Butchers Diner — Restaurant in Melbourne

The Skinny:

Killer burger (not smash) with some decent fries. On the pricier end, but I dare you to say it's not worth the quality.

The Fat:

Arriving hungry, on a rainy Melbourne day, with recommendations that Butchers Diner serve one of the best burgers in the city, I couldn't be more excited.

You're greeted with the stainless steel face of the open kitchen, reminiscent of an American diner. A long, curvy fridge lines the wall, and they had two massive, pre butchered pieces of beef aging on hooks hanging in the fridge. This place knows their meat.

The setting is narrow, but cosy, and the kitschy menu board is cluttered with delicious sounding food. We ordered two cheese burgers with their house bacon and a side of house cut fries.

With a name like "Butchers Diner" and nods to butchery (such as a big ol' rib hanging in the fridge), I'm assuming the beef patty is their own blend. Meaty and well seasoned (mine was cooked medium/medium-well), the patty had a great chew and was juicy. Topped with a melted slice of cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, raw onion, pickles, a dollop of some sort of creamy sauce (mayo or burger?), toasted bun and slices of their "house bacon", this burger lived up to its reputation. At $19.50 per burger, it's on the pricier end, but you're paying for the quality, and one hell of a burger.

The chips were crunchy, with a fluffy potato interior. Well seasoned. Tasty. Pretty expensive for a "regular" size, at 11 bucks a portion.

The service was fine. I saw the combo burger deal too late on the chaotic menu, and would've appreciated a heads-up about it from the server, but we got along well talking about the selection of music they were playing. Some 1975-banter ensued, and that was fun.

Service also recommended Spring Street Grocer around the corner, as we were looking for ice cream. It was a FANTASTIC recommendation (owned by the same owners), and to me really showcased that the owners are valuing genuine relationships with their customers.

Had a great time at Butchers Diner. Excited to try more here for dinner next time.

*A note about the bacon. The bacon was cooked American style, with the rat completely rendered out. It was glass shatteringly crispy, and definitely tasty, but personally not my preferred style. Not a knock against it, as it was still delicious, but those that are in the camp of "chewspy" bacon (the perfect intersection of chewy and crispy...

What a strange place and weird vibe

Don't normally give 1 star reviews however in this case it's well deserved

Upon entry I approached the cash register where the male staff member was. He didn't acknowledge me but seemed determined to re-arrange cutlery and napkins

After a short time I said hello and he said "I'll be with you in a minute" then walked outside. No greeting just the line.

I wanted to sit down however I wasn't sure of the procedure as I hadn't been there before

Staff member comes back and I look at him again and he says "yeah just take a seat anywhere" like it was an effort to tell me and something he could have said instead of “I’ll be with you in a minute” when he first fobbed me off

Took a seat under the stairs then wondered what the procedure is to order a) do I look at the board then order from the register?

B) am I brought a menu then order from the wait staff?

C) a combo of both?

The staff member then walk past me and I said "hello" to get his attention and I was ignored

He walked past a second time and I say “hello” and was blanked

Third time I stood up, waved then said hello and asked the guy how do I order. Mind you it was about 1:30 on a Friday and very quiet.

I asked about the steaks and nothing was explained very well except that I could only order one type of steak which was fine I was simply asking as I hadn't been there before

The food didn't take long and the steak was average but not as average as the service or lack of effort or caring the staff member showed.

Sorry to put you out buddy for asking how to order or even appearing there in the first place.

Seriously lazy and weird...

This place had been in our saved list for a while, and on 18 March we finally made time to visit!

We got: 🥪 Baked French Dip Roll ($19) This was the reason for our visit, a Saturday special that Andrew was soo excited to try. Unfortunately, it was quite average. We were hoping for a beefy broth dip and melting cheese on the sandwich, but they’re lacking on both. The only good part was the roll was loaded with the beef slices which was tasty!

🍰 Tiramisu ($12) This was good, but not great. Nice soft creamy texture but missing that coffee kick that we wanted on a tiramisu. For the price, we could get a better Tiramisu elsewhere.

🥔 Patatas Bravas (Special $16) This dish was sooo disappointing, even remembering it makes me wanna cry! For a place that highlights their meat, the meat they chose to put on this dish was very appalling. There’s no beef texture in the chili (my cat food honestly had better beef chunks 😭), the cheese wasn’t even melted, the chips were alright but this wasn’t helping.

For a place that’s rated quite high (4.5 stars on google at the time of this review), we’re so shocked at the quality we receive. We wouldn’t recommend this place, but if you still want to give them a try please skip the items we got above to avoid...