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| - I have very mixed feelings about the Arrogant Butcher. Four visits on varying occasions have each resulted in different experiences and levels of satisfaction. I love the atmosphere and the overall experience, but the lack of consistency is noticeable and I have heard similar criticisms from friends.
My first trip to AB was for drinks and a snack during a break from a sporting event downtown. I went over alone (to escape) ordered a Manhattan and an appetizer. The Manhattans were perfect (who stops at one?), and the charcuterie and cheese were terrific and served with some unique accoutrements. However, it was some time before I was able to order that first drink, and in fact, almost left after waiting at the bar for quite some time without acknowledgement - and there were only about 5 other patrons nearby. Once I did get someone's attention, everything was brilliant, but I can never understand a bartender not promptly taking a drink order.
My succeeding trip was very similar to the first, waited at the bar with a friend for an inordinate amount of time before finally having our drink and order of cheese and some appetizers taken. The restaurant was not particularly busy and the bar staff was sort of milling around chatting rather than trying to make money by serving the two thirsty girls in front of them. Once we had our (very well crafted) beverages in hand, everything went swimmingly. This place does a stand out job of mixology and the bartenders, while less than attentive, do know how to make a great drink.
Third visit - dinner date (no worries boys, it didn't go that well): Service was wonderful in the restaurant and I wish I could recall the waiter's name. We ordered a couple appetizers again went for charcuterie and cheese. The stand out for me was the pate - then again, I am always a sucker for pate. My dinner date had a steak and I had the sweet potato tortellini, which was simply wonderful.
Fourth visit - birthday party for ten. This was again a super mixed experience. The restaurant seated us in a private room in the back, which was decorated with some very cool photos of Phoenicianicana. I was a little late in arriving so the crew had already devoured several appetizers and a plethora of oysters. From what I heard the mussels were a big hit and they liked the cheese plate as much as I did. The waiter was super nice, answered questions, took our orders and kept everyone's glass full.
Dinner was a bit of a mess. Two of the guys ordered steaks with the $18 crab add on for a surf and turf, one filet and one rib eye, both of which came out overcooked. One of the gals ordered the crab, and the waiter came and explained it had 'fallen apart' so they were bringing a new one. They did fix the errors, but it is ever so awkward to have part of your party finished with dinner while others are waiting on theirs to show up. I ordered the scallops and they were perfectly cooked, but I had to bite through sand in about half of them, which is just a bummer. After we'd already had so many issues I didn't want to add to the aggravation in sending something else back to the kitchen.
The GM did come see us, apologized and brought out a round of deserts. In a nice effort he brought two of each of the four desserts on the menu, which we all tried out. The stand out for me was the salted caramel pudding. No one really understood the warm peanut butter gelato, which essentially tasted like peanut butter soup. We were having a good time and we did appreciate the manager and waiter's efforts to apologize and take care of the issues.
The Arrogant Butcher has a pretty sweet little happy hour menu and now that my office is now less than ten minutes away, I will probably be stopping back in to check that out and am certain I will eat here again. I just wish they could regularly be as great as I know they can be.
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