Bourbon Butcher Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in Farmington

I want to clarify first that I’m a very reasonable person and it takes a lot for me to post a bad review about anything.

I understand staff having a bad day, unplanned understaff on busy days, or anything to justify a less than decent experience.

This was our anniversary lunch. We were excited to visit this place as being already happy customers of Whisky Inferno from same owners. My husband was exited to try one of their brunch omelets. We got there 30+ min before the brunch was over. The place was busy but still with many tables available. We got seated and almost 30 minutes later we decided to find a server.

The table behind was also waiting. We didn’t have the brunch menu and since we were a couple of minutes before the brunch ending time the server agreed to bring the menu to us, after checking her watch, after we sat there for almost 30 minutes and told her that. We ordered right away, my husband asked for his brisket omelet and kindly asked to not have pepper jack cheese explaining that he doesn’t like it.

At this point the restaurant had only 7 tables filled. I ordered a hamburger and was excited for it. The food came later than we wished but I would give a reasonable late time, but his omelet was not only cold it had the pepper cheese on it. My hamburger was so overcooked that it was dry. Still would be reason for me writing this review. We call our server after a while, the one who brought the food which was not the one who got the order, saying she was our table server. We kindly explained the issues with the food. This lady didn’t seem happy with our requests, note that we are very friendly and respectful the whole time. She agreed to replace my husband’s omelet but said that “my hamburger was supposed to be like that”.

Confused, I asked why. I have a very good knowledge of all levels of restaurants and bars and as far as I know, unless we are at fast food place we can choose the hamburger's cook level.

Either way, “that” was an extremely overcooked meat even for McDonald’s standards.

I realized I didn’t specify how cooked I wanted my hamburger, I was never asked either.

Still, even showing her the meat, she just said there was nothing she could do about it.

Until then I was understanding and going with the flow. At this point my experience was ruined.

I had to “suck it up” and eat my hamburger. I wasn’t comfortable trying harder for a better hamburger and was also, at this point, starving. The rest the food was nice. I think I would have enjoyed the dish if the hamburger wasn’t so dry.

At some point this server came and said that she was actually off and someone else will finish our table. The server who got our order came back and was very nice. Maybe she was new and forgot to ask me how I wanted my hamburger cooked, I’m ok with that. She was the only reason we left some gratuity.

I believe this place has potential, it’s very nice looking and the menu is appealing.

But coming from customer management experience this place lacked of management and good staff.

It was Father’s Day lunch time so we would assume they had their best staff. I didn’t notice any manager around and the staff, from hostess to server to chef seem pretty lost even after the rush time.

Not...

Terrible customer service and mediocre food and drinks.

Let’s start with the food - brisket was dry and overcooked, smoky Manhattan had cube of ice and was tasting more like an old fashion (I like old fashion but that's not what we ordered). They forgot to bring me corn bread that I ordered and had to remind them about it, not a big deal but it adds up.

The pinnacle of our experience was when we decided to take a walk with friends after our dinner and on the way back I had to stop at the restaurant again to use restroom. While walking into the restroom stall I have noticed a small pool of puke on the floor but the toilet bowl was clean and I really had to go (maybe because of the quality of the food) and so I did.

When I was leaving the restaurant and walking toward my car I’ve heard somebody yelling “Sir, would you like to clean up your puke”. I turned around and saw a young man (maybe a manger or a supervisor or somebody in the leadership role) apparently addressing me. I was confused and had to ask him to repeat what he said, and he did. I was flabbergasted by this accusation and try to tell him that it wasn’t me and I was doing different type of business there. In response he told me that he “heard me puking there”. I again try to explain that it wasn’t me and that the puke on the floor was there before I got the restroom. He didn’t want to hear or believe me and just threw his arms in the air, turned around, obviously not believing me and left.

So this begs a question, how did he know it was me? Was it because while I was using restroom stall he walked in to do his business (there was indeed somebody there, but I can’t tell whom because I didn’t see the person, he came and left before I was done) and then when I walked out of the restroom he assumed it was I who puked there? If that is the case, then following this logic, it could’ve been anybody whom he’d seen leaving the restroom, after noticing puke on the floor at any time he last walked into the restroom, whether before or after me. Thus, it was all about when he saw the puke at the same time somebody occupying the stall, and instead of me, another customer would be accused and offended. Also, assuming he “heard me puking” while he was there, wouldn’t it be a professional courtesy of somebody representing this establishment or basic human decency to ask a person if he is OK and perhaps needs any help? Needless to say I will not step a foot in this place after being offensively accused of something I didn’t do. Hint to the leadership, provide basic customer service training or keep those who has very little understanding of the customer service concept and can’t be trained away from...

My wife and I checked this place out today for an early dinner. Inside looked quite nice, we were there at about 4:30 and it was moderately busy but by 6pm it was packed with a wait... Yeah, we were there still at 6pm because the service was horrendously slow. That said, our appetizers were good; we ordered the wings and the steak bites. The smoke and fry on the wings was fantastic; we ordered them buffalo style, and it was good, but we suspect the dry rub would be even better. The steak bites were good; I think my wife liked them more than I did. They reminded me of what Rudy's Red Eye Grill serves, but they were smokier (this is a good thing), bigger (also a good thing), but chewier, and the bourbon sauce that is on top of them was decent. Throughout our meal, we saw multiple appetizers go out, and they all looked really good.

The problem came with our entrees. We ordered the smoked ribeye and the wedge salad to split. The salad, first off, was the most uninspiring, plain, and tasteless wedge salad I've every seen. The steak was terrible and so were the sides. The server told me they usually do a medium cook unless instructed otherwise, so I asked for a medium rare cook on it. I was skeptical going into it because smoking a steak and then char-grilling it to finish it off is a lot of cooking to put a thin piece of meat through. As soon as I saw the steak I knew it would be over cooked. You simply cannot smoke a thinly sliced steak, maybe .5" or less, then grill it, and expect it to be anything other than well-done. To pull this off correctly, you need a think cut of beef, 1.5 to 2 inches is ideal, that is well-marbled, and then you smoke it low and slow until it reaches 115, let it rest, and then sear it for a few minutes on each side. When it's all said and done, you will end up with a nicely smoked medium rare steak; I cook meat like this frequently in the summer. And the sides, well they were under-seasoned and just not appealing at all.

I would like to see a thicker cut of ribeye replace what is currently served or just remove the ribeye all-together and replace it with a beef long-rib.

On a positive note, the manager came over to our table promptly and got me a replacement entree very quickly; I ordered the brisket sandwich.... Unfortunately, yes there is more, the brisket was dry and very firm and the sandwich was just boring. It needs some nice spicy pickles or a slaw with some zip added to it. The fries, however, were great - perfectly cooked and nicely seasoned.

This restaurant is relatively new, and I think it has potential... We will likely give it another try before forming our final...