The Butcher Block

Simply amazing. Great Food and great venues. Do not be influenced by the reviewers that gave this restaurant one star… they have no idea about food. This is Italian… really Italian. (I am italian myself, born and raised) If you want to eat well, go to butcher bloc. simply delicious.

I’ve ordered several items all of which have been just okay. For the price I would expect much more. Cesar salad is lettuce, Parmesan, and dressing for $ 8… Ridiculous! Also I think there should be a side of bread with entrees or at least an option to order a side of bread.

H I D D E N G E M
This tiny little place in Northeast is adorable. A cute little bar, unpretentious décor, and slipcovers on all the chairs make it cozy and cute. I liked all the empty bottles of wine lining the shelves, memories of fun times.
Our prompt waiter wasn’t too formal, nor was he too familiar. Just right. Throughout our meal he was attentive and quick.
So we started with the fried rice balls, and while they were done perfectly, I had hoped for something similar to some I ‘ve had previously. Guess I’ll have to make some myself :-).
We split the Rigatoni with the truffle cream, and the Beef Short ribs.
To the Unilocaler who called the Rigatoni glorified hamburger helper… what? This dish is ambrosia, food of the gods. I have never had hamburger helper, but I am guessing it doesn’t taste like this. And fresh made pork sausage doesn’t taste like hamburger!!! This was a superb, well made, with good ingredients, dish. Perfection.
Then there was the Beef Cacciatore Short Ribs. Nothing «short» about it at all ! A gigantic piece of beef, done to fork splitting tenderness. The flavor was out of this world. So, tender, flavorful, and generously sized food, accompanied by perfectly sliced roasted potatoes with a mild horseradish aioli. HELLO.
Add the bread & oil, a glass of Pinot Grigo and a Cabernet, and that was a meal to remember.
Best Groupon EVER !!!
H E A V E N O N E A R T H F O O D

Dinner was pretty good, our server was very attentive and patient. I ordered spaghetti and meatballs and my girlfriend order the bruschetta. The bruschetta was a hit the spaghetti was exactly what you’d expect. Environment was cozy and even though we came near closing time, we did not feel rushed.

I’ve been to The Butcher Block a few times with varied opinions. Their biggest area of opportunity is their service. It was so bad one time that after we were seated, we were completely ignored for 20 minutes before finally giving up and leaving. I completely understand a delay during busy nights, but we weren’t even acknowledged. A simple, «I’m so sorry for the delay, I’ll be with you shortly» would have sufficed.
I’ve had their short ribs cacciatore every time I’ve eaten there because it really does make up for the lack in service. It’s definitely worth going back. Amazing dish.

Where to start… well we sat down to a dirty table even though half the restaurant was empty. We watched the servers bicker over who was going to take our table for a few minutes.
Next come the appetizers, the best part of our experience. Artichoke dip was wonderful, as were the meatballs.
That’s where the satisfaction ended. We ordered a steak medium, which came back looking like it still had a heartbeat. They were kind enough to remake a brand new steak which came as desired, but overall steak quality was just average. I’m usually pretty easy going but when you spend $ 30 on a steak you expect better in my opinion.
All through dinner we heard the staff FaceTime friends and have fun hanging out. This place is marketed as a high class/​romantic date spot. It definitely wasn’t. We won’t be back, unless it’s carry out artichoke dip.

The restaurant overall is a great place. I had the fried calamari, Cesar salad, duck and crème brûlée. The food was very good and cooked very well. Service was kinda slow but the place was packed so it was understandable.

i adore the atmosphere of this place and what they are trying to be. The disappointment came in the food. It just does not live up to the expectation. We tried two things — gnocchi and one of the other pastas in meat sauce. There was very little meat in the sauce and the pasta did not have that bite of fresh pasta… so if it is made fresh they must dry it. There was no special flavor to the red sauce either. The bread was not memorable nor was the salad. They did not offer any fresh cheese. I love Italian food and this was not a place I would crave again based on the food. I would however go for a drink late night and a small bite or just drinks.

