BUTTER HAS CLOSED AS OF 10/2007.
- Professional service
- Excellent raw bar and seafood selections
- Simple, yet elegant cuisine
- Room can get loud on busy nights
- Area offers little to do after dinner
- Reservation times are not always honored
- Butter is located at 130 S. Green St.
- Getting to Butter: Blue Line subway to UIC, cabs plentiful (and recommended)
- Phone: (312) 666-9813
- Cuisine: American Contemporary
- Average tab per diner: $50
- Hours: 5:30-10 p.m. Monday through Wednesday; 5:30-11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; closed Sunday.
- Full bar service, wine list
- All major credit cards accepted
- Butter Restaurant website
First Impressions
Great service and food served up in a sexy room (with sexy crowd to match), Butter is a hip restaurant perfect for an intimate dinner during your stay in Chicago.
I had heard the buzz when Butter first opened, and when it was soon after named one of the best new restaurants in 2005 by Esquire magazine, I knew I had to go for a visit. I was not disappointed. When I first walked into Butter, I could tell immediately that a lot of thought went into the décor of the restaurant. A professional, clean design, filled with muted yellows and deep reds (colors known to stimulate the appetite), the space was definitely a part of the overall dining experience.
Starters
When we first sat down, we noticed the restaurant eschews a basket of bread, and instead offers a trio of salty snacks – the popcorn tossed in truffle oil was a hit. We started our meal with two selections from their extensive raw bar, the snow crab Claws and ceviche (the raw bar is market price). The snow crab tasted fresh and the meat was firm – after one bite, we skipped dipping into the spicy mayonnaise served on the side as we felt it overwhelmed the crab taste. The ceviche was made with shrimp, squid, halibut and scallops and also tasted very fresh with just the right amount of spicy tomato sauce. For our next course, we decided to split the tuna nicoise “Butter Style†salad ($15) – a unique salad with raw hamachi tuna, tomatoes, beans, olives, and a quail’s egg. The only complaint was that the salad portion was too small to split – a little heads up from the server regarding that would have been appreciated. Next time the tomato carpaccio, made with heirloom tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and greens, is also making its way to our table.The Main Course
The entrées are categorized by cutesy titles -- “From the sea†(fish), “From the land†(lamb/steak/pork), and “From the Air†(duck/chicken). Given the quality of seafood we had so far, my companion ordered the salmon ($25), cooked to perfection and served with a warm lentil salad and a yogurt sauce which was light enough to go with the delicate salmon flavor. I decided to go with the classic New York strip ($32), which was served with a delicious red wine glaze. Fortunately the steak was so good it made up for the uninspired sides of new potatoes and glazed carrots.The only low point was not being seated until 45 minutes after our reservation, but this is not unique to Butter on a bustling Saturday night in Chicago and their cocktail lounge helps reduce the aggravation.
Butter’s West Loop location is somewhat devoid of other nightlife such as clubs or theaters, but if you are looking for a leisurely dinner before heading back to your hotel, Butter is a perfect choice.
(Note to you globetrotters out there: Butter is not affiliated with Butter Restaurant in New York or Butter in San Francisco.)
