the butchershop bar & grill

we stopped in over lunch on a food walking tour stop (see separate review) we got to sample the scallops, haggis scotch egg and beef spring rolls. the scallops were the best i've tasted and the scotch egg absolutely delicious. the steaks looked amazing. i'll definitely be back. staff andservicewas very friendly and the location was perfect to visit finnieston and kelvingrove galleries.

special edition burger. when the butchershop bar & grill heard about our plan to find the best burgers in the world and in particular, the best that scotland had to offer, they were quick to throw their hat into the ring and tell us that their customers thought that they made the best burgers in the country. the staff at the restaurant invited pamela and i to come and sample their burger, have a chat with the owner and decide for ourselves.

situated in glasgow’s west end just minutes from kelvingrove park, the butchershop bar & grill is a manhattan-styled neighbourhood steakhouse and cocktail bar offering the best quality steaks, fresh seafood and expertly mixed signature cocktails. if you are looking for the perfect hangover curing brunch, lunch with friends or a romantic dinner – the butchershop delivers it all. now in its second year in glasgow’s west end, the butchershop was born through owner james rusk’s love and passion for new york city. living there for many years james learnt the craft of great food andserviceworking at the famous soho-based french bistro ‘balthazar’ owned by renowned new york restaurateur, keith mcnally. he wanted to create an atmosphere where customers could experience high qualityserviceand an exceptional standard of food – a place that could capture the hustle and bustle and buzzing atmosphere of new york city to glasgow’s west end.

as we walked into the butchershop, we immediately noticed how busy it was. the restaurant was packed with customers and there was a cool, lively vibe in the air. we were greeted at the entrance by james, who showed us to our table. as we sat down, we had the oppertunity to chat with james to discuss our project a little. james then took our order and asked us how we wanted our burger cooked, which is always a good sign and a great way to tell that the burger you are about to eat is freshly made. james also told us about a top secret burger that he had been working on that has only made an appearance on the butchershop menu on a select few special ocassions. the burger that was described to us sounded too good to be true, and i’m pretty sure that we both must have drooled a little as we listened! we decided to go for the special burger that james had recommended along with the butchershop’s signature ‘butchershop burger’. as we relaxed with a couple of ice cold pints of birra moretti, we looked forward to what was about to come.

the limited edition special burger (pictured above) consists of a mouth-watering monster-sized homemade minced fillet beef patty, iceberg lettuce, fresh tomato, pan-seared foie gras, slow cooked short ribs, truffle mayonnaise and gruyere cheese all served in a delicious toasted brioche bun. the burger came served with the butchershop’s special skinny fries to round it all off. as james brought the burgers to our table, he seemed genuinelly excited to have us try the food. we knew we were in for something special.

when we started this website, our aim was to find the best burgers in the world and tell our readers about them. we also wanted to find the best burger that scotland has to offer and really highlight good quality food around the country. this is our third review and i think the search for scotland’s best burger may be over already. after one one bite, i looked at pamela and we both agreed that it was without a doubt the best burger we’ve ever had – not just in scotland, but anywhere in the world.

when james had originally described the burger to us, i wasn’t sure how short ribs would work on a burger and was curious to find out. the slow cooked ribs practically melted away in my mouth and the sweet hint of the glaze complimented the juices from the meat and the foie gras perfectly. the gruyere, which up until this entry, i’d never had on a burger before, finished everything off absolutely perfectly.

i also need to touch on the use of the brioche bun and how it added to the burger. the bread was toasted and was very lightly sweetened – not so much that you’d feel like you were even eating sweat bread but just enough so that it added a nice flavour to the burger and that you weren’t eating “dead bread”, as james put it.

after we had finished, james sat down for a chat with us and the first thing i had to ask him was why the burger wasn’t on the menu all the time. he mentioned that he has reserved it to feature on the restaurant’s specials board from time to time, however due to increasing demand, it may become a permanent resident in the near future. we told james that the burger was simply the best we’ve ever had and pointed out that he’s set the bar pretty high for the others that we are going to discover on our quest to find the best burgers in the world!

