Hot ham and cheddar frico
RESTAURANT NEWS | MAINE
A Portland Butcher Puts the Whole Animal on the Menu
Chef Chris Wilcox opens Sawyer’s Butcher & Delicatessen, turning animals raised on Maine farms into fresh cuts, charcuterie, and very serious sandwiches.
SAWYER’S | MAP | INSTAGRAM
By Maria Rodriguez
6:15 a.m. ET, Sept. 21, 2026
AUTHOR BIO: With a day job that requires constant travel, Maria Rodriguez is likely a regular at your favorite restaurant. She’s reviewed restaurants since 2007 in magazines from Spain to Seattle.
Portland has never lacked for restaurants capable of fussing over Maine ingredients. At Sawyer’s Butcher & Delicatessen, chef Chris Wilcox takes a more direct route: He buys whole animals from small farms, breaks them down himself, and turns nearly everything into something you’ll want between two slices of bread.
Sawyer’s is part butcher shop, part sandwich counter, and part neighborhood market. Its display cases hold fresh cuts alongside sausages, pâtés, terrines, deli meats, prepared foods, and dog treats. The animals are pasture-raised in Maine without hormones or antibiotics, giving Wilcox control over the supply chain long before anything reaches his cutting board.
Roast chicken salad
The menu includes a muffaletta layered with salami cotto, capicola, ham, Swiss, provolone, and olive salad on sesame focaccia. Cold roast beef comes with a horseradish-provolone spread, tobacco onions, and arugula. House-made mortadella gets fresh mozzarella and pistachio salsa macha, while a hot dog made entirely from Maine beef keeps things agreeably simple with sauerkraut and deli mustard on a potato bun.
Wilcox has spent more than a decade developing relationships with Maine farmers and learning what to do with the animals they raise. He previously served as chef de cuisine at Eventide Oyster Co., one of the restaurants that helped establish Portland as a national dining destination, and later owned Judy Gibson in South Portland. Sawyer’s strips away the composed plates and puts his technique behind a butcher counter.
Roast beef
The 4,606-square-foot operation includes an open kitchen, dry-aging refrigerator, meat counter, market, a small indoor dining area, and an enclosed patio. Pantry staples and grab-and-go dishes help it function as an actual neighborhood shop rather than a restaurant wearing a butcher’s apron.
Whole-animal cooking often gets discussed as an environmental ideal or a display of kitchen discipline. Sawyer’s makes the less solemn point that it can also produce an excellent lunch.
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By MARIA RODRIGUEZ
