The Butcher’s Club — Restaurant in Palm Beach Gardens

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT REVIEW YOU WILL READ!! —With every new restaurant there are always pros and cons. So this review will give you an amazing insight into our experience. Let’s get right to what’s most important. The food was outstanding. Literally every item chosen seemed to be a perfect choice. Although I already knew the tuna crudo would be phenomenal I was also pleasantly surprised by the ham and olives appetizer. We chose to do the Wagyu fillet since it was the best fillet on the menu and it was perfect. All the meats are delivered sliced down which is very smart because it almost guarantees they have a chance to see it before delivering it to your table which will guarantee you the perfect temperature that you ordered. Next, they obviously spent the time needed to train their staff. Unlike many restaurants in town where the service is lacking everybody there was on point. From the waiters and waitresses to the food runners to the bartenders it is clear that everybody has been trained and knows their product very well. So without a doubt this is a place in Palm Beach Gardens worth visiting. —Now, let’s talk about where some details fall short…. This restaurant is located in the PGA national resort. Please note this is not a Ritz nor is it a Four Seasons. Therefore the resorts price point brings in a specific customer (staying at the resort) that seems to slightly ruin the overall experience. If I am spending $300+ for me and my guest, do you really think flip flops and cut off denim shorts should be allowed…no! Save that for Outback Steakhouse. The restaurant is beautiful and clearly there was a lot of money spent on the decor. Need I say it has a very classy retro feel. Unfortunately that feeling goes away quickly when there is zero standard in regards to overall attire. Although I believe it looks amazing the main dining room directly behind the host stand has extremely loud acoustics. Now when I say loud, I mean you can literally not hear any music they’re playing nor your own conversation. If you have the choice the smaller dining room to the left of the host stand upon entering is a much better place in order to enjoy your conversation. Again you must remember this is PGA national resort which brings in a lot of families. It also brings in a very unpleasant element. The element that is being mentioned is the typical northeastern loud abrasive men who are on their “golf trip”. Our area has attracted many people who have flooded in from the northeast due to covid. With that comes a stereotypical element that many simply despise. Trying to enjoy your dinner while middle aged men scream and yell over each other, clearly have been drinking all day and say F**k every other word is not what this area needs but we got it anyway. PGA resort clearly had more affordable rate for these types. Based on their conversation they were saving for the “mens clubs” after dinner. Management was nice enough to move us to another table. Unfortunately at no point were these “guests” asked to tone it back. Basically ruining the entire room’s experience. This is a classic mistake of someone who has not had a restaurant in this area for a long period of time. Restaurant owners will tell you that during the off-season their restaurants are supported by locals not visitors. As a local I will frequent that restaurant 4 to 5 times more than any guests coming in from out of town. Management needs to have a better grip on this situation. So let’s end on a positive. Dessert was the Toffee item and an espresso martini. Again both were perfect!!! So will I be back? 100% yes! You need to experience it. If you do, choose your table wisely or you may have your experience dampened by some flip flop, cut off shorts wearing obnoxious alpha males that clearly needs basic lessons in manners…Florida manners, not the northeast overcompensating kind. Restaurant is excellent but just cause you’re in Florida it doesn’t mean it’s ok to lower standards. Demand excellence and you will get it! Flip flops, denim cut...

We had reservations for 8 Friday Eve 2/21/25 at 7:45pm under my name for my husband's 50th birthday. We are Locals and our group goes out to dinner a lot. We all usually do Capital Grill or Flagler Steakhouse for Birthdays, as well as, My husband and I like to go to Burns Steak house in Tampa or Abe and Louie’s in Boca Raton a few times a year when we are in those areas for work. I saw reviews for The Butchers Club and thought this should be a great night. I booked on Open Table and did standard reservation. When we all arrived although we have been to PGA Natl for events, drinks, other restaurants over the years…. We did expect a more elegant restaurant staff, table dressing and dress code as your info talks about elegance, sophistication. All we saw was as we have seen over the years in PGA is typical loud drunk golfers in their shorts, men in jeans and T-shirts, and not one table cloth in site at our table…. nor was my Birthday Celebration for husband even acknowledged. Our waitress was Nikki (spelling?) and seemed very put off by our groups dinner choices My husband ordered the smoked whisky cocktail and when he ordered the same a 2nd time it was not smoked and we were charged $4 more for that one. When I expressed that to Nikki, she said “oh”. My husband ordered the Cowboy Rib Eye “Special”. Attached you will see an extremely underwhelming picture of how that $140 steak was presented (My husband Robert said it tasted no better then a quick lunch at LongHorns). When he asked if sauces, again, Nikki never brought them and finally when we all were almost done eating I told her to forget about the sauce and she gave the most condescending “ok” with fake smile ever. The condescending, put off looks, sarcastic bitchy pursed lips and overall rude tone from her was seen and experienced by all our group. From eye rolls for iced tea after asking for a new one 3 times ( I was designated driver for the group, and tea and water etc… should not need to be asked for ….) to our group just needing to find a back waiter to bring water because she was MIA. The food when it came out was handed to us like we were in a food cafeteria never placed properly in front of us and the food runners when bringing anything all looked confused as to who got what?!?!! Burgers a few guests got were Soso. The sauce?!?! Thick paste that came with my scallops was terrible . Overall the Food was just ok at best. We all said at our table it was no “unforgettable culinary experience” and the ambience of drunk golfers, poor table setting, Rude Waitress and inept food runners, special occasion never acknowledged made the entire ambience and experience more like a joke we will remember always.