it’s clear that james and the butchershop staff are extremely passionate about what they do. just sitting back and listening to james talk about the ageing process, how the beef is sourced and everything else right down to the importance of selecting the right burger bun, it’s clear that he is a man who knows what he is talking about and someone who knows what makes an unforgettable burger.

despite being a burger website and wanting to focus on the food as much as possible, i need to highlight the excellent level ofservicethat the butchershop offers. from the moment you step inside the door, you are greeted and treated like an old family friend. the staff are more than happy to discuss the food with you and offer recommendations based on what you are in the mood for. james and the rest of the staff go out of their way to make sure that every last customer leaves happy and this is one of the many things that make the butchershop a place that you will want to visit time and time again.

the butchershop’s limited edition burger is without a doubt the best we’ve ever had. follow the butchershop on twitter @thebutchershopgla and at facebook.com/butchershopglasgow to keep updated with what is going on at the restaurant. tell them that you want to know when it’s going back on the menu and when it does, tell your friends – this is one burger you do not want to miss.

quite possibly the best burger in the world.

for more, please see www.jamesvsburger.com

(photography: pamela graham photography)

if you like your steaks cooked to prefection then this is the place to go to in my opinion. it may be slightly on the pricer side to similar steak places but its worth that little bit more.

starters could be better in terms of quantity but the quality is very good. theserviceis very good and the waiting times between the courses is good. the steak itself is full of flavour and cooked exactly how you requested it to be.

parking wise isnt great as there is only
a handful of spaces nearby which can be annoying during peak times.

i havent had a better steak than this place and l have ate in alot of similar places and always come back to this one.

i always like when a second visit to a restaurant is even better than the first. it shows me that the first success was not just a fluke and that the place should have longevity. we visited the butchershop bar & grill on sauchiehall street last year for lunch and have been meaning to return ever since. there are just too many good places in glasgow so it has taken us a while to get back there. two months ago we decided a wee date night was in order so we booked in for an early dinner. i’m a bit behind so it has taken me this long to finish writing about it.

their pre theatre menu offers two courses for £13.95 (£3 supplement for steak) or three for £17.95. the starter choices were soup, salmon gravlax, meatballs, chicken liver parfait or a beet & blue cheese salad. i didn’t feel in the mood for any of them so i saved myself for my main course but mr s chose the soup de jour. it was tomato soup and came with bread & rock salt butter.

enough about the starter, butchershop is all about the steak. the first time we visited we both had burgers so we were looking forward to trying out their speciality. as well as steak, the pre theatre mains included chicken breast, sea bream, beef burger or leek cannelloni. unsurprisingly we both had steak – 250g scottish 28 day aged rump steak to be exact.

first of all we were impressed by the shape of the steak. might sound strange, but as most steaks come in a thin square or rectangle they can dry out. not this one. both were cooked perfectly to our specifications and were juicy inside. the menu stated that it comes with garlic butter or peppercorn sauce but i asked if i could swap this for bearnaise. i barely used any of it because the rump had so much natural flavour that it was surplus to requirement. the sicilian statua negroamaro red wine was a great match for the steak. the fries were nice but in retrospect i should have asked for a side to up my veggie intake.

mr s spotted sticky toffee pudding for dessert and i settled upon the creme brulee. both were solid dessert efforts and rounded off the meal nicely.

it was certainly the best rump steak that i’ve had in a long time and theservicewas efficient & friendly. they run a ‘burger vs steak frites tuesday’ promotion where you get two steaks or burgers and a bottle of wine for £30. sounds like excellent value to me and a good excuse for a tuesday feast.

it's not cheap, but it's properly worth it. great steak, we'll cooked, terrific wine.servicewas excellent, atmosphere relaxing.

