Butcher Block Steakhouse

I ordered the Greek salad… it was terrible. Old, wilted lettuce, no feta, very few tomatoes. The waiter was pleasant, but I would not go back.

We were trying to celebrate and planned on ordering nice wine, appetizers and steak. Got sat in a corner with a broken chair and a view of the trash and loud, obnoxious people around. We asked to be re-​seated and were told no. The classic cocktails we ordered were not made correctly (my martini was warm and the old fashion was whiskey, water, and unbroken cherries — an adult Shirley Temple). We told them we would like to leave and canceled our order. No attempt to make it right and they charged us full price for the cocktails. We went somewhere else and had a very nice dinner. You do the math.

Took some clients there for lunch and had a very good experience. Everyone in my group seem to enjoy their meal. I had the Gouda cheese burger and tots, which was very tasty. The only knock on the burger that I had was that the cheese was not melted but rather just a slice of Gouda laid up on the burger cold. Our server, Nate, was very attentive and I enjoyed the décor.

Their burgers are phenomenal and creative. They also have some really good apps. Nice atmosphere and good location.

This was our second visit to Butcher Block and it will be our last. On the first visit, we both had sandwiches. Nothing special, but not terrible. This time we went for entrées and were both incredibly disappointed.
I had the salmon with a lemon caper sauce, asparagus and Greek salad. Sides were edible but less than expected for the price of the meal. The salmon tasted cheap. The worst part was the sauce. There was no lemon flavor and too much flour. I couldn’t eat half of it.
My wife ordered chicken picatta, roasted potatoes and a Caesar salad. Same issue with the sauce, added to chicken that had some kind of soggy baste on it. Roasted potatoes were not crisp at all.
I left feeling unsatisfied with the meal after paying almost $ 20 per entrée.

Decent steak for price and it’s local so none of that frozen corporate shipped stuff like chains. Fried green tomatoes have always been good. Breakfast is decent too. Lobster mac and cheese was interesting, as it just had macaroni and cheese with a tail on top… staff was quick. Mimosas were not that good here when I came for breakfast…

I was hoping for so much more but this was just ok for me. I was happy to see a grass fed beef filet option but I asked for it medium rare and it came well done. When I told the server she asked if that was ok. Um no! Had to ask for more water and was charged extra for the egg added to my salad. Disappointed.

Not impressed. The server wore wrinkled, dirty clothes. This was at 11:30 am. Her shift just began so she came to work like that. I had a salad and the lettuce was «rusty». Wouldn’t recommend or go there again.

I wish I could rate this bar/​restaurant less than one star, but the option is not available. First of all, the staff is terrible… from the kitchen to the bartenders (which is the worst). Now of course there are some exceptions but not a lot. The bartenders are cocky and they have absolutely no clue what is going on. There is one guy with shaved head and hair on top with tattoos, I think he is probably on some illegal drug. The food is ok, but the service is TERRIBLE!!! Please avoid at all costs. I can’t wait for them to go out of business so that a new restaurant/​bar can move in. Cheers!

I want this place to do well, we need more local places in the Cedar Rapids area. But they need to tweak a few things in order to survive. Overall, I say I would go back to this place, but from an objective point of view, (and I am not hard to please, just observant) hopefully they listen and take the constructive criticism and roll with it.
Atmosphere/​seating: I have only sat in the bar area, and the thing that really annoys me is the lighting. If you sit at a high-​top table along the wall, prepared to have a spot light shine right down on you. All they would need to do is change the wall sconces. Ambiance is as important to me as food and service, and they are lacking here. My friend was directly under the «spotlight» and I almost had to squint in order to look directly at her. One couple came over to sit at the table next to us and I heard him say, «its way too bright at this table, lets sit up at the bar» So obviously Im not the only one that thinks so.
Food: the food was just above mediocre. I ordered salmon and it had WAY too much lemon caper sauce on it, I couldn’t even taste that it was salmon. Cut the sauce down in half and have the salmon a little more fresh and I would have been a bigger fan. The very next day after visiting I was talking to a friend about eating salmon in general and she says «I went to Butcher Block the other night and ordered the salmon and it had too much sauce on it». Funny, that was exactly my thoughts as well! The ceaser salad was excellent. I like the balsamic drizzle over the top. Although, I dont know if it was just the server lacking or the way things are done there, but my salad came out with my meal. Its probably safe to say that majority of ppl want to eat their salad before their meal, not with it. So making sure that it comes out before even if the server is busy, or maybe it’s a computer thing when rung up, I dont know. The bread was good and my wine selection was pretty good as well.
Service: This is where they need to do a re-​haul. Our service wasn’t necessarily bad, just wasn’t exceptional. took a while to be waited on, two ppl stopped to asked if we had been greeted and then finally our server came over. The «boy» that waited on us looked like a 15 yr old kid that just got off work at Best-​Buy and came there for his second shift. If this place is trying to be a higher end bar and grill, they need to polish the help. Everyone just looked and acted, well, «not polished», for lack of better words. I watched some server open mouth kiss what I would assume her boyfriend back by the door/​server station, I was in plain view of the back door where several employees walked outside to have a smoke (put some partition up at least so I cant see the «employee smoking» area. The manager looked bitter, wore down and tired and and all other servers and management looked as though they could care less about their clothing, their attitude and trying to at least give the impression of some class. It’s not all about looks, but if the employees were a little more polished it would at least give the impression of somewhere I could see upper-​class business ppl wanted to go, not your typical Applebees patrons.
All these things are fixable and hopefully someone reads these and takes note. Like I said, it wasn’t horrible to keep me away, but it wasnt the 4 – 5 star I would l have hoped for for somewhere that obviously put a lot of money into opening a new restaurant.

