Butcher & The Boar — Restaurant in Minneapolis

Our party of 6 at dinner here for the first time and it wasn't the best. Now I have been here many times for breakfast and it has always been good but last night was not the case. We were seated promptly on arrival at 6pm in the Riebel Room which I had never sat in before so chose that because it looked unique. Our server Michael was great he came prepared to give us the run down of the menu and drinks. We ordered drinks and then took a look at the menus. The first round of drinks came out and one person in my party ordered two loaves of Tuscan bread and asked for it to come out ASAP. Michael assured us that would not be a problem so he left and we waited. A little bit later he came back and took our food orders which we all ordered off the Resteraunt week menu 4 of us got Catfish the other two the Tri Tip steak which is also an extra $5 and a side of beef smoked mac and cheese.

About 30 mins in we are still waiting for the bread which finally comes out about the 35 min mark two baskets of 4 slices which were good. A little while later our salads come out which we all asked for extra dressing and got a side charge of $1 which reslly wasnt warranted especailly for how long it took to come out.We then continued to talk and waited for food. Now unfortunately this is where it started to go wrong. I feel that people think when you have big parties and people our conversating they won't focus on how long things are taking but we absolutely did. The main course took a very long time to come out and didn't get to our table until about 720pm a whole hour and 20 mins after we had been sitting there. 2 of the catfish were heavily breaded with no fish hardly inside and one of the tri tips was very medium when I specifically asked for medium well. Now we had to sit and wait for our server to come back which by now it's 745pm abd I had to stop a hostess to explain the issues because our server was busy at other tables. I belive at that point she went to go get the manger and he was great didn't have a problem taking it back and remaking but now we were going to have to wait another 20 mins and he stated to me that the tri tip would not be good medium well but he could swap it out with a flat iron steak that would be better. I obliged and we waited for the food to come back out while the rest of our party ate. The new dishes came back out and the catfish was way better the steak was not. Not only was it very small but it was also still medium not medium well. Shouldn't be that hard to cook a steak at the correct temps. I then told him he took it back to recook and now when they bring it back its well done and very chewy no flavor at all. Medium well is a little pink and this was not. By this time it was after 8pm we had been there two hours and still had to get the desserts and bills. We flagged down the server and asked for the desserts and he told us they were coming. Some of us had the ice cream sundae and some the flour less chocolate torte. While the sundae was served cute as a DIY in its own containers it wasn't anything special and the torte was lacking flavor and just a little to thick and hard. All in all the experience was not the best and I do not feel that the price I paid was worth the food I got. I literally had salad and mashed potatoes for dinner because the steak was just not good and paid $62. With their being an upcharge of $5 it should have been better. Oh I forgot to mention they forgot the smoked beef mac and cheese so when we started having issues they then apologized for that error and then said they would send that out and a cucumber salad on the house. Neither dish was anything amazing especially the macaroni it lacked flavor and seasoning.

We didn't leave until about 830 way to long for a dinner reservation. The food lacked majorly and I cant say I would visit for dinner ever again. The price I paid did not reflect the quality of food I received. I also think they could have did a bit more for all the inconvenience they only really comped the 2 breads we had and the macaroni...

Butcher and the Boar definitely lived up to it's expectations!

The restaurant looked absolutely spectacular both inside and out. The ambiance was fantastic and lively especially out in the main dining area. However, if that was too much for you, there certainly seem to be adequate seating in more private spaces.

The service was as expected. Fantastic! Our waitress was attentive, thorough and very considerate.

Food did not take long at all to come out. Our table of six each ordered our own meals along with a few appetizers and four sides to share and believe it or not there were leftovers for those sides.

The food itself was on point at least for me. There were a couple of individuals at our table who thought that their dishes were a tad bit spicy. This was specifically in reference to the sweet glaze on the salmon and the pork belly dish. I could tell that the glaze on the salmon though sweet did have a tiny bit of heat but could not taste it in the pork belly dish. The tri-tip was absolutely amazing, this is coming from someone who routinely smokes tri-tip at home. I had asked for mine to be cooked to a medium rare which it was, but I think the difference Maker for me was the amazing sear and crust on the outside. I was blown away at the overall flavor. The chimichurri even though it looked to be piled on top of the meat did not actually detract from how well it tasted. I was able to try each of the dishes that our table had, which included the pork belly dish, the beef rib and some of the salmon and everything tasted wonderful.

