The Butcher’s Tap

Came here with a friend and ordered the El Guapo. So delicious. It was hearty and spicy and everything I wanted in a burger. We also ordered the poutine for an appetizer — I wasn’t 100% impressed. It was a little too much vinegar for my taste.

First time ordering here — the turkey pesto panini was super tasty! The pesto was very flavorful and not too overpowering.
My reasoning for 4 stars — delivery said it would be here by 4:10 and it didn’t arrive until 4:50. A few minutes past the time is understandable but 40 is a little excessive.
Reason number 2 — I ordered coleslaw as my side and it was half empty. Don’t skimp on the slaw, man!

Stopped in yesterday for dinner and drinks before heading to the Music Box Theater. Welcoming and comfortable environment. Even though I wasn’t a regular, I felt welcomed. The sandwiches we ordered were all great, the special requests were accommodated without issue and executed perfectly. The only reason I gave 3 stars was due to the temperature of the two different tap beers my husband ordered. They were not at the correct temperature, they were actually warm. He hates when I complain so we didn’t say anything, I just hoped he didn’t get sick.
Thanks for a good start to our evening, but please double check your tap beer temperatures.

Went with a group of friends, and was quite impressed that on a Saturday at 7:30 PM we got a table right away.
Got the cheese curds and poutine for apps, equally excellent. Poutine was pretty heavy-​hitting.
The sandwiches just hit the spot. After being unable to decided, I went with the smoked turkey pesto sandwich. Had great flavors together, great portion size, and wasn’t like biting into a salt bomb. Tap beer selections were excellent too.
I’ll be back again soon!

Definitely was there on a off day on my first time. The wings I gave another try and the were awesome. Get the dry rub tossed in Buffalo sauce. The beer selection is also great. I didn’t go upstairs again but I am guessing they fixed the dart boards. I been here several times the past few month. Some servers are better than others but overall I never had a terrible experience with service.

Our server was Maralynn and she gave the worst service I have ever had.
It was my first time here and she was unfriendly and standoffish.
Made the entire Sunday afternoon experience terrible and not worth it.
The beer was warm and the waitress was not seen for the duration of our meal.
AVOID UNLESS OUT OF OPTIONS!

It is bar food and it is great. Mike the bartender guided us through our drink and food choices. We started with drunken cheese curds that were prepared perfectly. Mike suggested barbecue sauce to dip. My wife had the fried chicken sandwich and I had the turkey pesto sandwich. Both were delicious and huge so there was plenty to take home. We will return. Go Cubs!

Nice restaurant, seating is indoor, outdoor, and bar. Got a burger and it was good. Service was a little slow but it was very busy.

Came here after work. I had some great beer and shared the tempura pickled green beans with a friend. The citrus aioli that came with it was fantastic. I highly recommend it as a good snack with your beer.

Guthrie’s was full so we swing by for a bite. At first we were told it’d be 35 min wait, but when we went back in to ask if we can be put on the list, we were told a table opened up for 6.
Service was decent, waitress showed up promptly and told us that they had run out of water cups and water would be out. The menu is kind of hard to read, as you have to span through a placemat type menu. Waitress was helpful in resolving my tears of indecisiveness.
I ended up with the Chicago cut burger over the fried chicken sandwich since the menu boasts about the use of grass fed beef. Burger came with mushrooms, caramelized onions, and havarti, but ended up being over cooked. I guess it’s not over cooked when I wasn’t asked how I wanted it done.
French fries were yummy though, I’d choose those over onion rings if I could re-​do my decision. Friends really enjoyed the deep fried pickles if that’s your thing!

This was my second visit to Butchers Tap. We arrived right at opening so my boyfriend could watch the Michigan State basketball game. They seated us near an area away from the hawks game which was super accommodating of them. I ordered the Italian sandwich and it was great, fresh meats and cheese on hearty Italian bread. The chips that came with it I could have done without but my boyfriend ordered a side of fries which were flavorful and fresh. The bar area is gorgeous and appear to have every beer imaginable on tap. We will definitely be back.

