Where to buy good uncooked meat?

W

wild_turkey

250+ Posts
Where is the best place in Austin to buy raw steaks or seafood? I normally just buy this stuff at HEB or Randall's, but there has to be someplace better.
 
IMO, Costco is the place to be. USDA Choice strips in 7.50 range, ribeyes in the 8.00 range and filets in the 9.00 range per lb. Always cut 1.75 to 2" thick. Last timeI was there the lamb chops were 5.99 a lb (compare to CM at 15/lb). Baby backs and spares are good too. They usually set up a pretty good seafood on the weekends (shrimp, crab legs, scallops, salmon, asst others).
 
Costco is good. Their filets are excellent and reasonably priced. On Friday's they have special seafood setups that include jumpo shrimp, Alaskan crab and rock lobster.
For steaks, I think Central Market is a bit better, but more expensive.
 
Sunset Valley Farmer's Market if you're looking for top quality and don't care about price. Bandera Beef is a good local source.
 
Here's a second for Johnny G's - i bought ribs from them a while back, and they even trimmed everything up for me. It was also nice to see fresh meat in the counter - no cryovac, no "enhanced" solutions, etc. I don't do penny-by-penny comparisons, but their prices were at least competitive with everyone else's, too, which was nice.

I've had success at HEB for briskets, and if you catch them on a good day they have some ribs, roasts, and various cuts from their Prime counter that are top-notch (I believe that this is the same meat that gets fed into CM). We eat our ribeyes from that counter - it's grain-fed, all-natural angus beef. Very, very good.
 
Sams Club seems to be about the same as Costco from what I can tell. You can get excellent "Choice" New York Strip for around $7 a pound. I also got some bulk skirt steak there a month ago that was very good.
 
We like beef braising ribs. You won't find beef ribs at COSTCO. They told me they didn't stock beef ribs of any kind...only pork ribs.
 
I have a best friend/client who is in the meat business. Used to be everything, but now pretty much just sausage. He can get anything he wants and he buys his Christmas rib roast at Costco.
 
costco's seafood is ******* amazing. we did a tuna tartare from there once, and could not get over how good the fish was. really need one up here in belton/temple.

I (more on topic) heard that they also sell prime beef there. is that true?
 
Definitely Costco for meat and seafood. Everything is restaurant quality. The briskets are a grade above what you'll get at the supermarkets. And, you can tell the difference because they turn out tender much more consistently than those at HEB.
 
I've never noticed anything grade "prime" at CostCo. I've heard their contracts with suppliers specify "choice or better", so every once in awhile, you might land some prime beef.

Their "USDA choice" beef is often better than prime sold at the common local high-end grocer stores. That said, I've had some disappointing meat from CostCo, but it's a rare occurence.
 
Quit fn around with beef ribs and buy one of those beef ribeye roasts.
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I was at the Sunset Valley Farmers Market today, and they had multiple vendors selling pork, beef, buffalo, +.
You might check it out some weekend.
 
Fresh Choice on West Lynn and 12th is great for meat. The butcher there knows his meat. He goes out everyday to different local vendors to get the best meat. I would have never known if I didn't live in that area.

Also, I like Central Market and Whole Foods for any meat. I don't like eating meat that has more growth hormones than Barry Bonds.

Quality Seafood is great too. You'll see a lot of restaurant chefs there buying seafood if they are ever in a crunch.
 
Fresh Choice is our area grocer as well, and we've had great experiences with both the steak and fish, particularly the salmon. It won't be convenient unless you are work or live downtown though. I'll have to try the Costco up by my office for other stuff though.
 
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