The Butcher's Son — Restaurant in Chesapeake

I have heard great things about The Butcher's Son, but after going there I realize it is all hype that it can not live up to. My first and last time going after a very lack-luster experience.

I had high hopes going in. We had reservations at 6pm. We got there early and was seated right away. Waitress came over quickly, asked if it was a special occasion, and wished me a happy birthday. From there it went down hill.

I had previewed the menu before choosing here for my birthday day. I had spent the day waiting for the chance to start my meal off with Oyster Rockefeller. We asked the waitress the difference in sizes. She explained it, and the finished with "we aren't selling them separately, because the are coming out to small. You can only get them as part of one of the specials".

We proceeded to order the Seafood Nachos instead ( they were good when they first came out but didn't stay that way). We ordered our drinks and then waited. We did not wait long for her to return with the drinks. The waitress spilled one a sweet tea all over the table (accidents happen, so not mad about that part). She used our napkins to help clean it up. There is still tea on the table at this point and she went into the back for what we thought was to get a rag to finish cleaning it up. Took her a couple of minutes, at this point we are using cocktail napkins to clean up what is left of the mess. She brings out a rag and another sweet tea (which was appreciated but the mess was more important for speed). We discovered more sticky after she had disappeared. We asked the host for a rag to clean the table. She comes over and says nothing to us, doesn't apologies or anything. She waits for us to lift everything so she can wipe the table down. As she does so everything left on the table was pushed around, and then she just walks away.

Nachos come out. At this point we have still not ordered our main course. We finish the Nachos, and finally she comes back to take our order.

We don't wait long for our food. I ordered the Scallops, Sweet Potato Casserole and the cucumber salad. Everything was decent, nothing special but had no complaints. We also ordered the Tuna with green beans. The Tuna looked good but however when you started eating it, it turned out to be a bit chewy. The green beans were soggy. When it was address with the waitress we were told "Thanks for letting me know, I wouldn't want anyone else to have an issue". No sorry. No would you like me to fix you some more?. Nothing.

I am aware of the issues in the service industry, so I was not worried about how long things were taking. The food was Ok, nothing to write home about and not worth the $200 bill. For me the experience sucked. This place has so much hype. Its a glorified TGIfridays. I am not sure when or where these 5 star reviews are coming from. Because this place isn't that great. I was very disappointed.

After looking at the reviews I don't feel the company even cares. There is zero responses and I see multiple reviews trying to contact them directly...

TL;DR - Excessively strong drinks, bland steaks that are cooked wrong, great vegetables. Go for something like a burger or their meatloaf, or go somewhere else.

I came to this location with my wife, and we were both very impressed by the decor (some of which is pictured) for the holiday season. I tried one of the bar's "special" mixed drinks, and found it to be mixed excessively strong, though reasonably well made. My wife had a red wine, and the portion was quite generous.

At the suggestion of the waitress, because it was a Thursday, they were offering a half-price special on 12 ounce prime ribs. I had intended to get a sirloin, because I like my steaks medium-well, and that seems like a mean thing to do to a prime rib, but with the special, it was cheaper than a similarly sized sirloin. My wife got a tenderloin. My 12 ounce prime rib, which should have had a slightly pink center, was pink on the outside across half of the meat. It had no sear marks, and the fat wasn't rendered. This was simply an under-cooked piece of meat by any measure.

I sent it back and it came out again cooked to medium, still with no grill marks, but the surface was uniformly browned and the unrendered fat marbling throughout and dry (despite still having plenty of pink in the middle) made me wonder if it was microwaved. But by then I had no desire to repeat the experience of waiting. My wife's tenderloin was ordered "medium," and came out with deep char lines and cooked medium well to well done. Her steak was resultingly very bland and dry, with doses of excessive crispiness (for a tenderloin).

The loaded baked potato was excellent, and cooked perfectly and topped well. The mashed potatoes were bland and uninteresting, though I appreciate that they leave some skin in the mash. The vegetables were crispy, well-cooked, and amazing. The chocolate torte was overly sweet, but made for a decadent item to share. I saw someone else get their burgers and my regret was immediate as they looked amazing. Sadly, I doubt I will ever want to come back and find out if the other food is better after spending nearly a hundred dollars on lackluster steaks and...

Had reservations and were seated immediately. Looked at the menu for a very long time-waitress finally came over and took our drink order-so long that another waitress actually stoped by to make sure that someone was taking care of us. After another very long wait the waitress came back with the drinks that we ordered and THEN took our orders. When I tried to order a French dip with a baked potato instead of potato wedges-waitress said they were very strict on substitutions and would not allow the substitution even though they were both on the house sides menu for the exact same price. At this point my husband tasted his drink and it was not the smoking gun cocktail that he was accustomed to, he ended up asking for them to remake it-even though the waitress said the bartender was a seasoned bartender at the establishment for 9 years and she had been there for 8. She did offer to have him remake and my husband accepted the offer. After thinking about it, we decided after the long wait to be acknowledged, the drink mixup and the refusal to substitute a side(not a premium side-just a regular one) we decided to leave. We flagged down another waitress and she got Jeanell, our waitress, who promptly came over. We offered to pay for the drink we ordered but she kindly said the establishment would comp the beverage. There was no attempt to make anything right or attempt to get a manager to help. Jeanell did not seem to care that we were leaving unsatisfied one bit. We ended up heading over to courthouse cafe where we received very attentive and efficient service and amazing food and drinks. We have been to butchers son many times in the past and honestly the service is often times lacking and is certainly not consistently good. It’s too bad because the food is good but service is one of the top reasons we go out. Service is a major factor and Butchers son in Chesapeake is not worth the hard earned money they charge for a meal. So happy to give my money to Courthouse cafe from now on when I want a...