Butterfly?

Has anyone been to this place on Grand? We are thinking of doing a post-finals dinner here and I just wanted to see if it is at least decent. Other/better non-Italian (not my choosing) suggestions around Grand/Halsted would be appreciated as well. Thanks.

Butterfly Sushi Bar & Thai Cuisine
1156 W. Grand Ave
Chicago, IL
312-563-5555

I've gotten take out from Butterfly twice. The chef and staff are very sweet and hospitable, the (to go) food is well packaged and generously portioned, but it's just not exciting in any way. I tried a few things from both the Thai and the Japanese portions of the menu and it was all fine. The (salmon) teriyaki was kind of cloying, but I think that's pretty par for the course. So was the unagi. I don't mean to damn with faint praise, but, for me, this is more of a weeknight standby than a special occasion kind of place. Though, the dining room is nice.

What about the Silver Palm? Depending on how big your group is, that is. I've always been happy with my meals there and the environment is nice. Great cocktails (it being connected with the Matchbox) too.

Silver Palm
768 N Milwaukee
312-666-9322

Good luck on your finals.

Kristen

I recently discovered Butterfly with my co-workers after we just couldn't order another sandwhich from Jimmy Johns. Someone pulled out a Butterfly menu and I must say that it's the best delivery we've had in our office.

From what I gather, though, it's often packed in the evening, and their Thai food is nothing special. Their sushi is good - probably too frou-frou for some tastes. This wouldn't be a destination restaurant, but if you live in the area it definitely does the trick for a new and different lunch.

Although cute and the owners are nice, and I would love for them to survive, i would head to randolph for celebration. Butterfly is solid amerithai, but pretty uneventful. I really like de cero on randolph for a group of people. Its fun, spicy, good to share and great drinks. Butterfly also doesn't have a bar.
it's my go to group spot in town

www.decerotaqueria.com
de cero
814 w Randolph
312.455.8114

I'm going to Butterfly for 1st time on Saturday along with a few friends as a choice for a "byob /some like Thai, but not sushi type of joint. Any semi recent intel? I'm wondering if I should even bother trying a coconut milk curry type dish, khaosoi, or any other standards, or would I just be disappointed? I'll be trying plenty of sushi, but thinking I should try and see if they can do anything special with thai dishes. Anything? We're coming up on 1 year since last post in this dedicated butterfly thread.

Maybe that should tell me something, huh?

I like Butterfly because I can go there with people who like trendy-looking places in trendy neighborhoods, and I can get drunk without spending much money when I'm "forced" to have dinner with these sorts. The servers are friendly, and the byob policy is generous. Just have a sandwich or something before you go.

Last week I had dinner at Spoon Thai on Tuesday and lunch (carry-out) from Butterfly on Wed.. Besides the issues with carry-out food, Butterfly did not deliver the goods compared to my dinner at Spoon.

Kennyz wrote:I like Butterfly because I can go there with people who like trendy-looking places in trendy neighborhoods, and I can get drunk without spending much money when I'm "forced" to have dinner with these sorts. The servers are friendly, and the byob policy is generous. Just have a sandwich or something before you go.

L...O...L!!!!
You sound like me when I get roped into places like that!!

Hey mhill95149 - What did you have from butterfly so I can steer clear?

seebee wrote:

Kennyz wrote:
Hey mhill95149 - What did you have from butterfly so I can steer clear?

I always have one of the curries. I would not "steer clear" of them but I can make the same dish (not that I'm a great cook or anything) at home with a little can of panag curry and some coconut milk and a can of veggies....
It's OK thai food but there is so much better food out there.

[/i]

mhill95149 wrote:I always have one of the curries. I would not "steer clear" of them but I can make the same dish (not that I'm a great cook or anything) at home with a little can of panag curry and some coconut milk and a can of veggies....
It's OK thai food but there is so much better food out there.

This is the kind of stuff I'm talking about. I make it at home all of the time. Dinner last night was a red curry made with maesri paste, and a few add ins (fresh kefir lime leaf, a little extra galangal, fresh ginger, hot chili sesame oil, chili garlic sauce etc.) I hate paying for stuff I can make better at home for 1/4 of the price. Ok Thai food just does not cut it for me anymore.
(Sigh) - Need to get back to Tac soon for therapy. Been a while since I had any inspired Thai food.

Looks like I'm in a similar situation as seebee. A friend suggested trying Butterfly for dinner this weekend and I found this thread. My friend lives in River North and we decided to do dinner in her neighborhood this time around. In reading the responses, it seems the Thai menu receives fairly mediocre reviews. Anyone have recent experience with the sushi? If so, what did you think?

