New butcher shop on Route 44, across from Simsbury Common- has anyone been there yet?
I noticed a new butcher store across from Simsbury Common today called Meat or something like that. What's the story- anybody visited yet? At first glance, I assumed it was another burger restaurant or steak house, but I think it said "butcher". I'm not sure if that's Simsbury, Farmington, or Avon at that location.
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I've been there 4 times already (The Meat House, in Avon) - they are just about 2 miles from my house! We've tried Delmonico & Cowboy steaks - huge and delicious...as well as some of the prepared foods (re: prior post below - they have more prepped foods in the refrigerated section, not just by the deli meats)...and some of the cheeses, fudge, olive oil. Everything so far has been great and they will order any exotic meats you might want (they had boar & buffalo the first time we were there). I agree with below - the Meat House marinade is awesome!
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Meat House
655 Main St, Walpole, MA 02081 -
I went there on opening day as well. I was very disappointed, but not surprised (because I had looked them up on the web ahead of time). They only had a couple of cuts of meat that were labeled as "all natural." $18/lb (if memory serves) for a non-all natural NY strip steak. Huh? Big Y frequently has all natural NY strips for $12/lb.
I asked one of the "butchers" about the lack of all natural / organic meat choices there and he said something about them not being able to get that type of meat in the quanity they need (so they need more quantity than Big Y or Whole Foods?).
Based on looking at their website, I was at least expecting to see several decent "ready made" options. The marinated mushrooms caught my eye, but there weren't a whole lot of "ready made" items that I could see.
Their website also gave me the impression that they'd have some unusual wild game meats. Didn't really see any of that. I suspect that I could special order venison or rabbit, but I could probably do that with the Big Y butcher shop as well.
As for local options, I will give them points for having Tulmeadow ice cream in their freezer - the best ice cream around!
The bottom line for me, though, is that a place that attempts to be some super-great butcher shop, just down the road from Big Y and within 20 minutes from Whole Foods, should either have as-good options (all natural meats) or better (e.g., organic grass fed, dry aged) at prices no higher than those places (unless the quality/freshness was better). Instead, they seemed to have Stop & Shop quality meats at double the price.
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re: ratbuddy
I believe the term "all natural" in regards to beef/poultry is typically used to indicate that the animal was not given hormones (e.g., BGH) or antibiotics. It is certainly my understanding that that's how Big Y applies that label. Are you disagreeing with that definition, or are you suggesting that BGH and antibiotics are of no concern?
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re: Scott R
I'm saying the FDA has a very broad definition of the term, and the only real restriction is no 'artificial ingredient or added color.' As I'm sure you know, the line between 'artificial' and 'natural' ingredients is so blurred, it might as well not exist. The FDA does require labels to explain why they're calling the product 'natural.' See http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/M... for more.
In a nutshell, if you really care about the stuff added to meat, pay the premium for real organic. 'Natural' and 'all natural' are optional and largely meaningless, and chances are good that the meat not labeled 'natural' is produced and processed exactly the same way as the 'natural' stuff.
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re: ratbuddy
Well, here's a page on Big Y's site about their "all natural" meats:http://www.bigy.com/market/meat/index...
The pertinent details: No antibiotics or added hormones. Also: Minimally processed (whatever that means) and contains no artificial ingredients.
On The Meat House's website, I see no clear statement about whether their beef comes from animals with antibiotics or added hormones, just a cursory use of the term "All Natural Prime" on one of their pages and, from what I saw in their store, only a couple of cuts of beef had the "all natural" notation. Assuming their use of the term "all natural" is similar to Big Y's, that would leave me to believe that most of their cuts of beef (which they don't label as "all natural") likely do have antibiotics and hormones.
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Meat House
655 Main St, Walpole, MA 02081
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stuck in Hartford County
May 27, 2010 10:28 AM
Thanks for the feedback. It would be nice to find local meats and cheeses, w/o having to go to Whole Foodsor Highland Park. A chain butchery sounds like an interesting idea. I'm going to check it out this weekend.
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Been there twice so far, once on opening day and a couple days later. We tried the steak tips and marinated asparagus, which were delicious and well seasoned. On a return trip, I bought a couple of veal chops for the grill and had no complaints. Everyone is very friendly and people may appreciate the personal touch, such as them taking your bags out to the car. I agree with Tinkerbelledee, the staff was over the top friendly, but having worked in retail for many years, it's part of the routine when opening a new store. Wouldn't do all of my food shopping there, but in a pinch you can easily put together a nice meal from their offerings. They fill a niche in town, as we are without a Kane's Market or Highland Park-type place. A complaint I have is that they carry Stonewall Kitchen items; I like their products, but there's a Stonewall Kitchen store just up the street. I would like to see more local products.
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I was there Saturday and agree with Tinkerbelldee. Lots of staff giving customers tours of the store and talking about what they offer. They had some of their steak tips in a chafing dish at the back of the store and they were delicious. One major complaint: I stopped there on a whim and thought it would be a good test to get a pound or so of sliced roast beef for weekend sandwiches. I figured they would have something really nice since this is their niche and they are trying to differentiate themselves from the typical supermarket meat and deli departments. All they had was Boar's Head. Boar's Head is not bad but is avaailable in many local supermarkets. I was disappointed. A manager said he would write down my complaint but he didn't sound too convincing....said something about a long relationship with Boar's Head...
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Have not been there yet, but read in the paper a while ago that they were opening. It's called the Meat House. It's actually a chain. I beleive it is next to Amici Itailian Grill in Avon. Looks pretty good and the prices online seem reasonable. Would love to hear how it is.
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Amici's
500 Howe Ave Ste C, Shelton, CT 06484Meat House
655 Main St, Walpole, MA 02081›1 Reply-
re: hotwing
We stopped last week. Actually on Opening Day.
The staff there was over the top friendly, not sure that will last since many seemed to work for the company and not that specific store.
It is a small store. They carry Boars Head Deli Meats.
Their steaks looked good, but I am not a fan of large steaks.Meat- We purchased 2 tips of steak tips, their steak house marinade and their sweet bourbon. We also purchased 2 types of marinated chicken.
We really enjoyed all of it.They have a great selection of local foods as well. Goat Cheese from East Granby, Collinsville Baking Breads were both great.
Over all, we liked what we purchased and will return, but not on a weekly basis.
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