[17][18][8]: 468  The head chef is Shane McBride,[16] who was preceded by Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr.

[16] Balthazar's design was intended to resemble that of a brasserie, with high-backed red leather banquettes, scarred and peeling brass oversize mirrors, high tin ceiling, scuffed tiled floor, faded saffron yellow walls, large windows, and antique lighting.

[4] That year, the New York Daily News rated its French onion soup the second-best in the city.

[13] Balthazar made headlines in 2022 when comedian and actor James Corden was banned from the restaurant by owner Keith McNally, after reportedly being "abusive" and "extremely nasty" to staff.

"[25][26] Balthazar is featured in the 2009 autobiography Under the Table: Saucy Tales from Culinary School, by Katherine Darling (Simon & Schuster),[27] in the 2010 novel The Associate, by John Grisham (Random House),[28] in the 2010 novel Something Borrowed, by Emily Giffin (Macmillan),[29] in the 2010 novel 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction, by Rebecca Goldstein (Random House),[30] in the 2011 juvenile fiction novel Holiday Spirit, by Zoe Evans (Simon & Schuster),[31] in the 2011 autobiography Innocent Spouse: A Memoir, by Carol Ross Joynt (Random House),[32] and in the 2012 novel The Stolen Chalice, by Kitty Pilgrim (Simon & Schuster).