Publican Quality Meats
Butcher shop · West Town
825 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607
Highlights
Butcher shop & cafe with charcuterie, pastries, sandwiches & market
Butcher shop & cafe with charcuterie, pastries, sandwiches & market
"You want the good news or the bad news? Alright, we’ll tell you the good first. Publican Quality Meat is kind of perfect. If rock bottom in life is Dustin Diamond/Screech making sex tapes and going to jail for stabbing people with switchblades in Wisconsin, then PQM is Kelly Kapowski. It’s dreamy in an innocent 90’s we have a big crush on you kind of way. PQM is a butcher shop, cafe, bakery, mini market, and even the private dining room for The Publican at night. But its best role is as a small and casual cafe from morning until early in the evening. From quality coffee to fresh baked bread, sandwiches, charcuterie, and more, PQM is the kind of place where seemingly simple dishes taste more complex than they sound. Take the Butcher's Breakfast for example - two eggs with bacon, sausage, bread, and potatoes never tasted so good. But these are the results you can expect when almost everything is made in-house. So what’s the bad news here? PQM’s hours, that’s what. The place is only open 'til 6 pm most of the week, which means unless you can swing a weekday lunch, it's difficult to eat here other than on the weekends or at prime old people dinner hour. We get that there are reasons behind the schedule, one being it’s the private dining room for The Publican, but that doesn’t mean we have to like the situation. We'll continue to enjoy PQM for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and late afternoon charcuterie with beers, but we won't stop dreaming about treating Tiffani Amber Thiessen to a nice Friday night dinner here one day. RESERVE A TABLE WITH RESERVE A TABLE Food Rundown Butcher’s Daily Cheese Plate Cheese on a plate is always good. Butcher’s Cold Charcuterie Plate Don’t let your cheese be lonely. It needs a friend in charcuterie. Probably a beer too if you can swing it at lunch, and definitely a beer if it’s the weekend.. Butcher’s Breakfast If you’re in during the week or weekend while breakfast is still being served than you have to consider ordering the butcher’s breakfast. So simple, but so well done. PQM’s signature bacon, breakfast sausage, potato, bread, and two fried eggs. Jalapeño Cheddar Bratwurst As good as it sounds. A jalapeño cheddar bratwurst topped with sauerkraut and dijon mustard on a hoagie roll. We’ve got mixed feelings on the large hoagie roll, but no doubts on the brat itself. Return Of The Gyro The gyro was on the menu, went away, and obviously returned. We imagine the PQM staff making this decision at some point while jamming out to the tune RETURN OF THE MACK! Either way, this fancy take on a gyro with braised pork belly, raita, pea shoots, and a chili vinaigrette is delicious. Tuna Escabeche This tuna escabeche sandwich is like a hyrbrid tuna ceviche/tuna salad sandwich. We’ll just call it awesome. It’s a mix of tuna, spanish chorizo, “green goddess” dressing, which we assume just means a touch of heaven, olives, and some hatch chile on semolina bread. Disclaimer - I hate olives, but you don’t even notice them, so don’t let it be a deterrent if you’re team anti-olive. Piri-Piri Pavo An excellent turkey sandwich. It’s basic things like this done incredibly well that make PQM so good. Smoked turkey with piri piri chili sauce, avocado, and sprouts on sesame semolina bread." - Sam Faye
"PQM is a butcher shop, cafe, bakery, and mini market from the owners of The Publican. Come here for sandwiches, charcuterie, and anything baked (like the delicious cookies). And if you need to pick up some duck fat or foie gras for the house, you can do that here as well. No need to make that extra stop on the way home." - adrian kane
"The sibling butcher shop across the street where Levitt has worked for six years, he revamped the menu there with sandwiches, brought lauded sausage-making skills to Fulton Market, began hosting a dinner series, and sourced proteins used by the flagship kitchen — the short ribs now on the menu are procured from this shop. Levitt says taking the executive chef job felt like "that triple-A ballplayer that has been just crushing triple-A for the longest time, and I finally got called up to the majors," and he credits the dinner series and his work at the butcher operation with impressing leadership enough to be asked to run the original restaurant. He continues to oversee operations here while rolling out new menus at the flagship." - Ashok Selvam
"This is the spot to go for super fresh + simple lunches. Everything is super high quality and locally sourced as much as possible. They are part butcher shop, part deli and even sell freshly baked bread, which is the best in the city! A few other special items they sell include the marinated farm chicken from Publican ready for the grill, bacon-wrapped dates from Avec and freshly made ice cream from Nico. Everything this restaurant group puts out into the world is just, simply, the best." - Linsey Rosen
"PQM is a cafe, bakery, and mini market from the group that owns Avec, and does its job remarkably well. This is why we heartily endorse Syd’s choice to come to this Fulton Market butcher shop, presumably for cuts of meat that will eventually become fine dining’s largest steak course. But PQM’s best role is as a casual cafe from morning until early in the evening, where you can get great sandwiches. The selection changes, but there are a few staples, like the “Parm #2”—a chicken parmesan sandwich with fried sage and tomato basil sauce." - adrian kane, nick allen