Today I made my second visit to this restaurant. I ordered he chicken lemon club but instead I got some type of turkey club with onions. When I told the waitress she said the kitchen said that my order was correct and still charged me full price. I think someone should have maybe tried to investigate a little further or given me a discount. I also hate their ketchup, it’s «all natural» so it tastes funky. I’d recommend bringing your own if you like regular ketchup. The food is good though, and the atmosphere is nice.

My wife and I recently got memberships to the Music Box Theater, and members get discounts at local businesses. We decided to try out luck at The Butcher’s Tap before a Valentine’s Day Weekend showing of Casablanca (which was awesome! I had never seen it!).
We got there right when it opened and were promptly served. I liked the menu, plenty of variety and twists to bar food staples. They had a poutine special that sounded great! We decided to go with burgers. I got the El Guapo, which had peppers and refried beans as toppings. It also had a spicy mayo sauce which was really good. My wife built her own burger. The burgers came out promptly and were delicious.
I took off a star simply for prices. We paid $ 40 for two beers and two burgers. Seems high, and yes, I know I was in Lakeview. But still, a little off in my humble opinion. Good food, good service, cool looking place. We got about $ 5 off with Music Box discount. I’m sure we will be back.

This place is friggin great. Good cold brews, great food, solid service, and a rock solid selection of liquor. It takes bar food to that enjoyable level of enjoying comfort food while not feeling like you need to take a shower after. Cheese curds are dank. Butchers board and wings not as much. Burgers are everything you want out of such a thing. And sandwiches (experience — roast beef bahn mi and pesto turkey) moderately underwhelmed — this is a bar, not a deli, after all. If you want a neighborhood spot to enjoy a burger and beers while watching a game, you’ll enjoy the heck out of BT.

Ordered food from here for the super bowl. Came very fast and was still hot! Everything tastes awesome and the delivery guy was really nice. My boyfriend and I go to the butchers tap all the time and the food has never let us down. Definitely a hidden secret on south port.

My boyfriend and I came in here last night to grab a few beers and snacks to round out our Sunday. The ambiance inside is pretty cool, much better than the old Wheel House prior. We were seated in a table at the back, and quickly ordered a beer flight and cheese curds. These both turned up fine, the cheese curds were actually pretty good– extremely light and fluffy almost with a tempura style batter.
Next, we asked our waitress for more information on the butchers blocks (the place is named Butchers Tap so you’d think this would be a big part of their menu…) and she gave us weak descriptions of each meat/​cheese. Some of them she just said they were «new» or «soft» as the description! Somewhat agitated, we ordered a selection of the fireball, prosciutto, sopressata, Gouda, and Brie. The menu read that the meat/​cheese assortment would come with nuts, crackers, and spreads to go along with it. When our waitress dropped off the butchers plate, I immediately noticed there were no spreads included. The table sitting next to us ordered one as well, and I was looking at their spreads. When I asked our waitress about it she looked around confused and told me that the crackers were considered the «spreads.» As soon as she walked away we also noticed they served us goat cheese instead of the Gouda, so we also had to point that out to her.
All in all, the service was not good. We were very excited to try a new bar in town, and unfortunately it fell flat for us. The food was just ok, nothing I would return back for.

I love this place. Great place to spend an evening watching sports or catching up with friends. Lots of beer on tap and excellent food choices too. In a great neighborhood too, Southport Corridor has lots of good choices and this is one of the better ones.

Butcher’s Tap is an Ohio state bar that’s menu has an extensive tap list. Service is solid.
Our table started with the fried pickles and cheese curds which were delicious. I had a chicken sandwich for my dinner which was average. The food overall is above average but their beer list is more impressive.
2 stories and the upstairs was just as nice even during a Blackhawks game.

Historically bad wait service. I’ve been here when it was Messner’s, when it was Wheel House and whatever incarnation it is now. When we walked in tonight the bartender sneered, kept chatting with her friend and the waitress walked by and just looked at us a couple of times. Consistently, throughout the years I’ve never felt like a welcome customer here and keep returning hoping something has changed. The food is consistently mediocre. Typical bar food and pre-​formed frozen burger patties. Stay away from the hummus plate unless you want gray celery and Costco hummus. Boo. Never again. Wish they would just turn this building into another women’s fitness clothing store.

