It took its sweet time, but Santé's Butcher Bar is here and that should make us all happy. I mean, you voted Santé «Best Restaurant» in Spokane, so why wouldn't you want to try out their more casual bar offering?
And you should. We didn't actually expect too much as far as the vibe of the place goes; the restaurant always felt like it was as stuck in the bookstore it was stuck in. The Butcher Bar, though, manages to feel intimate, like it actually is a real lounge. Which it is. We had our doubts, and we're glad we were proven wrong.
The menu you find here isn't dissimilar to Santé's regular one, just a bit cut down and casual-ized. Sandwiches, meat and cheese plates... Pretty much anything based around that, all tasty, and we enjoyed a fairly wide pick of it during our visit. It was Santé quality in a lounge. That's all any sane person needs.
Cocktails? All excellent. Again, we enjoyed a good selection of both on- and off-menu offerings without a singe complaint.
Combine the quality of the drinks and food, and you have exactly what you'd expect from a Santé lounge: something quite extraordinary.
Note that the 3-5pm «social hour» -- for all intents and purposes a happy hour -- features half price cocktails, which is kind of awesome.
I don't care if we're gushing over the Butcher Bar. It's awesome. It deserves it. Go check it out. There's no reason for you not to love it.
Photo credit: Erick Doxey who got really upset when I forgot to give him credit.