The Cannibal Beer & Butcher

Our verdict

An open butcher counter running the length of the dining room sets the tone before anyone sits down at The Cannibal Beer & Butcher on East 29th Street. The Murray Hill address made this one of Manhattan's more committed expressions of whole-animal cookery: charcuterie, terrines, and sausages produced in-house, alongside tartares, bone marrow preparations, and dry-aged steaks. The kitchen operated under executive chef Francis Derby, whose approach treated the butchery program as the menu's foundation rather than a decorative flourish. The room itself leaned deliberately rough-hewn: cobblestone floors, wooden picnic tables, bicycles mounted on the walls, and a back garden patio that softened the otherwise carnivore-forward atmosphere. Dishes documented by local press included pig's head preparations, lamb tartare, kielbasa, lardo, and a beef heart ragú served on a grilled frank, a roster that positioned The Cannibal closer to a serious European charcuterie house than to the steakhouse tradition dominant elsewhere in Midtown. The craft beer selection ran deep enough to function as a second identity for the venue, drawing a crowd that arrived as much for the tap list as for the butcher counter. Pricing sat in the mid-range for Manhattan, with small plates and sausages in the mid-teens and larger cuts scaling upward from there, accessible enough to encourage grazing across multiple dishes rather than anchoring the meal to a single centerpiece steak. The concept was co-founded by Christian Pappanicholas and Cory Lane, and the New York location represented the core of a small multi-city footprint. The venue at 113 East 29th Street has since closed.