Good butcher in the Bay Area

[lorea]

I was wondering if anybody has recommendations on a good butcher in the Bay Area? I'm specifically looking for the South Bay and East Bay areas, but tips on butchers in any other area are welcomed too.

Also, are there any places where I can get fresh seafood without incredibly high prices?

Thanks!

[Bombdog]

There are two great seafood mongers in Napa, Osprey and Omega 3, but both are a bit far for you to travel I would imagine.

[marie-louise]

I was wondering if anybody has recommendations on a good butcher in the Bay Area?  I'm specifically looking for the South Bay and East Bay areas, but tips on butchers in any other area are welcomed too. 

[all East Bay]: I like Enzo's in the Market Hall on College Ave, next to the Rockridge BART station (also in the SF Ferry Bldg.) Village Market (Broadway Terrace & Harboard) has a good selection on Nimon Ranch meats, plus dry-aged Harris Ranch meat (aged on site.) Piedmont Market also has good meat w/ helpful butchers.

Also, are there any places where I can get fresh seafood without incredibly high prices?

Not that I know of....although others have had good things to say about the prices at Ranch 99.

Edited March 31, 2004 by marie-louise (log)

[ludja]

There is a great German Butcher/Sausage Market in Mountain View on San Antonio called: Dittmer's Wursthaus. Lots of great sausages, cured meats and game also.

It is also mentioned in the linked article but another great food place right around the corner from Dittmer's is The Milk Pail. Dubbed a "European Style Market" it has a great selection of dairy products and at great prices--lots of French cheeses, european butter, great bulk items for baking (high end chocolates, nuts, etc). Also carries Acme bread and has great selection of fruits and vegs. I know I can find quinces, etc there. Carries parmegiano reggiano for close to 1/2 the price of Whole Foods as an example...

Mountain View Markets

I second the request for fresh, reasonably priced seafood source in South Bay area....

edited to add: I forgot Schaub's at Stanford Shopping Mall for meat. Not cheap but good quality. Schaub's

Edited March 31, 2004 by ludja (log)

[kjente2]

You could try Lawrence Meats in Alamo. It just off 680 and El Cerrito on San Ramon Valley Blvd (which could be called Danville Blvd or something close in that area).

Katrina Rozelle is in the same shopping area. Her cakes look amazing.

[melkor]

The fish market in bodega bay has by far the best fish I've found in the area, it's also reasonably priced. For a butchers, I'll second marie-louise's recomendations on Enzo's and the Village Market.

[nanuq]

Not quite south bay, but peninsula - Crystal Springs Fish & Poultry, here is a story on them. Great fish, and the chicken is never frozen, so the best around here. They are opening a deli next door as well, looking forward to that.

They're 2 mins from 280 / 92.

[Squeat Mungry]

I can't speak to the South or East Bay, but if you ever make it into the City, check out Drewes Brothers on Church Street at 29th Street. They're actually fairly easy off the freeway (just off 280 at San Jose Drive exit) and I'd imagine you could park there (on the street) easily as well. They have a great selection and much of it is organic or grass-fed or free-range etc. They're very helpful, too, and have made custom cuts for me with enthusiasm. Oddly and endearingly, you can rent a video and pick up some tasty fresh bread there, as well!

My other favorite is not far away, but I don't think I'd recommend driving there, because I'd think parking would be impossible. It's the Mission Meat Market inside the mall at 22nd and Mission. Their stuff is always very fresh and goodlooking and they'll always cut/trim it the way you want it (would probably help if you had at least kitchen Spanish -- and even if not: mine's very bad). The thing there is that you'll likely have to talk them through the cut, so it can be an adventure, but the quality and the price is right. I've gotten great rabbit here. I've heard their seafood is fresh and of good quality, as well, and I believe it.

(By the way, DON'T go into the only butcher you can easily see from the outside on that intersection, which is not actually on the corner but much more visible and open to the street (in fact, apart from a very small sign, you won't know where the Mission Meat Market is until you enter the mall), because when you see that meat you'll think I'm insane. Mission Meat Market is between 21st and 22nd, NOT 22nd and 23rd.)

Inside the Ferry Plaza Building is The Golden Gate Meat Company, which is definitely worth checking out, especially if you're visiting the Saturday Farmer's Market. Unlike the FM, however, they're open every day, and definitely know their stuff, which is fresh and varied. I haven't been disappointed there yet.

On Saturday mornings and Tuesdays from 10:30 - 2:30 you can also buy from Prather Ranch at the Ferry Building. This can be worth a special trip.

Cheers,

Squeat

[tirgoddess]

Butchers:

Gene's Market in Saratoga (they do Turducken at Thanksgiving)

Cosentino Markets- I especially like the store at Union and Bascom Aves. Very knowledgeable people, beautiful selection.