Absolute WORST service !! Server was not attentive, dirty dishes sat in front of me most of my meal, when dinner came never saw the server until my plates were stacked and we were done with our meals for some time .
Ordered the seafood pasta special bit knowing the price. Very disappointing — it was over rice with 1 shrimp 3 mussels and 1 piece of cod for $ 28! What a rip off .
Never going back. Stay away from this place. Not worth the $$$ would rather go to a fast food joint

We had a Living Social coupon. We are always polite for a busy servers. But she gave way more attention to the table after us. They received bottle service (we already ordered a bottle) and ordered before us. The calamari was way under cooked, very pale and we got the wrong salad. Our server said she didn’t even notice. Bolognese penne was dry and bland. Rigatoni was nice and garlicky w an after taste of truffle. The table next to us us wreaked of truffle in an envious way. I always order dessert but hated the place so passed.

Service was fab. Our waiter was excellent. Cosy location also
Food was OK! Nothing to write home about.
Here are some improvements the restaurant needs to make;
(1) the initial bread tray; make it hot and provide butter the oil alone doesn’t cut it.
(2) the caesar salad was ok. I probably could make it at home
(4) the penne was lacking flavor. It seemed like a dish 98% dominated with pasta and a little meat sauce. Throw is some broccoli or something and add some spice, garlic, curry powder — anything.
I wish the owners well. The food is just bland and until they get that nothing can improve for the price point extremely disappointing.

Came back twice in a week, because the food was just that good. Must try: Carpaccio, Beet Arugala, Rigatoni Alla Norcina, Lamb Scottadito, or Zucchini Cake. Learning that the owner was a skilled master butcher in Rome was impressive. Shows in the food. The server Jen was wonderful and helpful when making suggestions.

This seems to be a difficult restaurant to rate. I will start by saying although their website says that reservations are recommended Friday and Saturday, from experience I would just go ahead and get one. The waitstaff were very friendly and helpful. The food was good. I had the gnocchi with ragu. My wife had the lobster risotto. We shared an order of bruschetta, which previous dinners have explained is a bit unusual with 3 different toppings. We would certainly get the bruschetta and gnocchi again. The risotto was ok. All of the food lacked seasoning. I would probably go back again if using a Groupon (or something similar) and probably pass otherwise. There are plenty of other very good options in the area.

Overall, I was disappointed. Well, not really because the reviews prepared me. But, for the price I expected more.
First, the Living Social I bought was misleading. It said 3 course dinner with 2 glasses of wine. Generally, these types of deals involve a prix fixe from which you pick something from a limited number of choices. However, when I got there they basically said order whatever and the Living Social is good for $ 75. That is fine, but then the Living Social should have been «pay $ 45 for $ 75» or whatever. Anyways, I am not judging my review on that, but wanted to throw it out there.
The menu overall looked quite good. We started with the Bruschetta. The menu said tomato and artichoke, which led me to believe it was a traditional tomato bruschetta with artichokes in it. However, it was a bruschetta trio with 1 tomato, 1 olive, and 1 artichoke. The quantity was tiny and the quality did not make up for it. It was basically a standard loaf of plain white Italian bread cut in to slices with some flavorless spread on top. The artichoke spread was just that, artichokes blended in a spread.
Second course was the radicchio pear salad. This was pretty good. More pear would have been nice, but the walnut vinaigrette was tasty.
For the final pasta course, I ordered the bucatini all’ amatriciana (
guanciale, tomato, chili, pecorino romano). Although it was basically sauce on noodles (bucantini are hollow spaghetti) the sauce was SOOOOO good. This was seriously one of the best pasta sauces I have ever tasted. I would go back here to eat this sauce, but nothing else. Also, not sure if I would pay $ 18 for the small bowl of it that I received.
My service was ok. Not great, not good. Some of the items I asked for were never brought (fresh cracked pepper) and the menu wasn’t explained at all. But she was friendly.

