286219 Thu Dec 16 18:27:50 -0800 1999 12 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1534258 Has anyone tried mail ordering steaks from this place "Omaha Steaks?" I've seen their listing in the New Yorker and on TV and was thinking that since my brother lives on the West Coast and won't be coming home for Christmas this year, I'd send the meat lover some of these steaks as a present. Prices sound a little too good to be true, though. Four, 5 oz. filet mignons for $29.99 with half a dozen quarter pound burgers thrown in for free! Hmmmmmm.... Thu Dec 16 18:27:50 -0800 1999 0 Dan H. 1 1534259 I haven't ordered them but we just got two filets as a gift the other day. I grilled them rare that night. I wasn't very impressed. Not very much beef flavor and the texture was a little mealy. There are probably better mail order steaks around. Anyone else tried others? Thu Dec 16 21:26:19 -0800 1999 1534258 0 jim benzian 1 1534263 I ordered a batch of Omaha steaks last year and was so disappointed in the quality that I took them up on their offer of a refund if not fully satisfied. A few months later I received a box of Omaha steaks as a gift and gave them another chance only to be disappointed once again. So Omaha doesn't get a thumbs up from me. If you want really top notch steaks (not cheap) I think you can mail order from Lobel's on Madison Avenue in New York City. Fri Dec 17 14:42:57 -0800 1999 1534258 0 christina z 2 1534268 Thanks for the input guys. You just saved my brother some indigestion. Other than steaks, does anyone know any other good mail order food that would be suitable for a Christmas gift? I don't think he likes fruit cake. I'm trying to think of something more interesting for him than another one of those Tower Records gift cards... Sat Dec 18 12:35:22 -0800 1999 1534263 0 Dan H. 3 1534270 Dan, Mail order food tends to be hit and miss. This may be too prosaic for a Christmas gift, but I love the freshly roasted, salted peanuts at Virginia Diner. I've put a link there. I've found them to be reliable and easy to deal with. They sell many products, but I've only tried many variations of peanuts, all terrific. I don't think they can get the peanuts to your brother before Christmas, though. May be a cliche, but when they are good (they aren't every year), Harry & David's Riviera pears are superb. I make fun of my father buying them for me every year, but this was a vintage year and I've had six or eight dinners in the last three weeks consisting of nothing other than bread, cheese, and one of the mammoth pears. Link: http://www.virginiadiner.com/index2.html Sat Dec 18 13:59:42 -0800 1999 1534268 0 Dave Feldman 4 1534303 Thanks for all the great suggestions and happy holidays! Wed Dec 22 19:08:03 -0800 1999 1534270 0 Dan H. 3 1534271 Does he love good bread? Check out Zingerman's. I've given gift memberships to their bread club with great success. They have lots of other delicious-sounding stuff, too, but I've never tried anything but the bread. I do remember some discussion about their brownies here some time ago, though. Link: http://www.zingermans.com Sat Dec 18 14:30:38 -0800 1999 1534268 0 Sharon A 3 1534272 For cooks, I like to order from Penzey's-- while some of their "blends" make me think of people who cook with Velveeta, I've never had cinnamon like their Vietnamese, they have great dutch-process cocoa, and I've found all their herbs to be about as fresh and flavorful as you can get with dried herbs... A friend sends me a ham from Hickory Farms in VT every year, which, while not all that ususual, is always really good quality-- they also have some premium VT cheddars that I think are tops. Sun Dec 19 00:01:16 -0800 1999 1534268 0 Barb H. 3 1534274 I have received Omaha steaks two years in a row from my grandma, and while I would not endorse them as fabulous, they have certainly never caused me indigestion. The most impressive part about the steaks is their presentation: on your doorstep in a big styrofoam cooler with a chunk of dry ice (pour on water and create your own fog machine!!!). By the way, a friend of a friend from Omaha says they are inferior steaks by that state's standards, likely to be found in malls rather than steakhouses serving up cows from the range. Sun Dec 19 00:41:54 -0800 1999 1534268 0 Rachel Hope 3 1534284 Fantastic selection of caviar, truffles and other delectable edibles. Mon Dec 20 09:16:06 -0800 1999 1534268 0 christina z 1 4461535 Doing the math, that's something like $20-$25 a pound- not so sure about the value. I was expecting something really special whe i ordered from them.... I wasn't that impressed with the Omaha steaks I got several years back, but I've snce realized that I don't care much for fillets- too bland, too soft, little flavor, give me a big boneless ribeye with a nice fat lip any day. One more caveat, if you order from them you'll be getting begging, pleading demands to buy from them for the rest of your life or until you move. Not too shabby if you like the steaks you got, they do offer deals. Whether it's worth the price depends on whether you can get good nonfrozen steaks locally. I rely on Costco for the most part, and Albertson's has some surprise deals I've found out recently- when we were looking for a leg of lamb witht he bone in- why's that so hard to find, btw???-Albertson's had it, and for less than anybody else. Sat Feb 28 17:31:28 -0800 2009 1534258 105625 EWSflash 2 4462723 This is an old post from 1999 but, I would recommend going to Costco where you can buy USDA Prime rib eye or NY Strip Sirloin for $7.99 pp. Also, you can buy whole Tenderloin for $6.99 pp. Can't get any better that that, why would you consider buying mail order? Sun Mar 01 09:18:15 -0800 2009 4461535 149836 cstr 1 4987537 I received a gift of Omaha Steaks last Christmas. We got filets and ribeyes. They were -- at best -- ok, certainly not worth the money. Would never order them for myself. Then I ordered grassfed steaks from Tallgrass Beef (tallgrassbeef.com) and the difference was stunning in terms of flavor and texture. I'm not going back from grass-fed. Fri Aug 28 19:39:48 -0700 2009 1534258 24468 chicgail