Butcher Shop Steakhouse

09/12/09

Not very impressed

by Leather Guy

I went to the Butcher Shop in Sept '09 with my wife and an out-of-town guest. This was the first visit for all of us and we were looking forward to the meal. They have a private parking lot, which is a huge plus since the restaurant is in downtown Knoxville. Upon arrival, we were seated immediately and the server took our drink order quickly. The service was great for the rest of the visit.

I ordered the New York Strip cooked medium rare. When the food arrived, the steak appeared over-cooked and dry. I cut into it and found the looks were accurate. Even with their special seasoning they tout in the menu, this was one of the least flavorful pieces of meat I have ever had. I virtually never add any salt or pepper to meat when I eat out, but I sure did on this one. I also considered asking for steak sauce, something I NEVER do. Just to add some juice to the meat, I took some butter and put on it. In addition to being dry and bland, it also had a lot of gristle on it. Overall, chewing on any portion of that steak was like chewing on shoe leather. I ALWAYS finish my steak, but I took about 1/3 of this 12 ounce monstrosity home for the dogs. The bread they bring with the meal was nothing more than a piece of Texas toast with butter tossed on the grill until it is burnt and dry. The baked potato and salad were good, the salad being the highlight of the meal. For those who are saying, "why didn't you send it back?" I reply with the reason that I didn't want to delay the others in their meal and I was hungry so I figured I could tolerate it.

The atmosphere is OK, but more like the Golden Corral with all the tables out in a large open area with little or no intimate seating. They also had the lighting dimmed to the point where it was actually difficult to see the food. It got fairly noisy as well, which didn't bother me, but it is something that some may want to know about.

Overall, I was not happy with the meal, especially considering the prices they charge. I have had much better steak at chain restaurants or even the Waffle House. My wife was also not impressed at all, and our guest didn't seem to thrilled either. We do not plan to return unless something dramatically changes with their food quality. I don't mind paying a little more for a meal, but the food better be worth it, and this certainly wasn't.

• Pros: Service was good and prompt
• Cons: Food was not impressive and over-priced

07/04/09

Huge Disappointment

by Northwestern

Is it possible to give less than one star?

My family went to The Butcher Shop last night for our father's 60th birthday. We were expecting something special, like The Chop House or Shula's. The Butcher Shop's website led us to believe this is the kind of experience we'd get... false advertising doesn't even cover it. We arrived for our early evening reservation on time and were seated promptly... at a table right next to the grills that was noticeably slanted enough to make things slide from one side to the other. When we mentioned it to our bumbling server she didn't offer to seat up elsewhere in the nearly empty restaurant (which remained so for the entirety of our meal, by the way), she went to get matchbooks to shove under the table legs. Not only was this absurd, it didn't help at all. She took our drink order, but became confused and brought the wrong number and type of drinks. To her sole credit, our meal order went normally. I previously mentioned the proximity of our table to the grills, which would have been fine if while waiting for our salads we hadn't been swamped in smoke. I'm not sure if the ventilation fans weren't working properly or what the difficulty was but several of my family members were tearing up from the smoke and I had to use my rescue asthma inhaler. None of the staff seemed phased by this so perhaps it happens all the time. However, if that is the case I think it would be considerate of someone to mention we were in the 'smoking section' as it were.

As for the food: it is entirely overpriced for the amount of fat on the steaks. No one should have to pay for a 30oz steak when only half of it is edible. I realize that The Butcher Shop is primarily a steakhouse, but the chicken breast was laughably emaciated. I'd expect that from Denny's but not from (what we thought was) a high-end steakhouse. The bright spot was the 12oz New York Strip, which while slightly fatty, was at least flavorful and juicy. After finishing our food we asked for a box to take the leftover meat home to our dogs since no human was interested in it. After ten minutes the aforementioned bumbler walked past the table and told us she'd have the box to us shortly. After another ten we reminded her as she passed again that we were still waiting for the box and the check. We handed her our credit card before she could even set down the mints; we were more than ready to leave. As soon as we exited we offered our apologies to my father for selecting so poorly. We really wanted to go somewhere special, to make a great memory and celebrate our father's life. If we'd known The Butcher Shop was an everyday, after work, throw on your flip-flops, sort of establishment we'd never have gone. As it is, we're never going back.

• Pros: No one got sick?
• Cons: Almost everything else.

05/31/09

Very Pleased

by dmcdermott21

My fiancee and I had dinner here and both of us ordered steak. I have been to many of the steak houses around Knoxville and I would have to say this was one of the best places to get a steak for the price. Both the steaks were perfectly cooked and the twice baked potato was excellent also. I usually eat steak sauce on any steak that I get (just personal preference), but I tried this steak both ways and ended up eating it without the sauce.

Another thing that we liked about the restaurant was that we were seated immediately and the wait staff did a great job.

This is a steak house that you have to go looking for, you will not just be driving down the road and find it, unless you are lost.

We are planning on having our reception in their back room.

• Pros: Great Steaks and service
• Cons: You almost need to have a gps to find the place