First off, the on-​line menu shows prices that must be a few years old since the current menu is at least 20 or 30 percent higher. Wine prices as is common seem to be very high. They pack a lot of tables into this small place which is kind of nice except there’s no place to put winter coats and all that except on the back of a chair.
My friend ordered the bucatini and he commented that it was one of the saltiest dishes he’s ever been served. I had the fettucini which featured wild mushrooms. It needed more flavor and a lot less salt. The bread seemed like a store brand soft white and olive oil is olive oil. We asked for balsamic vinegar and our server produced it promptly.
Speaking of, the service was really standard but the dishes were brought out hot and fresh from a very busy kitchen and dining room. We left a 20% gratuity.

Honestly a very awkward experience in all. We were sat next to three other tables. We were practically a part of their date until we asked to move to the complete other end of the restaurant… which was completely empty.
The server was awesome. She was kind and friendly. Its only a shame the meal didnt carry the same attributes. I ordered the Rigatoni alla norcina and my boyfriend got the duck. The duck was amazing but I knew instantly he would still be starving after he ate it. It also was a whooping 27 bucks.
My rigatoni was glorified hamburger helper. The first few bites were good but it got old very quckily. It also left me feeling less that good. Ive been nautious ever since.

I was amazed their way to cook seafood & pastas, they are just perfect moderate cooked, NOT over-​cooked at all, and roasted tomato basil garlic & olive oil sauce sauce was simply amazingly delicious !!

My husband and I went here this week with my parents. I had a groupon and thought it would be a fun place to try out. My expectations weren’t super high, but being an avid «italian food eater» I’m open to new places and giving them a chance.
I ordered the Mezze Lune (butternut squash ravioli) and my husband ordered the Bucatini all’Amatriciana. The ravioli was tasty, sweet and satisfying… but, if we were to go back, I would definitely order the Bucatini again. After living in Rome for part of my life, I love Bucatini and this was a great version of the traditional dish.
The wine was fabulous, the service was great and the atmosphere is very enjoyable. I do think it is a bit overpriced for the «A-​OK» food, but because we had the $ 50 groupon, it was worth the night out.

Horrible! They cheat and pre-​broil their steaks. I have never had a grilled steak, medium-​well that is grey and hard to chew. When asked to have the steak re-​done, they responded tat I can’t and that is what medium-​well is supposed to look like, (cough — sawdust), grey and hard to chew. In order to get another steak, we were going to be charged an additional ½ price since they would have to remake it. Makes total sense why they are selling Groupons (which isn’t the reason we were there).
I felt bad for the server since the manager explained to him to tell us this rather than having the courage to come out himself and tell their customers they don’t know how to cook.
Wine is fantastic (hence the star) and the server was great (would give him a half star) but food was deplorable. They need a new chef.
Do not stop, collect $ 200, or even give them the time of day. Salty, overcooked food may be your thing, if you like expensive prices for sub-​par ingredients.
Blah. Moo.

I like this place. It’s cute and cozy, has character with the brick walls and Italian music playing. Upscale casual vibe. Good service. Decent wine list.
Their dinner menu is on the small side, and perhaps some items seem a little overpriced (I’m always coming in with one of their online deals from Groupon or the like, so that makes it a little easier on the wallet). I’ve tried only a few items in my handful of visits — calamari, walnut salad, crème brûlée, etc. All… ok, but the short ribs have become my go-​to: they are always fantastic! A decent amount of tender, flavorful, juicy meat accompanied by thick, crispy slices of potato, each topped with an absolutely delicious, mild, creamy horseradish sauce. This is usually topped with tiny-​leafed greens (no idea what kind they are) but not on my last visit — and I missed them.
Can’t say I’d make a point to come in if it weren’t for their frequent online deals, but I’d definitely recommend trying it out — and get the short ribs!