P W Supermarkets have an excellent meat buyer and high standards for

the meat departments in the stores. The guy is a cowboy that has

worked in locally in the industry, when beef used to come on rail

cars into San Jose for local butchering. He also raises, grazes and

moves his own cattle. (About 12 stores throughout Bay Area.)

Fish Markets:

Race Street Fish and Poultry, has both consumer and commerical operations

They are a little pricy, if you are buying for a business you can get

commercial pricing. San Jose, Race Street

Sunnyvale Seafood (in San Jose) has very fresh seafood and a clean operation.

They are strickly commercial.

Another option for buy fish is to talk to the proprieter (sp?) of your favorite fish restaurant and ask him to purchase fish for you, it will arrive packed in ice in a styrofoam case. We did this at Thanksgiving with lobsters, they were beautiful and the pricing was excellent.

[lorea]

Wow, you guys really are great...thanks!

I have plenty of places to scope out now, but please keep them coming if there are more suggestions!

[Hest88]

In the East Bay, Enzo's has already been mentioned, but down the street from Market Hall on College there's also Ver Brugge.

As for seafood, I usually go to Oakland Chinatown or a Ranch 99-type Asian market.

[badthings]

cafe rouge meat market, 4th st. berkeley. They can order whatever you need from Niman, and they have excellent charcuterie, as does fatted calf, run by former Rouge butcher Taylor Boetticher, and available at the Sat. Berkeley Farmers Market. The Berkeley Bowl has a pretty good meat dept. now, with good prices on Niman pork and grassfed beef.

[mysticonnie]

I second cafe rouge, and fatted calf. Rouge's folks are extremely helpful (they obtained a piglet shoulder for cassoulet at the last minute), and fatted calf has yummy sausages. I'd also add Magnani's Poultry, on Hopkins in Berkeley, across from Monterey market. You can get a pint of duck fat for about 6 bucks! Also, Scalise's (in the Encinal Market) in Alameda is an old school neighborhood butcher (free cookies for the kids!) with wonderful service. With a phone call, they'll try to get you whatever you need (like caul fat for rendering lard).

[IrishCream]

Wow, you guys really are great...thanks! 

I have plenty of places to scope out now, but please keep them coming if there are more suggestions!

I second your thanks. But don't expect them to be reasonably priced. One of the the biggest shocks moving from Houston to SF is the price of meat. And there is NO rational reason for it that I can see other than people pay the price. Just to give you an example, for 6 months of the year in Houston, brisket could be purchased for 29-59 cents a pound on sale. The regular price was around $1-1.59/pound.

I can tell you that some EG friends told me to go to the Golden Gate at the Farmer's Market because they had incredible prices on things like rack of lamb. I rushed down there the next day...ummmmmmm...rack of lamb was way over twice the price of my local grocery store. Ok...it is supposedly better quality and comes from a cool organic place. My Lobel's experiment makes me question that.

Well...I may as well share my funniest SF meat story. A few months after we moved here my husband came home very excited...he had scored a big piece of Chateaubriand at Andronico's for only $10/pound. That was about $1-2 less per pound than we could have bought choice tenderloin in Texas. Wow. I immediatley ripped off the butcher's wrap......and it was a piece of top round. I was furious. I called the meat department at Andronico's. I told the butcher that I was upset and turned out he remembered my husband well and he was very embarrassed. He admitted it was top round but cited some California rule that allowed them to call it Chateaubriand. He said we could bring it back. Right. Buyer beware in this state.

Edited April 2, 2004 by IrishCream (log)

[melkor]

But don't expect them to be reasonably priced.  One of the the biggest shocks moving from Houston to SF is the price of meat.  And there is NO rational reason for it that I can see other than people pay the price. Just to give you an example, for 6 months of the year in Houston, brisket could be purchased for 29-59 cents a pound on sale.  The regular price was around $1-1.59/pound. 

Seriously, one of the biggest shock in moving from Houston to the Bay Area was the cost of meat? That's like saying 'I was suprised to find when I moved from Saudi Arabia to England the cost of gas went up'. Texas cattle ranches have 15 million head on them at any one time, California ranches have 5 million. Texas bbq is all brisket, its cheap because lots of people are buying it so the stores sell it at a loss to get people in there. Here people shop at the farmers markets, buy fish that was swimming the day before, and eat a lot of poultry - there just isn't the consumer base to support cheap beef and the cost of renting a storefront here is far far higher than it is in Texas, nevermind the fact that the store is likely to pay it's staff twice what they would have to elsewhere in the country.

Besides, you can get whole briskets at Cash and Carry for about $2 a pound - or you could buy a quarter cow from a local rancher like the Gales.

[Hest88]

cafe rouge meat market, 4th st. berkeley.

If you go to Cafe Rouge and you're a fan of dried meats, the way I am, try their pepperoni sticks. They taste like salami that's been highly concentrated. Wonderfully fatty with a pleasant overlay of heat. Whenever I see them I buy the whole bunch, 'cause they make them inconsistently.