The Buttry restaurant

The Buttry restaurant is in Wilmette. Has anyone ever eaten here? I have heard of it and want to try it.

Such an unusual name easily brought it up via the search function: see this thread, then scroll down for other comments.

Funny that you should ask about the Butt'ry. My husband and I had lunch there yesterday. I think they have changed ownership in the last couple of years, and the menu has been expanded but they are still good. I would have to say that the decor leaves a lot to be desired-the walls are sponge painted in a dark burgandy/green mix and there are overgrown plants everywhere. The staff was pleasant and efficient. The soups and breads are very fresh and homemade, featuring chicken noodle every day along with two other soup selections.

I ordered a half of a tuna sandwich and a cup of mushroom barley soup. The soup came first with a basket of bread, both wheat and white. The soup was full of mushrooms and barley in a light tomato broth. The tuna was fresh, with chopped egg and a bit of mayo. I have always loved their white bread, but their wheat is really delicious. My husband had chicken noodle - thin noodles and lots of chicken and the full tuna sandwich. The sandwiches are served with a slice of pineapple, cantaloupe and orange. My husband had never eaten there, and loved it. We also purchased a loaf of the white bread to take home-it was still warm

I didn't try any of their other entrees-most of the people around us ordered the soup/sandwich combo. One new addition is that they now serve wine.

Hope that helps!

I just happen to have some recent photos of a lunch at the Butt’ry. It's an odd little place, yet real in a way that I find comforting. This is especially so in recent years as two chains have moved in nearby. This photograph gives an idea of the decor, which Diane described above. In two previous incarnations, (a circa 1970 yellow and green garden trellis motif and an 80’s yuppie forest green with gold flecks,) the effect was somehow the same in spirit, achieving a folk art pastiche of bourgeois elegance.


The Butt’ry has been there a long time. I can't say how long, but it was an old favorite of my mother's friend from Winnetka, who is now in her 70's, like most of the other patrons. It used to be run by a group of Polish women, who sold a lot of soup and half-sandwich lunches. They never did much of a dinner business, but the dinner menu included stuffed cabbage, pierogies and such. That said, I think the Butt’ry is in the tradition of the 1920’s tea room, a place where ladies gather for lunch.


I began eating at the Butt'ry almost 20 years ago when the abject misery of "morning sickness" made it impossible for me to eat anything with a strong taste. The Buttry's mild house-made soups and fresh-daily chicken, egg, and tuna salad seemed the perfect thing for those days when I was able to contemplate something more challenging than a matzo ball. Here are pictures of the potato-dill soup and half chicken salad sandwich that I had there recently:

While the soft white bread has a dense, workmanlike crust, it makes a big raft of a sandwich which is a nice platform for generous scoops of mayo/celery-bound salads.




Erik M. is not the only LTH-er with Secret Menu connections. (I’m just trying to figure out the trajectory of the secret menu concept from Spoon Thai to this Wilmette lunch spot.) I can't say that there is much that is a secret about The Buttry's Menu, except perhaps for those who have not eaten there recently. There are some Korean dishes like bulgogi that the new owners have added. The new owner seems very astute in his business plan to bring the regular customers the same food that they have come to expect over the years. The refrigerated case even contains some of the meringue-topped pies I've seen there yet never tried. He assured me that all the bread is made by hand, and that the salads are all made fresh daily. Indeed, the tastes of The Butt'ry have not changed at all, from what I can tell. And that is really nice.

Chicago Magazine's Dish e-mail blast wrote:When the sun sets, Butt’ry (1137 Greenleaf Ave., Wilmette; 847-256-1133), a modest soup/sandwich/pie spot with homemade bread, morphs into 153 Akira, a Japanese restaurant with sushi, teriyaki, golden lobster, and the like. “We change the table settings, some red napkins and chopsticks,” says Kelly Yang, the owner. “We have a small sign in the window that says ‘153 Akira’ and that we are happy to serve Japanese food at dinner. Next year we will probably take down the Butt’ry sign.” What’s 153? “It’s from the Bible,” says Yang, who was born in Korea. “Peter was a fisherman who obeyed Jesus and they caught a full net of fish. It was 153 fish. I’m a Christian and God gave me this business.”

I'm going to miss the Butt'ry!

HI,

I read this several times over, because I thought the Butt'ry was RIP, too. It appears this location will have a dual personality by day it is the Butt'ry, by night it is 153 Akira.

Regards,

I’m a Christian and God gave me this business.

With this kind of backing, it's a can't-fail plan.

Santander wrote:

I’m a Christian and God gave me this business.

With this kind of backing, it's a can't-fail plan.

A famous Blues Brother's quote comes to mind.

Well, I never made it there and have asked all of my friends about it and no one knew about it.

Thanks for the information!

Santander wrote:

I’m a Christian and God gave me this business.

With this kind of backing, it's a can't-fail plan.

Will He prefer 153 Akira to Kamakura though?