Decision making is easy for me when looking at their menu. Best. Steak. Salad. Ever. And I stress, EVER! I get mine with a side of their scrumptious ranch dressing.
Their patio is a great space for lunch, drinks, dinner with friends or a date (the whole restaurant actually meets this criteria too). The staff is always friendly, food is delicious and served promptly and the place has a fresh, clean, hip look.
Make it easy on yourself after reading this and GO to Butcher Block.

Went for the Mother’s Day brunch. The brunch selection was decent, but he food was cold (eggs) and the meat was dry (turkey). There was hair on the cinnamon rolls and on her prime rib. The service was slow, but friendly. If this was a low level chain, this may have been tolerated. The worst was the bill. For four people to eat this brunch (and one was a child), the total was $ 125. For a brunch. In Iowa. I tip of this, the 20% tip was added in automatically. In addition, the flatware was dirty and of very poor quality. Butcher Block spent money on the surroundings to give the appearance of quality, but skimped on everything else. In summation, bad food, decent service and extremely expensive. Avoid this place as it is certainly not worth the amount spent and there are many other higher level options in CR for that kind of money.

It was good quite busy on a Friday night, about a 30 minute wait. The food was good, good price for all the sandwiches burgers and chicken, the steak was a bit pricey (especially for being overcooked from what was ordered) they also had a great drink selection.

First time I ate here I became obsessed with the chicken nachos! They were fabulous! Unfortunately, the last 3 times I have ordered them the chips have been burnt and utterly disgusting! I just want them to taste the way they did the first time I had them, darn it!

Came here after many bi-​polar reviews. Had low expectations and wasn’t terribly disappointed. Seating layout sucks on the dinner side. Tables jammed together and you can practically taste your neighbors. Menu is great. Nice variety. Service was good. Had chicken, wife had fish tacos. Both average, both expensive. I was terrified to try a $ 30 steak. Nice place to try, but we won’t be regulars.

My boyfriend and I both had steaks, which were cooked to perfection. The sides were delicious and nicely sized. 2 for 1 drinks during happy hour (until 6pm). Service was fine. It’s definitely pricey but we loved the food enough that it was worth it. Overall a great experience, and we’ll be back!

We went to the Boyson Road location for brunch, but were disappointed to learn only the one on 1^st Ave serves brunch and a Bloody Mary bar. We considered leaving and going across the lot to Riley’s, but we were starving.
It wasn’t terribly busy, but the tables are so close together in the dining room that having a conversation is awkward with the people at the next table practically in your lap. The servers couldn’t even get through some places.
Our server gave us less than 30 seconds to look at the menu before she tried to take our order, but then It took forever for her to bring our drinks back and take our order. It took approximately 30 minutes to get our food.
We both ordered Farm House burgers with no substitutions except mine on a Gluten Free bun. We both ordered them medium and the server made a point to tell us they’d come with a warm pink center. Great!
Nope. Well done. Like black on the bottom, gray in the middle, lukewarm all over. No garnish on one, wilted hot lettuce on the other. No condiments, sides weren’t very warm. You know when you’re starving your face off and you know you’re screwed if you send something back so you just suck it up and eat it? And then silently visualize punching your spouse in the face for making you go somewhere you knew would sort of suck in the first place? Yeah. That happened.
Also, my silverware was dirty. My knife had food boogers on it and my partner’s glass had a crack in it from top to bottom.
Bottom line, if I wanted burnt food and dirty dishes I could’ve stayed home and cooked.

Not sure why my original review (also the first for the new location, since I also added it to Unilocal) isn’t listed here but…
Outside bar is alright. There’s a nice garage-​style outside bar and service area, done up pretty nice, everything is new and shiny and clean. A lot of the A servers from the 1^st ave location seem to have been moved out to the new spot, so the service was alright for the most part. They have new menus printed weekly, it seems, so it’s hard to say whats on this week, but my order was done right (can’t remember exactly what I had, but it was neither bad nor great enough to stand out a few weeks later).
I’m thinking some of the bad reviews may be from the 1^st ave location since the service there has suffered since the new spot opened. At the very least check this local out, the food quality and the service were good enough that I will go back if I find myself on that side of town.

Went there with coworkers and we each had a steak. The salad was great and my filet was cooked well and good. My coworker got a sirloin but it was chewy and he didn’t like it at all. The price is fair but it was odd they didn’t serve bread. Also it was packed on a Tuesday night so obviously people like the place. Good, clean atmosphere. I would recommend this place again but stay away from the sirloin

Horrible service at the bar. Was greeted by a bartender complaining how he’d been at work since 10am. And it was only 5pm when we stopped by. Bartenders complaining to each other about another coworker. It was just really unprofessional for a restaurant like this. I mean, we aren’t at a dive bar. They weren’t that busy yet we had to ask to place our order, no «you’re welcome» to my thank you, or «can I get you anything else»… It was disappointing and this was our second time going here, both times bad service at the bar. Maybe it’s different in the dining room?
Unfortunately we won’t be going back to find out…