7 Minute Miles

First visit to The Butcher and the Boar


After trying unsuccessfully for a few weeks to get Saturday night reservations at The Bachelor Farmer, we decided to try for one of the other hot new restaurants in Minneapolis, The Butcher and the Boar (1121 Hennepin Avenue).

After working at the Dakota, this is Jack Riebel’s first restaurant on his own. The bar is beautiful and has a floor covered in pennies. The smallish dining room has several larger wooden tables and a row of small marble tables that seemed just a tad too close together (the servers had to squeeze in to deliver our orders). What looks to be a beautiful outdoor patio should be opening shortly.

The drink selection was large and varied, with a decided focus on bourbon. There were many sampler flights available and I tried the “three styles of bourbon” for $12, which included 3/4 oz. tastings of Maker’s Mark (wheated), Redemption (high rye) and an exclusive Butcher and the Boar single barreled Knob Creek (low rye).

Colleen wanted Crispin cider, and she actually had three varieties to choose from (original, Browns Lane and Stagger Lee). The table also had a large glass bottle of water and the observant wait staff always seemed to appear at just the right time to keep us topped off. If beer is your thing, the row of taps at the bar looked to be a mile long.

Our friendly and knowledgable waitress spent a lot of time with us explaining the menu. We started with the Wild Boar ham,
B&B pickles and molasses bread ($8), which was Colleen’s favorite item of the night. She followed that up with the Berkshire pork and cheddar sausage with broccoli, rye & hard cider sauce ($12) and a side order of bourbon orange carrots ($8).

I ordered a medium flatiron steak ($24, above), which was just perfect (and my favorite thing of the night). It was accompanied by a few of their Fulton beer-battered fries, which I also really liked. I made the mistake of ordering two more sides (Texas toast and buttermilk mash, $3 & $6), which were good, but way too much food.

The desert menu had lots of great options, but Colleen decided there was a chance of egg in most of them (she’s allergic). I ordered the bourbon and Coke float ($7), which was actually just bourbon-flavored ice cream and not actual bourbon. Bonus points for Mexican Coke, though.

Overall, this was one of the better meals I’ve had in a while. It’s always fun to check out the hot new kid in town, but too often you get “opening night” jitters in one form or another. The Butcher and the Boar has been open for roughly a month and seems to have almost everything figured out already. We’ll definitely be back – hopefully outside on the deck…

Originally published by DK on April 8, 2012 at 5:28 pm in Food, Longform


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