Photograph by Caitlin Abrams
inside of restaurant
Well, it's real this time. Butcher & the Boar has closed up shop.
The smoke and whiskey fueled restaurant that was created in 2012 by chef Jack Riebel and the late great Tim Rooney, giving us euphoric meat comas from the start and earning Riebel a James Beard nom, is no longer open as of today. Doug van Winkle is the only original owner still associated with the restaurant. An email was sent to Minneapolis staff last night that as of September 1st they were done.
Last year van Winkle opened a second location in Charleston, SC, which caused a pretty big financial strain on the organization. Rumors swirled that the Minneapolis location was closing when the restaurant was posted (meaning they hadn't paid taxes and couldn't buy liquor). But the company rallied and they kept on.
While their other restaurant, 4 Bells, called it quits early in the pandemic, Butcher re-opened this summer for both curbside takeout and indoor dining. But given the bumpy past few years, it would have been a miracle for the place to make it through the winter.
We're updating our list of closed restaurants for 2020 as needed.
Pour some sour mash out for a Minneapolis original. Here's to our fresher selves and the remembrance of good ideas from 2012.
