True Blue Butcher and Barrel — Restaurant in Wilmington

The first thing I must say is OVERPRICED! This may be a nice looking place from the outside and the inside has a nice appearance but.... I went here will my wife on a Saturday night. We had a 5:45 reservation. We arrived a short time before and could not get a parking space. I circled their parking lot several times but no parking was available. I had to park two blocks away. When we arrived the hostess was pleasant and asked if we wanted to sit inside or outside. It was a nice night and we chose outside. We were escorted to a table. There were numerous tables inside and outside that were empty. So the parking problem must have been because the other establishments attached to this restaurant must have taken a lot of spaces also. There is an empty lot across the street but when I asked the waitress if that was the parking for this restaurant she said no. She stated it is parking for anyone in the area. The waitress "Isabella according to the bill", was very pleasant. She never introduced herself when she came to our table. We ordered drinks and she stated that shareables were buy one, get one free, from 4:00 to 7:00 PM. The waitress quickly returned and stated that she had made a mistake and that it was only unitl 6:00 PM, so we would have to put our order in now to get the special. So we quickly chose a few shareables to share. The waitress then returned again and said that she spoke to her manager and that the shareable special was not for outside tables on Saturday night. I then requested to move our table inside. I was then told that actually, I would have to be sitting at the bar and that now it was too late. The waitress apologized for her mistake. After having looking forward to the shareables that we had decided on, we went back to the menu to make new decisions. The waitress brought our drinks and was ready to take our order. My wife ordered the Arugula and Steak Salad for $20. I asked for the Double Cut Pecan Smoked Pork Chop for $28. I then asked what sides does the meal come with? The waitress replied that it does not come with anything. You have to order the side dishes separately. Frustrated I changed my order to the salad. Our salads were good and the steak was done medium as requested. The only thing was that the flies were all over the place and very annoying as we ate. To me if you want to be a HIGH PRICED restaurant, act like one! This area does not dictate the prices you are asking. Several things we have to note. If you waitress/waiter makes a mistake then the manager should have come over and said something to us. The manager obviously knew that there was a problem. As someone who is supposedly running a classy place he should have at least spoken to us. Try and make you customer happy. Next, you want to be classified as high class, where is your parking lot? There is no parking here, so be prepared especially on the weekend. This place also has a problem with flies. It is not too hard to put fans in your outside dining area. Lastly, if you are going to charge $28 for pork chops then put a side with it. Charge more if you have to but noone wants to eat just the pork chop. You are not a high...

Visited True Blue Butcher & Barrel during the Third Thursday Night Market hosted in the South Front District by Hello Collective (4–8pm). The market itself was quaint with a strong vendor lineup, and the vibe was elevated by that cool summer breeze rolling through.

The main draw for me? $1 oysters. They were from Topsail—always a good sign—and while a bit mild for my personal taste, they were fresh, chilled, and clean. We ordered 18 total. The first dozen came out quick with our drinks (True Blue Pilsner hit the spot), and the final six came later alongside our entrees.

We would’ve loved to snap some pics to capture the night, but the flies were swarming outside—had us busy swatting more than savoring at times. It definitely took away from the otherwise smooth outdoor vibe.

Heads up: No kids menu. They are kid-friendly, but I’d recommend they invest in some lidded cups for the little ones.

As for the entrees, The bacon cheeseburger (10oz) was fire. Big, flavorful, juicy, and the seasoned fries hit just right—flavorful without being salty. The bourbon-braised mushroom burger? Visually appealing and unfortunately, it didn’t deliver in the flavor department either. Missed opportunity there, it just fell flat.

Now let’s talk service. With a co-hosted event and a poppin’ happy hour, I expected a fully staffed squad. The evening started off strong—oysters came out fast, drinks in hand. But after that? We hit a wall.

It took 25 minutes after the first round just to get someone to take our food order. Another 50 minutes passed before we could get a simple soda refill. Meanwhile, kitchen staff were in and out, hanging outside on phones, vaping, smoking—you name it. Not exactly the “all hands on deck” vibe you’d hope for when hosting a collab event.

To his credit, our server was apologetic—not just to us but to the table beside us who waited 30+ minutes just to get a drink order in. He mentioned there was only one bartender that night, which might explain a lot.

Atmosphere was great.

Burger and oysters? Definitely worth it.

Service? Needs serious reinforcement on event nights.

I’ll definitely be back—but probably not during...

Service was busy but quite friendly.

We tried steak frites, crab cake, and had Brussels and Mushrooms as sides. Steak frites was cooked a bit over asked, but within reason. Seasoning fine. Cut of meat average but nothing special. Brussels were too sugary and not drained of their fryer oil. The crab cakes were very decent with an appropriate balance of meat to binder.

I had a rye / vermouth cocktail that was so loaded with simple syrup the rye flavors were totally lost.

The margins on the whiskey and bourbon list are staggering. Think 700+ % mark ups from retail abc permittee (mixed beverage) prices per oz. The list is good and there are things you can’t find commonly in NC. So I understand they put an investment into purchasing cases of special order whiskeys and bourbons for this purpose… but seriously, $50 for a 2-3 oz pour of single malt that retails for $60 per bottle is too much.

It’s aiming for elevated comfort. The much touted example of elevated comfort at excellent value is Charleston’s Husk. If you look at the prices versus quality - the comparison is night and day. At true blue butcher and barrel I experienced industrial food distributor quality ingredients (think US foods) at jacked up prices missing almost the passion for cooking.

True blue needs to pare down their menu significantly, focus on cooking a few dishes extraordinarily well, and elevate their ingredient sourcing. They should look to their partner restaurant mariposa as an example of how to do this better.

As is, my fist impression is there’s too much margin built into this location’s business plan. Maybe for company outings where someone else is footing the bill, not what I’d consider a go-to...