When time for the bill, we asked Nikki to separate them into obvious couples ( most restaurants ask this at beginning or before presenting the bill). She proceeded to tell us” Well, that could take atleast 20 minutes for her to do and she can’t promise she will get it right?!?! And if she didn’t do it right she would need yo start over” (Nikki condescending smile and inpatient tone). Our total bill was around $1000 -$1200 if I had to guess for us all Her tip is guaranteed unlike at some restaurants….. You’ve never split up a check before? You can’t remember how you took the order by couples ? I would think the $150-$250 per couple is just as important as any other patron, if that was where her attitude came from and $200 guarantee tip for giving attitude, rude behavior and forgetting items a just overall Soso at best experience would warrant atleast a kind friendly attitude.

Needless to say The Butcher Club will not be in our rotation for a return visit

We should have said something at the time but We did not want to escalate as to not upset my husbands...

This was my fourth and likely last visit to this restaurant. I have had mixed experiences here; some of the food has been outstanding and other times mediocre or just plain bad. Service also has also been hit or miss. The first few visits were excellent. The last few times, not so much.

I took my wife and son here tonight for mother's day. We decided to do the pre-fixe menu with some additions. It consisted of two choices of salad (burrata or caesar); a Halibut "stew" which waiter Tony said was Chef Ford's "grandmother's recipe," and a Basque cheesecake. We also ordered an onion soup and Waygu burger to round out the meal. Our 6 year old had his usual chicken fingers, fries and the fruit plate.

We started dinner with a nice rum based drink that my wife and I both enjoyed. The salads came out and were both very good. Tony accidentally spilled water all over me but cleaned it up nicely and we enjoyed the French onion soup. My son's chicken tenders were ok but oddly extra crunchy. His fruit plate was odd with big chunks of orange with the peel on, blueberries and some strawberries. We have ordered this before and it has been better put together with nicely cut up fruit, including bananas. It also used to be served gratis but we were fine paying $5 for it as he was very hungry.

We were served the halibut and mine was very dry. The broth had good flavor but was overshadowed by the improperly poached fish. I sent it back and Tony asked if I wanted another? I had some of my wife's, which was a bit dry but edible and really wasn't in the mood for more. I asked him what my options were and he said he would check. He never did. They eventually came back with another halibut! This time, it was even worse. It was so dry that I needed to drink half a glass of water to even get it down. It went back, too. The manager stopped by and asked if we wanted anything? He mentioned it would be taken care of and they would bring us a "special dessert."

The burger came and was very good. No issues.

The dessert came, two of the Basque cheesecake. It was very odd. The bottom portion of the cheesecake was partially frozen. I asked the waiter if the cheesecake had been frozen and he said it was "made in house." This wasn't what I was asking but at this point I was ready to leave. The "special dessert" consisted of two small chocolate chip cookies. The charged us for one of the pre-fixe which I thought was fair.

We were hit with a 20% auto gratuity which is likely what I would have left anyway, even though the service left some to be desired. I think it's presumptuous to charge a party of 2 adults and a child this.

This will likely be our last visit to this restaurant. The food and service are far too inconsistent for the high prices they are charging. I see a lot of celebrity chef restaurants going this way. The chef is rarely seen and quality suffers. It is disappointing as this was once one of my favorite restaurants...