Butcher and the Brewer — Restaurant in Cleveland

We were in town from Buffalo, NY and Frostburg, MD for a baseball game that wound up getting cancelled due to impending rain/storms just as we were leaving our hotel. We decided to head downtown to 4th Street and see what we could find for dinner. Found this gem on Google and had a really great experience! Jay (the manager) stopped over quickly after being seated to introduce himself. We had 3 kids (aged 11, 7 and 6) so we asked if he had any suggestions for something fun to do after dinner. He recommended Pins Mechanical Co. (See my review on their site) and because we promised the kids Dippin Dots at the game we needed an ice cream place. He also recommended Mitchell's Ice Cream (right across the street from Pins - see my review on their site). FANTASTIC recommendations across the board!

So Butcher & Brewer has a unique dining approach! It's shared plates, many communal tables and you order food, drinks, silverware, to go boxes and assistance via their site linked via the QR code on the table. We were promptly helped by a few servers with water - they even made special lemonade for the kids as they weren't on the menu. The food was delicious and there was a great, fun variety. With 3 adults and 3 kids we ordered the following - soft pretzel with warm pimento cheese dip and garlic caramel dip (both really tasty dips) trio of mini corn dogs (with a grainy/brownish Mustard- good on the pretzel too and ketchup) dry aged beef sliders - bigger than a traditional slider and great flavor with a house sauce and pickle - added pimento cheese sauce and/or Mustard too crispy Brussel sprouts with pastrami bacon cubes and sunflower seeds - the surprise was the super tangy Mustard sauce underneath - delicious crispy pork belly with roasted red pepper sauce and pea puree - so much more meat than you usually get with pork belly and great flavor meatball putanessca - lots of sauce and 4 average size meatballs or pork & beef - sauce was good, a bit of spice, and a nice piece of toast for dipping in the sauce

The guys had some beer too which they loved. The ambience is very welcoming and the bathrooms uniquely cool. Service was outstanding all around - despite we didn't really have a dedicated server. Dishes were cleared quickly and food brought out promptly after ordering. I'm guessing the menu changes based on availability but that could really make this place a lot of fun for future visits....

When you’re in downtown Cleveland, you don’t have to look too far to find something to do. I found myself in search of a place to eat and drink one evening when I was here, touring the area’s beer scene and desiring something within walking distance of my downtown hotel. I wanted a place that brews beer and my search quickly led me to the Butcher and the Brewer.

Butcher and the Brewer got its name from the fact that it is both a brewpub and a functioning deli. Walk in the front door and you will see the restaurant and brewpub straight ahead and the deli to your left. This is a unique feature and when I think back to the hundreds of different breweries I have visited over the years, this is the only one I know of that has a setup as unique as this.

The atmosphere at Butcher and the Brewer features a dimly lit interior and mostly communal type seating. It is also quite loud inside here, so this may not be the best choice of restaurants to visit if you’re looking for a place to spend a quiet evening. They have about 5 televisions broadcasting sports, for the most part, so you expect a rowdy crowd if you visit when Cleveland’s sports teams are playing a game that is broadcast on television.

With the food, Butcher and the Brewer has several shareable plate options and as you might guess, the emphasis is mostly on meat, with several entrees and appetizers that feature beef, pork, chicken, lamb, etc. They serve several seafood options, too. One pleasant surprise is that, in spite of the emphasis on meat, they do happen to serve a good number of vegetarian options. There is something to suit most everyone in the area of food. And with the beer, they have about a dozen of their own beers on tap and the lineup is solid and consistent all- around. I liked every beer I tried and I rated them all very similar in overall quality.

Butcher and the Brewer is a nice stopover for food and beer and I recommend walking the few steps to the adjacent room and checking out the deli before you leave. I was heading back to my hotel when I was here, so there was no practical need to purchase meat to go, but I still walked over anyway, out of curiosity. The addition of a deli to the restaurant and brewpub makes Butcher and the Brewer one of a kind and a place you should definitely try to visit the next time you’re in...

Hmm, what to say about this establishment??? The food was enjoyable though not outstanding. We ( the misses and I were on a date night ) and we decided to hit down town we had seen this place on a previous downtown excursion and decided to give it a go this time around. The menu is small in comparison to most other places but that's not a bad thing as long as you do what you have well. Upon entering the building we were hit with a busy lively scene it was sort of dark and loud that's one thing I can say about this place it's not a spot for quite dining. The hostess was how should I put it.... odd, she seemed both dismissive and mildly hostile at the same time. She looked at us when we came in and approached the couple who came in after us sat them and came back to the hostess area the I had to approach her before she acknowledged us and sat us. No pleasantries just how many in your party gets the menus walks to a table places the menus walks away and says not a word no nothing. The server was better she was informative, polite and attentive. We had the lamb ribs, the pork shank, the grilled broccoli, the mac and cheese, the corn dogs and the bacon wrapped dates. I rather enjoyed everything except the mac and cheese. It was good but nothing to write home about. My wife on the other hand was less impressed she only enjoyed the lamb shank. The corn dogs were just that mini breaded dogs on a stick with a fancy mustard and house made ketchup. You get I believe three and they are two bites each. The grilled brocolli was very nice I think I'm going to try that at home. The shank was crispy and moist plenty of meat for two delicious. The ribs were tasty you only get two if I remember correctly, they are small. The dates were really mostly sausage with a piece of date on top wrapped in bacon they were tasty but I expected more date. All in all it's a cool spot. Would I go again yes I'm in no hurry but if friends wanted to hang, weren't big eaters and didn't mind spending a $100 or so dollars per couple this spot might get a mention. Our total came up to $79 with tip...