Butcher & Sons

In our preview visit to Mexico City in late-2015 I visited a few restaurants specializing in burgers. I was short on time and didn’t want to wait in the line for a table at Butcher & Sons in Roma Norte, so I visited their scaled-down location in Mercado Roma.

In their full-service restaurants, Butcher & Sons offers a “build-your-own” version of a burger, plus about ten pre-defined burger options named after famed rock n’ roll stars.

That location in Mercado Roma is nothing more than a long bar with stools facing a grill where a couple of cooks are flame-broiling burger patties and constructing them in front of the diners sitting at the bar. At the time of my visit in September of 2015, they only offered the original (a classic cheeseburger) and four “rock-star” burgers, the Bowie, the Hendrix, the Morrison and the McCartney (the only living rock-star on the menu, after the recent death of the legendary David Bowie).

And the only side items that location in Mercado Roma served were French Fries.

The burger was admirable but the ambiance less than desirable, sitting at a crowded bar full of strangers. So, to fairly judge the restaurant we concluded I would have to visit either the location in Polanco or Roma Norte.

I did that in May of 2017, visiting the Polanco restaurant on a Sunday evening.

The location in Polanco is small, with perhaps three tables and a bar with stools accommodating 16 or so diners inside, at the edge of the cocktail bar. There are another seven tables outside on the sidewalk that seat another 25 or so patrons. The décor is “loft-style” contemporary. The ambiance is pleasant, especially out on the sidewalk where diners can view a lot of activity going on around them in the street and at adjoining restaurants.

My waiter spoke English (and Spanish, of course) and provided attentive service throughout the meal. It became extremely busy at about 10 pm on a Sunday evening which made it a bit difficult for the two waiters to handle the packed restaurant with every table and seat occupied. This had a minor effect on service. Otherwise we would likely have scored it a 4.5 stars in that category.

They offer four varieties of homemade catsup to put on those French Fries or on the burger. There were no salt or pepper shakers on the table. I’ve come to the conclusion that the Latin American refusal to put salt and pepper shakers on the table it solely for the purpose of annoying me.

A small bottle of Dijon mustard was set next to the four bottles of catsup. Mayonnaise was available on request.

I ordered the classic Original cheeseburger with a side of French fries.

The waiter did ask how I wanted the burger cooked. Medium-rare as usual. A few minutes later the burger arrived. Not quite as hot as it should have been which means the last few bites were approaching the official status of cold. This was a very good burger. Cooked perfectly to medium-rare as requested. I’ve included a photo showing the small drops of the juice that was dripping from that burger. That means it had the perfect amount of juicy fat and the grind was course enough as well. The bun was a fresh poppy-seed topped brioche, shiny from the egg wash, and the condiments were fresh. This was a very good burger.

I regret to say, however, that the French fries, were served cold, and in fact, you can see they are slightly shriveling from a bit too much time outside the fryer.

What a shame that such a good a burger was accompanied by such a clear failure of execution on the fried potatoes. Come on guys . . . cold fries?

Luckily for Butcher & Sons the accompanying French fries are only a small element in our grading for the Best Cheeseburgers in Latin America. The beef is king in our grading system, and the Butchers & Son burger scored high in that category.

Bottom line. If they’d just serve the burger and French fries hot, this is one of the best burger options in town.

Note: In accordance with International Accounting Standards, we round up for our Overall Rating. (Just kidding. We made that up. Rounding up is just the way we do it.)