Cochon Butcher

This could easily be a three-word review: Just. Eat. Everything. So much meaty goodness here it’s hard to know where to start. No longer the punk little sister to Cochon (but if it were, we’d be her bestie), a recent expansion catapults Butcher into a full-blown restaurant, with a bar and garage-style doors opening onto the street. Proudly owning its lifeblood, the butchering stations are now front and center, right behind the registers (whole hogs come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays, FYI; the squeamish can head straight to the new bar and order a delightful Trotter’s Punch—which contains gin, not trotters). The excellent house-smoked meats and sausages, in small plates or on a sandwich, will rock your world (the boudin sausage link is the best within the city confines (but not outside them). Their muffuletta rivals (okay, surpasses) Central Grocery’s (blasphemy!); the pork belly with cucumber and mint is wondrous. Get the vinegary Brussels sprouts and dreamy mac and cheese or rue the day you didn’t. A few good local beers and choice wines by the glass are offered. Dessert, like everything else, must be had; try the swoonful caramel doberge cake if it’s available. Big bonus points for the mad "Star Wars" diorama/table.