Daisy11 wrote:Looks like I'm in a similar situation as seebee. A friend suggested trying Butterfly for dinner this weekend and I found this thread. My friend lives in River North and we decided to do dinner in her neighborhood this time around. In reading the responses, it seems the Thai menu receives fairly mediocre reviews. Anyone have recent experience with the sushi? If so, what did you think?

In a visit about 2 months ago, I found the sushi to be on par with the thai food. In that neighborhood, the parking situation is a little easier a couple of blocks east of Butterfly. You could park near Bari Foods and pick up an excellent sandwich to scarf down on the walk over to Butterfly. Make it something hearty enough to soak up the significant alcohol consumption you'll certainly require during your meal there. This doesn't happen to be a friend you're interesting in talking to, does it? If so, plan to get the conversation in during the walk from bari or over dessert somewhere else. Butterfly is entirely too loud for that.

If you're looking for Thai byob in River North and don't need the scene at Butterfly, Silver Spoon would be a much better choice, imo.

Daisy11 wrote:Looks like I'm in a similar situation as seebee. A friend suggested trying Butterfly for dinner this weekend and I found this thread. My friend lives in River North and we decided to do dinner in her neighborhood this time around. In reading the responses, it seems the Thai menu receives fairly mediocre reviews. Anyone have recent experience with the sushi? If so, what did you think?

Daisy, sounds like this is not too promising although I like to judge for myself. I'll be there Sat evening with a group celebrating a birthday. We'll be the table with plenty of booze flowing. Sake, beer and wine are on tap so far. If I can remember the camera, I'll photojournal. Watch for the flashes if you're there. If you need some extra booze, we'll prolly be able to spare something if you need it.

We were at Butterfly last Saturday night and have dined there many times before. While I would highly agree that there are many other Thai places I'd rather eat at, I really enjoy their sushi. We usually start out with the Thai escargot, served with garlic bread to soak up the red curry sauce. Delicious!! Then move on to Gomae, a fresh wilted spinach appetizer with sesame dressing (tastes slightly like peanut sauce). Again, very good. Then the rolls... unfortunately, every time we go there we get so confused as to what we liked so much the previous time we had eaten there. I do recall enjoying the spicy tuna rolls and I think the black or red dragon. By this time, the vino had really started to hit and it all starts tasting the same!! Definitely worth trying. I'd recommend going a little on the early side to avoid having to wait too long or endure the music playing so loud that having a conversation is impossible. The service has always been top-notch!

Enjoy!

wineaux wrote:Then move on to Gomae, a fresh wilted spinach appetizer with sesame dressing (tastes slightly like peanut sauce). Again, very good.

I had forgotten about the Gomae , which I agree is very good. I guess Butterfly is not quite as lost a cause as I made out earlier. The sushi offerings, well, let's just say that my experience with them has been different from yours. Maybe cooked Japanese dishes are the way to go.

Dinner at Butterfly was last night. Everything was pre-ordered, and the service was, as described a few times, very good.
The Apps:
Baby Egg rolls - nothing fancy. spring roll wrapped fried shrimp

Crab Rangoon. Um, yeah. It was Crab Rangoon. You've had it before.


Chicken Satay with peanut sauce - Really Indian flavored. Kinda like some kind of "curry" powder blend was sprinkled on these things. I LOVE Indian food. Not a big fan of Western "curry powder."

Seaweed Salad - ok. nothing spectacular

Spinach or Shrimp potstickers were absolutely horrible. I did not ask which one was ordered. I'm going to assume they were spinach. Insides were complete mushy and pasty. Table of ten, and all at the table said they were just horrible. Nobody enjoyed these at all.

Miso soup - a tad underwhelming, but not BAD.
=====
The "sushi"
Ok - so it was all pre-ordered, and our host said we could order anything off the menu if we wanted. He ordered plenty, so we did not leave wanting. It was 99% maki.

While there were plenty of crunchy / deep fried / spider / mayo / eel sauce maki type things happening for the less adventurous eaters, the host is a nigiri fan, so he did order a few standard pieces. Just a quick rundown, and a highlight or two:

The hamachi was like butter last night. Could have eaten a plateful of it.
Maguro as well.
They did not hold back the heat on the spicy tuna rolls, and I was really digging on them.
As for the hipster maki, nothing was BAD, it was just not my style. I don't really think it's worth describing, because, it just seems like the same stuff over and over again. Eel sauce, spicy mayo, fried fish parts, and tempura crumbs in and on everything. Feh. I'm more of a "no decsription needed" type sushi eater, as in - That's yellowtail, that looks like tai, that is definitely nama sake, toro, that is definitely hokkigai, uni etc...