The sides are table ordered where the mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, grits and brussel sprouts. That was a really big fan of the brussel sprouts and grits, the mac and cheese and mashed potatoes were okay. The potatoes probably could have been a bit warmer to make it easier to melt the butter in it.

I think one of the highlights of this night was the Northern Thai sausage which came on a delicious bed of vermicelli noodle slaw that tasted amazing. This was ordered as an appetizer for us. The flavors of this dish were absolutely reminiscent of other authentic Thai dishes I've had, citrusy, herby, with some heat. I could eat this over and over again!

Other appetizers we ordered at our table were the Blue Crab Fritters and Hot Link Croquettes. I always get a bit skeptic regarding Blue Crab dishes because sometimes it can taste a lot more fishy that what I would like, which I know is a bit odd. Biting into the fritter, you can clearly tell on the inside that there was plenty of blue crab. The fritter was fried to perfection, and the overall taste was amazing. You can taste and feel the texture of that blue crab and it was delightful.

The croquettes were also very good, I have nothing bad to say about them but probably because I was still rolling in my amazement over the Thai sausage dish and fritter.

My experience overall at Butcher and The Boar was great and I would absolutely go back without hesitation.

The only drawback I have for this place is the parking. You can either choose $10 valet parking or you could choose street parking. I was considering doing the valet parking, however there were two vehicles that were blocking the entrance so I opted for street parking instead and had to drive around for a little bit before I found the spot about a block away. So make sure you arrive a bit ahead of time for your reservation to make sure you're not late.

Thank you Butcher & The Boar for a great experience!...

First (and last) time dining at this restaurant. Went with high expectations as this is a favorite restaurant of some family members, however this was probably the worst dining experience we've had in the past 18 months in the Twin Cities. Arrived at 5 pm for our reservation and were greeted and seated by friendly staff at the entrance. When our server appeared, she did not introduce herself nor ask if this was our first visit or explain anything about the menu. We ordered some drinks and 20 minutes later they had not arrived. We were heading to an event after the meal so were keeping an eye on the time but felt we still had plenty of time so weren't overly concerned at this point. The server came by our table and noticed we didn't have any drinks, and said 'Oh, did you order drinks'? 'Oh, yes, I remember now, I will just go and check on those'. This felt weird, like she couldn't remember what we had ordered just 20 minutes earlier, but soon after we received our drinks and hoped things would improve from there. We were mistaken. We had ordered two appetizers to share and one came out about 10 minutes after the drinks. We assumed the second one was on its way, but 10 minutes later when we asked our server she just said 'Oh, sorry, I forgot to put the order in for that one'. The whole vibe was really strange, like she wasn't concerned whether we got our drinks or meal in a timely manner, or at all. After we had almost finished our first appetizer the second one came out. I had requested the sea bass for my entree and informed the server that I didn't want anything spicy at all, so to have the sauce on the side. When my fish arrived, now almost 1 hour 20 minutes into the meal, I took a couple bites and could not eat any more. It was incredibly spicy - the actual fish, not the sauce. One of our two sides arrived, but again, the second one came out a good 10-15 minutes later. By this point I decided to ask to speak to a manager since this was not a good experience and it seemed like our server was not interested in our dining experience at all. Michael, the manager, came by our table and agreed to remove the items from our bill as promised by the server. We said we did not want to pay the 22% service and hospitality charge and he agreed to remove that also. He argued that the fish would only have been seasoned with salt and pepper - my husband tasted it and he loves his spices, yet he said it was way too much! Almost 2 hours after we had sat down, we got our bill and prepared to leave. The bill at first glance was correct, however after running my credit card and bringing the copies for me to sign, I noticed the 22% charge had been reinstated and my bill was now around $30 higher than it should be. We told our server who in an 'I've given up' attitude said she would get the manager to sort it out. He came back with a corrected bill, after a few minutes and we were almost late for our event. The manager did give us a gift certificate for a future visit by way of apology, however, we shall not be returning. Both the server and the manager complained that they were busier than usual that night, but as we had made reservations, it seemed like a poor excuse, unless they were just allowing more walk ins than they could handle. Of our whole experience, the best part was the cheerful guy at the entrance who greeted us and gave us a great table - it's just a shame the service and the food did not live up to the great start...