mmmm. great food..
very sleek..but..
there's just something a wee bit american about this "joint",
fake...making you wait and getting two rounds of drink before the starters..
smarmy scripted management staff....bitter no..just not daft
then £60 poundservicecharge..nuff said

my flat really likes the butcher shop. good quality beef. master chef cooking competitive prices great atmosphere andserviceconvenient parking

classy with everything else to match!. our family have owned a small hotel in the area, overlooking kelvingrove park for over 18 years. we can see the butchershop bar & grill in the near distance and have seen the property change over the years from the brewery tap to the tap, then the drawing room and now the the butchershop. they have all had their own good style, but this is now by far the best it has been.
taking over the family business 5 years ago and slowly building it up, to it's now boutique style, we now have guests who are looking for that little bit more. i was worried at the beginning of this owners take-over, whether it would be a place i could recommend to guests. as any recommendation would reflect on their stay with us and ultimately their overall experience.
the place is stunning! i couldn't recommend it more. making it as a well known highly respected restaurant/ bar in glasgow is a very hard thing to accomplish as the competition is huge. if you don't have the location, service, decor, atmosphere, drinks and food to die for, you won't last long. the buchershop bar & grill has all of this and more! i always highly recommend the buchershop to all the guests and haven't heard anything but glowing reports back from the hundreds of guests that have dined or just even gone over for a wee drink.
i pop over with the family whenever i get a chance, to chill in the classy, but relaxed atmosphere or to get away from my business to be in a lovely space to do some work and use the free wifi. our family and friend have eaten here on numerous occasions and tried most of the menu. there is nothing that we have tried that we haven't loved- from the fabulous steak or kids menu, to the stunning calamari. there has been once or twice when the bread on the burger could have been a bit fresher or theserviceslightly quicker, but i am a reasonable realist and after gaining the well deserved glasgow new comer of the year award, i wish them all the luck to gaining a great long standing reputation.

all style & no substance!. we visited on monday 3rd january & i was really looking forward to the butchershop having read the reviews on here & having a look at their website. we decided to try lunch with the idea of going back later without the children for a nice dinner if it worked out.

my first impressions were good the place was smartly laid out with nice furnishings & some cool jazz music playing in the background.

initially theservicewas a bit slow (the restaurant was very quiet apart from one large table) but the menu looked nice & we had high hopes however after this it all went downhill.

my wife ordered the full scottish breakfast & i asked for the burger with blue cheese topping as i had seen good reports for it on here, we also ordered a child's burger & chips for the wee one.

when the food eventually arrived they said that my sons burger would be a couple of minutes but it didn't arrive until after we had finished our meals. those of you with children will know this is a cardinal sin as the first meal any parent wants is the kids it helps to keep them quiet & allows you to enjoy your own meal.

now to the food my burger arrived & i had asked for the blue cheese topping but this it turned out was an unmelted lump of blue cheese placed on top of my burger which had not even had the skin removed the taste of this made the burger inedible so i lifted it off & continued but i really wished i hadn't. the bun they had used was stale and i was decidedly unimpressed with the whole thing.

the chips were more like potato skins however i can put that down to personal preference ( i personally like my chips more in the chip shop style) but what was not acceptable was that the cooking fat had obviously not been changed & was well passed its best as a result the chips were greasy & burnt, so much so that my son who loves chips & is allowed them only as a treat would not eat them.

my wife full scottish breakfast would have left a squirrel hungry (especially as she had to feed half of it to my son who was still waiting on his lunch being served). it is not difficult to serve a hearty breakfast especially at this price & it just seemed like the worst type of penny pinching.

when my sons burger finally arrived again the portion size was terrible he is only 4 but the burger was tiny & with the inedible chips he needed a sandwich when we got home. this kids meal was £5.95 which is on the high side so i would at least have expected enough food to stop a 4 year old being hungry.

overall this was a huge disappointment to me i was really excited to visit having read the reviews but our experience was terrible & we shall never go back.

stravaigan do this so much better & we left the restaurant wishing we had just gone there instead.

best steak for a long time. ordered a sirloin med-rare with bearnaise and it was melt-in-the mouth delicious. good atmosphere andserviceand it's straight into my contacts book with this restaurant for the next time i am in glasgow.