At Long Last, Butcher & Bee Opens for Business Tuesday Night

After nearly 15 months of planning and construction, the wait is almost over, as East Nashville's Butcher & Bee plans to officially open their doors tomorrow night.

Having passed the necessary inspections to begin training and cooking in the restaurant last Wednesday, soft opening preview dinners were hosted this past weekend, as well as a couple of impromptu late night openings to the public with an abbreviated menu and beer only (they're hoping to be ready with wine and liquor on opening night). But the real thing begins at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and Eater has your first look at executive chef Bryan Lee Weaver's opening menu (below).

The format is similar to the Charleston, S.C. original, offering a selection of snacks, sandwiches and small plates with a Middle Eastern influence. And while the two share some dishes, such as the pulled squash sandwich, the Nashville outpost goes lighter in the bites between bread category and heavier on the vegetable-focused snacks and shared plates, allowing Weaver to bring in his influences from time spent on the West Coast, most recently at the helm of L.A. restaurant Superba Snack Bar.

The restaurant space itself is also a major departure from the original, nearly triple the size at almost 3,800 square feet, and offering seating for approximately 80 in a wide variety of options.

Initial opening hours will be 5 p.m. to midnight seven days a week, with late night hours until  2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Owner Michael Shemtov tells Eater that late night hours will probably expand to additional days in the future, and plans for lunch service will also be in the mix.