Butcher and the Burger | Restaurant review

It’s like Allen Sternweiler and Josh Woodward created an algorithm for trendy restaurants and—shalom!—Butcher & the Burger, the most fashionable restaurant baby imaginable, was born. Trendwise, it’s got it all: the burgers, the inexplicable obsession with butchers and the nostalgia for a time nobody eating in the restaurant ever lived in. But none of this annoyed me. In fact, I found it charming. But this was only because my “house-blend beef” burger on a “split top egg butter” bun rubbed with “Grandma’s onion soup” spice rub and topped with griddled onions, pickle chips, bacon, blue cheese and a fried egg was pretty much perfect.

My “La Pryor Farm Pork” burger on that same bun flavored with the “curry-coconut” rub and topped with griddled mushrooms and mayonnaise didn’t fare as well. But whose fault was that? As a DIY restaurant, Butcher & the Burger only can make the elements of its burgers the best it can—the rest is up to me, and you, and your (possibly picky) children. Got a kid who doesn’t like pickles? Or one who craves an uncommonly large pile of onions on her burger? Customization is the answer to their prayers. And to yours, since, in theory at least, you won’t be spending time rooting around the burgers, picking off offensive ingredients.

But seriously—stay away from that pork burger. Stick with the beef patties, or the vegan option, a nutty and satisfying lentil patty. Also, steer clear of the Greek rub (it rendered an otherwise well-cooked salmon patty too salty to eat), but feel free to go with any of the buns—they all do the trick. Toppings? Maybe limit them to three. Salads? Yes, but they’re premade in plastic containers and stored in a cooler—not cute. Frozen custard is a go (and it seems to get better every day—on my first visit the texture wasn’t nearly as silky as on my second). Finally, there’s the butcher shop component, which offers all the ground meats packaged raw and to-go, and which is great option for the kid who falls in love with the burger she ordered and wants to eat it all the time. Or the adult.