Sweet Home A La Butter (A Bar Review)

Butter carries the aura of a John Waters movie, stripping the tastelessness from a trailer park and painting it stylish. A jackalope head stares across the bar at a double-barrel beer bong, just waiting for a bride-to-be to show up during a bachelorette party.

Beers on tap range from ever-so-classy Sierra Nevada to Granddad's favorite, Pabst Blue Ribbon. Cocktails are stiff and contain low-priced brand names like Stolichnaya vodka and Jack Daniels whiskey blended with bottom-of-the-line options such as root beer, Sunny Delight or fruit-flavored sodas. The "Latchkey Tea," features $7 worth of hard alcohol with a shot of strawberry soda. The $6 "After School Special" combines vodka with grape soda. The two best options though, are the $2 "Yummy Jell-o Shots" and the $7 "Tangtini" –an orange-flavored martini served in a Tang-rimmed glass.
They also serve more traditional drinks. An "R.V.," (Red Bull with vodka) is $7, and a "Shot Gun Wedding," (a shot of J.D. with a can of Budweiser) is $6.

Though Butter defines itself as a restaurant, it hardly carries the true meaning of the word. Food here is either packaged dessert cakes or microwavable delights such as chicken nuggets, corn dogs and Swanson's TV dinners. They are all heated in an industrial microwave inside of a Yosemite-Sam-mud-flapped trailer beside the bar. Nachos and chicken nuggets are piled high, making them a great value at $3 a pop. If you're a California native though, take advantage of the Sliders, two mini White Castle burgers also for $3.

Butter is yet another reflection of America's growing love affair with kitchy styles and tasteless culture. This trend is anywhere from cool or funny --trucker hats, white trash cookbooks, faded and torn clothing-- to downright annoying -–like Kid Rock.

Thankfully, Butter has failed to cross the line and has kept any nuance of Southern rock away from their speakers. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Slayer, Garth Brooks, and even Elvis -–whose velvet image is hung gracefully on the wall like a crucifix of the one true king- -are all conspicuously MIA from the night's melodies. Instead, Butter spins a selection of house music and occasional hip hop, opting to veer away from their theme in favor of attracting customers. Tuesday means punk night and the sounds become infinitely trashier –though still not white trash.

Next time you head out to one of the area's many popular bars, drop by Butter first. It might not be classy, and it might not have great food. But it's definitely one of the cheapest and funniest bars in the city.

Butter is located at 354 11th Street and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 6 p.m. till 2 a.m..

(Published in XPress Magazine)