In my latest edition of Fox Restaurants, I went to The Arrogant Butcher in Downtown Phoenix. It’s kind of like a steakhouse, but it also has a lot of the food that you can find at other Fox Restaurants, which is either great or meh depending on how you feel about variety and creativity. So, we started off with a couple of appetizers before getting into the meat of the meal.

First came the Smoked Carnitas Nachos, which were exactly what they sound like. They were solid, but definitely the kind of nachos you expect at a semi-upscale place like The Arrogant Butcher as opposed to the sports bar-style nachos that I typically prefer. We also had the House Soft Pretzels and Provolone Fondue, which was fondu-licious. I mean it’s really hard to go wrong with dipping stuff in cheese and Fox Restaurants are damn good at recreating this dish over and over again.

As for the meal, I decided to forego steak and went with the Prime Rib French Dip. I always find this to be a great alternative at steak spots when I don’t want a full on steak because they still use the delicious cuts of beef to put it together. Unfortunately, this was not such a dip. The slices of beef were overcooked to the point where it almost tasted like I was eating a cheesesteak instead of a French Dip. Of course, I love me some cheesesteaks, but I also prefer them at cheesesteak prices and this was certainly not.

So perhaps The Arrogant Butcher is simply a place to get a steak, but if that’s the case isn’t it a bit arrogant to offer other inferior options?

It’s really hard to say enough good things about pub food, but I’m about to say some more. Because for my last meal in Salem, I made my way to the Olde Main Street Pub in the hopes that this Irish place would have food fit for an unvegan. After a bunch of seafood, beef and pork, it was time to taste the what Salem had to offer from the poultry realm.

Thus, I ordered The Chicken O’Brady under the assumption that it was named for Tom Brady, the New England and Michigan Wolverine hero. This sandwich began with a grilled chicken breast and was topped with bacon, cheddar and honey mustard. It also came with fries. Unfortunately, even though I asked the waitress to keep any vegetables away not named in the menu, the sandwich still arrived with a bunch of veggies on one half of the bun. These were easily removed, but a total waste of precious vegetable life.

And really, this was one of the better chicken sandwiches I have ever had. The bacon was placed with such care that it was evenly dispersed across the sandwich instead of lackadaisically criss-crossed atop the chicken. The cheese was melted into delicious gooey oblivion and the fries were seasoned to perfection and fried in all the right ways. The only thing I could have asked more was more chicken, as the breast was kinda small.

This sandwich was a great way to close out the visit to Salem, and while it wasn’t anything groundbreaking, it was beyond what you should reasonably expect from an Irish Pub in a old New England touristy town.