Evergreen Butcher + Baker — Restaurant in Atlanta

The food is 4 star, the service is 1 star.

If you go to Evergreen Butcher and Bakery early on any morning, you will wait in a line. Each person in line will be served at the door by one employee inside. She will take your order then pop back into the depths of the shop to collect your items, make your coffee, slice your bread, then return so you may tender your payment. These interactions last an average of 4-5min per person. Before you get in line you may want to do some mental math. There are 8 people in line, do I have 40min to invest in getting a loaf of bread right now? Of course! It must be so good! If you are here because you want to try a kouign amann, make sure to check the hand-written butcher paper menu before entering the line, is it still available? Ok! Let's go. After watching a parade of dog walkers, feeling ashamed and complacent from witnessing a troubled homeless person being booked into the police station next door, and trying to distract yourself with your phone half a dozen times, you approach the front of the line. By now the loaf and amann and the tri-tip have been struck from the menu. "But, but." You think, "It's only 9:30!" You make mental plans to salvage your self esteem and pick afresh, a chocolate croissant and some ground chuck will be lovely. Inching ever closer you will see a sticker posted to the window which states: "Equality served here." Looking around, seeing only white people in line, you may become acutely aware that you are part of a gentrification ritual.

By the time you are on your way home with your hoard, having spent more than three times what someone working a minimum wage job could have earned in the time you waited to be served, it is late morning and the landscaping machines have started to hum. You have just been duped into performing a service for Evergreen: free publicity, hype. That they are still serving customers, 12 months into the pandemic, at this sluggish pace must mean that they are of the perspective that scarcity denotes quality. They have a vested interest in slow service because they think that what they have to sell is more valuable than the price they charge for it. The line inflates the value of their goods just as the more remodels on a block inflate the value of homes next door. As opposed to making it harder for black homeowners to stay in their neighborhood, Evergreen is merely cutting into the business of the last twee bakery to open up: Proof - great bread and pastry, no waiting.

If Evergreen would like to protect themselves from future market changes they should consider building a diverse and reliable customer base instead of churning through all the 'first timers' and bobo's still eager for a chomp at the bit. Here are some suggestions:

Your store has many operable windows. Take orders from one, and serve from another. Increase the number of people serving customers. Get a blackboard and write the menu on it. If you can afford new white letters on your marquee you can afford a blackboard. Stop wasting your own time and paper re-writing your menu everyday. Study your sales. You stopped making gluten free pastry, it was probably obvious at the end of the day that you had too many. It is harder to notice if something sells out consistently because that doesn't eat into your profits, but it is a missed profit opportunity. It does eat into your customers frustrations. Find a better balance. Include the weights of your breads. You have an appealing, if not entirely authentic, vollkornbrot which despite being priced similar to other whole loaves on your menu, comes in halves. You claim on your website to sell "staples" make it easier for customers to compare your prices to the staple prices they know - as you do for meat. Do something for the less fortunate who are priced out of your "staples." Your bread used to wind up in the 'Free Fridge' on Moreland on Sunday afternoons. Sell day olds. Put on your website which food bank...

Evergreen is a true neighborhood treasure! I'm unsure why I haven't left a review already (I've been coming here since 2019). The food is phenomenal - thoughtful locally-sourced meats and ingredients for their baked goods, true whole grain, properly-fermented sourdough, carefully-curated pantry goods, etc. Not only is the food genuinely good, but the people are lovely as well. Everyone is kind, professional, and takes pride in the food that's made with such craftsmanship.

I always look forward to my visits here. Because they bake everything fresh and don't sell day-old baked goods, you do have to get there in a timely manner. I don't mind though since I know that the bread is always fresh! And on the slow days, they helpfully post in their IG stories that they still have goodies left towards the end of their day. Because Evergreen is unfortunately not as convenient for me to get to anymore due to where I moved to, I stock up on their sourdough by buying several loaves when I go. The sourdough is such a staple in my household that I make sure to never run out of it. The team can slice some of the loaves (depends on the kind), which means it's super easy to individually-separate the sourdough slices and save in your freezer for future bread/sandwich-making treasure. The sourdough freezes beautifully, which is especially fantastic since additional health benefits are reaped! Evergreen is one of the few breads I buy for my family thanks to their sourdough being nutrient-dense and optimal for bread consumption health-wise without feeling as if you're eating space shuttle bread (I've had some VERY nutrient-dense bread elsewhere that caused my husband to say the bread could be used as space shuttle shingles because it was too hard/unnatural to even catch on fire...). Evergreen's sourdough is both nutrient-dense (made with local grains, long fermented, etc.) AND very delicious.

Another thing I'm unsure about is the person who recently complained about the hours not being obvious. Evergreen always takes a summer holiday, and they make sure to post the information well-ahead of time. Thanks to them posting the information in a timely manner, I was able to plan ahead and stock up on my usual sourdough loaves prior to them closing shop for their...

Let me start off this review by saying, one of the owners Sean Schacke made it personal by posting my car on his instagram with 33,000+ followers, so I'm here to clear the air and set the record straight. Multiple people sent me his instagram story post about my car. see photos attached

Directly from their website: "we hope to provide you with accessible and unpretentious product"

While waiting 2+ hours for Evergreens Sunday Burgers, which they limit to 150~, Sean came out and in the most pretentious way, looked at me and said " I need you guys to move now, because you're confusing my other customers" in the most pretentious way. 100% not my problem, but I oblige. I also said "oh, I thought it was 12p" to which he responded "No, 1pm" then went back inside without hesitation, or acknowledgement of the 50+ person line that was already there at 11am.

Fast forward 2+ hours later to buying 3 burgers (which is the allotted amount per person) my other two friends that we're going to join me, bailed. So instead of eating 3 burgers, I decided to sell them for a mere 7% mark up, at 2 for $40. Each of their burgers sell for about $17.5/each.

Apparently this enraged a grown man, after I had already done business with him. But it doesn't end there.

Sean (one of the owners) had the audacity to blast/post my car to his 33,000 followers on instagram, call me a "jerk" and stated "tattle tales welcome if you have anymore info".

He was viscerally convinced that I have this "cheeseburger operation" which is why I'm coming here to say do not spend your money with this butcher. I have not done this before, nor will I ever be returning.

I am in the process of getting a new license plate, due to his lack of professionalism, and concern for my safety. Besides rudely telling me to move, we never spoke directly.

While his burger was too salty, burger bun underwhelming, and onions too plentiful, my problem lies with the customer service.

Keith Lee was right about ATL, the customer service is subpar at best. I spent $70~ just to be bullied online by a grown "man".

On a lighter note, the pastries are exquisite :)

Edit as of 7/9/24: Sean has successfully removed my review from Yelp entirely. what are...