn't Come Back Yet
Before the opening, Eater NY reported that pre- and post-theater menus would return, timed to the New York Film Festival then running at Lincoln Center. Two weeks after opening, the Post found the menu still entirely à la carte. Boulud said a prix-fixe option might be added "based on sales." The same report said lunch won't start until November and outdoor seating not until spring.
Until then, a pre-show dinner means ordering from the full menu. The Post's review listed a $25 boudin blanc made by charcuterie chef Arthur Dehaine, a $25 merguez with harissa-spiced chickpeas that recalls Boulud Sud, a $35 lobster soufflé, a $37 duck breast à l'orange and a $25 cheeseburger. The restaurant's site lists coq au vin at $36. Executive chef Christina D'Angelo, a 20-year Dinex veteran, runs the kitchen, and pastry chef Katalina Diaz makes a tarte tatin with Honeycrisp apples, maple syrup and Calvados. The Dinex announcement also promised rotating daily specials, including Dover sole, lamb daube, duck pie and salt-baked branzino, and the return of the DB Burger.
Book ahead. When Eater covered the opening, Resy reservations had just gone live and were already booked well into October. Resy still lists reservations as strongly suggested, with walk-ins seated when there's room. Once lunch starts, the Saturday matinee gap in the second example above should close. Whether the theater menu comes back will depend on how the first season sells.
Living a block or two from Lincoln Center means your evenings follow the plaza's calendar, and a new neighbor like Brasserie Boulud changes how those evenings work. If you own near Lincoln Square and want to know what that daily convenience is worth in today's market, the team at Panache Real Estate would be glad to walk you through it. Request Your Free Home Valuation.