Oh, and why is this place so crowded? Wall to wall twentysomethings dressed to attract. It really looked like a hooker convention. It was really like a byo bar. The sushi bar had people crowded around standing up holding glasses, and bottles in their hands. Good for them, I guess.
It was a pleasant evening, with PLENTY of eye candy, and I mean PLENTY. Prices are reasonable as well. A few of us talked about going for some therapy at Katsu in the near future before the dinner was even over. Not BAD sushi, but I doubt I'd return. Not my style or "scene."

Service was great, however, and we all enjoyed plenty of sake, plum wine, a few sauv blancs, chard, sapporo, and finished it off with a few btls of a cuvee / brut that I'll have to get the name of. It was made from a pinot noir, and nice and dry. Anyway, it seems like you can do ok here for the money even if you don't like hipster mayo maki, but beware the scene on wknds if last night was any indication of what the crowds are really like.

seebee wrote:Dinner at Butterfly was last night. Everything was pre-ordered, and the service was, as described a few times, very good.


Miso soup - a tad underwhelming, but not BAD.
=====
The "sushi"
Ok - so it was all pre-ordered, and our host said we could order anything off the menu if we wanted. He ordered plenty, so we did not leave wanting. It was 99% maki.

While there were plenty of crunchy / deep fried / spider / mayo / eel sauce maki type things happening for the less adventurous eaters, the host is a nigiri fan, so he did order a few standard pieces. Just a quick rundown, and a highlight or two:

The hamachi was like butter last night. Could have eaten a plateful of it.
Maguro as well.
They did not hold back the heat on the spicy tuna rolls, and I was really digging on them.
As for the hipster maki, nothing was BAD, it was just not my style. I don't really think it's worth describing, because, it just seems like the same stuff over and over again. Eel sauce, spicy mayo, fried fish parts, and tempura crumbs in and on everything. Feh. I'm more of a "no decsription needed" type sushi eater, as in - That's yellowtail, that looks like tai, that is definitely nama sake, toro, that is definitely hokkigai, uni etc...

Oh, and why is this place so crowded? Wall to wall twentysomethings dressed to attract. It really looked like a hooker convention. It was really like a byo bar. The sushi bar had people crowded around standing up holding glasses, and bottles in their hands. Good for them, I guess.
It was a pleasant evening, with PLENTY of eye candy, and I mean PLENTY. Prices are reasonable as well. A few of us talked about going for some therapy at Katsu in the near future before the dinner was even over. Not BAD sushi, but I doubt I'd return. Not my style or "scene."

Service was great, however, and we all enjoyed plenty of sake, plum wine, a few sauv blancs, chard, sapporo, and finished it off with a few btls of a cuvee / brut that I'll have to get the name of. It was made from a pinot noir, and nice and dry. Anyway, it seems like you can do ok here for the money even if you don't like hipster mayo maki, but beware the scene on wknds if last night was any indication of what the crowds are really like.

After reading through your post, it seemed that after tossing out the reviews of stuff that I probably wouldn't order, that you actually had good things to say about the balance of your Butterfly meal (other than the over-the-top scene, which is a matter of personal preference, of course). My experiences at Butterfly have always been excellent. Sure, there may be better sushi places in Chicago. But within walking distance of my home? With a super-friendly BYOB policy? At bargain prices? I think not, for me. That's why I love Butterfly! Friendly servers and sushi chefs, that actually remember you the second or third time that you visit. Great sushi. As far as the nouveau style makis, haven't sampled them too much, not really my style, but those that I tried were pretty good. But basic nigiris were melt in the mouth good each time I've been there. We've always said that the next time we go, we should try their Thai food, since we love Thai food and their sushi was so tasty. But our mouths take over when we enter the space and always order sushi. Maybe it's because we are usually packing a couple of bottles of sake in our insulated beverage bag. Oh, well, there's always next time. We tend to go out to eat mid-week, so the scene is pleasant, not crazy. And who doesn't enjoy viewing the beauty of youth?

YYP - absolutely. We did not get to sample as much straightforward nigiri as we normally would have, but it was all pre-ordered, and there was plenty of the maki to go around. The hamachi was pretty good, the wasabi tobiko was also good (not pretty good, just good.) If I lived close-by, it would definitely be a great spot to sidle up to the sushi chefs during the week and simply ask them to make me dinner. The scene last night (Saturday) was just plain over the top. There was a line for the bathrooms (if you could squeeze through the tables to get there that is.) Both men's and women's bathrooms had wet floors throughout. It was more like a bad club than a restaurant. I would bet it's a totally different place during the week - as most places are. Again, nothing was BAD at all (except those potstickers.) The hipster mayo maki was good, just not remarkable in any way. I was a fan of that spicy tuna roll, however.