Solid sports bar with above average bar food. I usually accompany my cousins to watch Ohio State games. I’m always willing to watch a game I have no investment in because the food is good.
Last time Mike was our bartender and that man did not stop moving. He was constantly filling another drink and always saw when I was ready for a refill without me asking.
Had the poutine special without the pulled pork and it was yummy. The cheese was super melted so you didn’t realize it was cheese curds but good nonetheless.

I came with a group of friends for Wed night trivia and we loved it. When I was looking for a good trivia bar I had trouble finding much info so I thought I’d share some of my thoughts.
The trivia night is run by Geeks Who Drink, a company that hosts trivia in bars across the country. They know what they’re doing! Here are a few things worth mentioning:
— They started exactly ontime
— The caller was very loud and easy to hear throughout the bar
— When the caller passed out papers she could tell we were new and explained how things work. Then, over the mic she gave a short but fair set of rules.
— Things move fast enough. The caller was funny and joked but she didn’t waste time and thing continued quickly.
— Interesting rounds (funny themes, a visual, two audios). There was only round our group didn’t like. It wasn’t based on trivia as much as lucky guesswork.
— Bonus questions for a few rounds where the winning group got a free beer, and the bar gives out prizes for 1^st AND 2^nd place. We won 2^nd and can tell you we got a round of shots from the bar. I think I heard 1^st place got a $ 40 gift certificate for a future visit but can’t promise.
— You don’t know who won each round but it was nice that the caller took a break after round 5 (of 8) to tally up those rounds, read the correct answers, and give current standings. Same thing happened after round 8.
I hope this helps if you’re looking for a trivia bar night with your friends. Really nice bar that uses a great trivia company.

I’ve had two very good Sunday lunches here (once by accident when the wait at Southport Grocery was too long, and once on purpose). Not a sports fan, which tells you how tasty I thought the food was the first time, since I was game to put up with the big TVs in order to enjoy it again. Solid beer list, extremely cordial service. Will definitely return!

Went to this place for the first time after meeting a girl that said she bartended there. I live nearby on Southport and didn’t even know this place was legit. Upstairs is pretty big, drinks are reasonably priced and the service is solid. I had two Manhattans and they were both very well made. I was told to get the wings and they delivered as well. Solid sized TVs and comfortable ambiance and music selection. I’d come back to grab a drink or a bite.

On our way home from a Cubs game at Wrigley we stopped by this bar to watch a Buckeye’s game, as my in-​laws both graduated from THE OHIO State University and this bar had a Buckeye’s flag flying out front.
It was filled w/​Buckeye fans, so great energy to go and cheer them on here. They had raffles for all kinds of free stuff going on while watching the game too.
We got the buttermilk chicken sampler, it was very tasty and came with 3 sides.
However I’d recommend to forgo the cole slaw as it’s extremely flavorless and just tasted like mayonnaise and no other flavor. This was quite disappointing to both me and my mother-​in-​law as we both enjoy cole slay, but hey you win some and lose some. The onion rings were fantastic, as well as the fries crispy steak-​like fries and chicken were crispy little tenders.
Everything was good and other than the cole slaw finished quickly, but it was just your standard «bar» food, nothing above that.
However, their menu had all kinds of VERY good sounding sandwiches, so we had wished we were hungry for those rather than just splitting apps.

I really wanted this spot to be great and was disappointed. Located blocks from Wrigley field, it is the perfect location for a pre game meal. We were there for a late lunch-​on of only two tables occupied. While our server was delightful young woman the service itself was excruciatingly slow. I ordered a «deli» sandwich which should have been stacked with deli meat– I had 2 thin slices of salami and a slice of cheese-​kind of disappointing!
On the up side, the beer selection is TERRIFIC-​at least 50 different and varied options on tap.
There is s nice, comfortable outdoor space when the weather is good.
I will give Butchers Tap another try– I really want to like this place-​better, quicker service is really all it needs!

I only got the wine here but the atmosphere was casual and the location is great. The prices were about what you’d expect for the area.

