If you haven't yet heard of Swiss Butter, you should probably get out more often. For over a year now, Swiss Butter has been the talk of the town, well of Gemmeyzeh at least. If you've passed by the streets of this quaint neighborhood, you've probably noticed queues of hungry customers impatiently waiting for a chance to try their signature sauce.
Their concept is simple, yet still seems to be all the rage amongst youngsters and adults alike. They have a limited menu that revolves around a secret sauce and three protein options: steak, chicken, and salmon.
Their orders come with a side salad, fries, and bread and leave just enough room for indulging in the only two desserts they have: pain perdu and molten chocolate cake.
While the menu may be limited, they're always dropping new limited time items from the Swiss Butter Burger and Portobello mushroom, to the Crème Brule dessert.
The secret sauce may seem simple, but it took 10 years and 33 herbs and spices to perfect. The chef, who happens to be the owner's brother, meticulously tested the sauce recipe for a decade before perfecting the taste. So what you're devouring when you order the Columbian Grade A beef filet, chicken, or salmon, is ten years of true determination and a recipe that only two people in the world know.
When the restaurant opened its doors in 2017, they expected only about 150 customers a day. They hadn't anticipated that they might have to close the restaurant during the day as a result of selling out of food. We had imagined it would be the talk of the town for a few months before slowly and unnoticeably fading away into the abyss of Beirut's food scene. Boy, were we wrong.
One Sunday shortly after the opening, they served over 900 customers. On some days, by 4:30 PM they had to close temporarily to restock because they ran out of food. Today, over a year after the opening, you'll still see hungry people waiting outside to be seated.
The strangely long queues could be partially due to the fact that they don't take reservations, or that they don't offer delivery. "The sauce simply cannot leave the restaurant," said Boudy Boustany, Swiss Butter's Chief Marketing Officer, during a quick chat at the restaurant's neighbor, Briskets. We don't blame them, as we understand packaging and traffic might get in the way of their signature presentation and flavor.
Their success might result from the fact that they've never surrendered to current trends. Lengthy menus, secret menu items, and reservations, won't be found there. It appears they're creating their own rules in the restaurant business scene and doing a pretty good job at it.
Swiss Butter lovers rejoice; they just opened their second branch in Jal el Dib, similar in size, but this time with outdoor seating.
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