Butcher Bar breaks free for brunch with a diverse and delightful weekend menu of meaty classics and sweet surprises.
When the Rittenhouse area’s premiere meaterie, Butcher Bar, says it’s gearing up for weekend brunch, the first thing you expect is something akin to its carnivore-like dinner menu – smoked Korean ribs, house-made jerky, duck confit, Nashville fried game hen and dry-aged rib eyes.
Think again.
Though the white tile-heavy, grill-focused, American comfort food space (“your friendly neighborhood steakhouse” is their motto) includes its house specialty Royale with Cheese burger on its afternoon menu, brunch at 20th and Chestnut’s Butcher Bar – Saturdays and Sundays from 11:30 a.m. through 3:00 p.m. – is a happily varied affair made complete by its boozy “Top It Off” program.
Created by Butcher Bar boss Chef John Strain, the leisurely afternoon meal features items ranging from savory to sweet to over-the-top. This means oversized, overstuffed Cinnamon-Sugar French Toast Bites, towering tall Mile High Pancake stacks, and loaded Smoked Salmon Toast served with a choice of mimosas, Bloody Marys, or featured margaritas – all with plenty of top-offs.
“We offered brunch up until the pandemic shutdowns, so it’s almost always been a part of our deal here,” said Chef John of Butcher Bar’s brunch history. “We’re excited to get some more eyes on brunch programming with the new pre-fixe option. As for opening Butcher Bar up to a new program now, we just happen to have a robust team of great staff right now, which is how we were able to offer the pre-fixe special and bring more guests in. Our a la carte brunch needed a boost – When I looked around at what people wanted, it seemed like pre-fixe inclusive brunch was the way to go.”
This writer is a huge salmon toast enthusiast but was surely swayed by the buttermilk-based sea salt pancakes created on a day-to-day basis. When it comes to size, Butcher Bar says bigger is better. “People freak out when they see their pancakes coming out… I use a ring mold to make them super tall and thick,” said Chef John. “All of the phones in the house come out when the pancakes are being served.”
And, as far as making certain BB diners get their proteins a la their Cheeesteak Burritos and their Tarrentino-esque Royale with Cheese, the Chef laughed. “Our clientele are meatheads at heart, but you gotta have some variety with brunch so that there’s something for everyone.”
Make your reservations here…
Images: Harry Paris Field
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