I went hear on a Monday afternoon for lunch time. And to be honest the food was 4 – 5 star worthy. But the service just brought it down, they weren’t rude they weren’t mean just not on top of it and slow.
After scouring the menu half because they have a really cool menu and half because the waitress didn’t come for 15 minutes we both decided on burgers. I love their variety of options for types of burgers topping etc. they really offer something for everyone. We also got their cheese curds as an app and speaking as a true Wisconsin boy these are great and their dips are out of this world. I’m also so intrigued in the picnic basket and cheese and meat platter. Both sounded great.
As I said before the service was just slow and inattentive. They are situated across from Southport Grocery which is plenty busy during the lunch hour. Butchers tap is significantly less so, and I could not find a reason at all that out cheese curds and burgers meant that we were situated there for over an hour and a half.
I’ll definitely be heading back and crossing my fingers for better service next time.

Been here a couple times — pretty much the same story each time, the burgers/​sandwiches are great, everything else, not so much.
Most recently, I’ve gotten the Zeus (lamb) and Tombstone (bison).
The Zeus was kinda what you’d expect from a lamb burger, some good feta (but not overpowering), arugula, pickled onion, and they added a neat twist by including a bit of hummus. Overall it was good and the lamb was cooked very well.
This last time I got the bison. Again, the blue cheese wasn’t overpowering which I was grateful for and the buffalo sauce was quite good. They were supposed to include their own «sopo» sauce (sopo as in SOuthPOrt) but didn’t. Again, bison was cooked well, and I’d probably be willing to get it again.
But outside your main order, I’ve been a bit disappointed with Butcher’s Tap. We go the wings last time and the dry rub didn’t have a ton of flavor in my opinion while the korean had good flavor but just needed some more of it. That being said, one of the waiters who had overheard our discussion when ordering then brought us a shot when we were a bit disappointed with the dry rub. That’s great service and I really appreciated it. Costs the restaurant next to nothing, keeps customers happy.
Beer menu generally provides a good selection as well.
Be sure to sit outside, it can get really loud on the inside, especially at the back where the ceiling’s a bit lower.

This place could be a huge hot spot but owners are cutting corners. The upstairs is a waste of space. The pool table is all wet from the condensation on the air ducks above. The pool sticks are all broke except one. The two dart boards are crap. One is completely garbage and the darts are terrible too. These small things make you wonder, what other corners are they cutting? Who knows what the kitchen looks like.
Food is ok, I got the wings with the dry rub. Dry rubwas blan, thankfully they had a good spicy ketchup to douse them with.
All in all, had lots of potential but needs a bar rescue for wasted space and broken equipment. Upkeep looks half ass.

We enjoyed a late lunch here on Saturday. Overall, a good experience, but the music was so loud we had a hard time hearing each other. We were sitting under a speaker (and clearly, I’m very old).
The food was great. We shared the picnic, with the fried chicken. As sides, we ordered cole slaw, potato salad and Mac and cheese. It was very good, and the presentation (little baskets with red and white check paper) was so cute.
I also got to try The Diner burger. That was delicious and I would absolutely order that on my own. Tillamok cheddar is always a good choice. The cheese and meat plate was also very good — the gouda was outstanding. The red pepper hummus with fresh, warm pita and crisp veggies was awesome. The fries and onion rings were also very good and props for delicious ketchup.
I would drop the volume a little, and although our server was great, I think there needed to be one or two other people on the floor, she was pretty far in the weeds most of the time we were there. All in, a great spot on Southport.

Great atmosphere and a fun innovative menu. There is a second ‘menu’, or bible I believe they called it, which contains information about their farms and distributors that you could literally spend an entire day reading! They really focus on the quality of the ingredients which is nice.
They have an extensive selection of over 100 beers, 60 on draft, and unique seasonal cocktails. The beers are listed out by state on the beer menu which I really enjoyed!
The cheese curds ($ 8) are battered in more of a tempura coating, super light and yummy. The pesto ranch they are served with has a surprising fresh flavor and was my favorite thing of the night!
The Friend Chicken Picnic ($ 17) was a super fun idea served in an adorable mini picnic basket. The chicken is boneless and you may disappointed if you are expecting a greasy crispy mess. It was good but I have a feeling they might struggle keeping it moist with this technique. Sides: Homemade chips and macaroni were both amazing!
The Chicago Cut Burger ($ 12) with Havarti, Arugala, Caramelized Onions, Field Mushrooms and Steak Sauce was delicious!
Great cozy neighborhood place to get you through the monotony of winter, though I’m sure it will be just as fabulous in the summer!