Food

New York’s Best Butcher Shops

by ABlock | 25 Jul 2011 | 6 Comments

Sure the Fourth of July is Independence Day, but we always associate it with barbecue. Really, there’s no better way to celebrate than lighting the grill, especially when New York has so many great butcher shops and they each have their specialties.  For outstanding sausages, we head to Staubitz in Cobble Hill for their chorizo or wild boar.  When we want restaurant quality steaks, there’s Ottomanelli or Lobel’s.  For lamb, The Halal Meat Market on Atlantic Avenue is hard to beat and that’s just the beginning.  These are our favorite spots to shop for cookouts. 

Robert’s Prime Meats and Deli
Address: 20509 35th Avenue (Queens)
Phone: (718) 423-1414
Robert’s is a little off the beaten path, but it’s a  mecca for meat lovers, nostalgic for the corner butcher shop.  There are few places left in New York as well-stocked and helpful, liberally doling out tips and recipes. Besides, they offer a terrific variety of meats, including rib-eye steaks, flank steaks, chicken cutlets, or whatever you’re craving.  Still, what really sets them apart is the selection of imported dried pastas, fresh breads and homemade, prepared dishes, like meatballs — a one-stop shop for dinner.

Ottomanelli Meat Market
Various locations including
www.nycotto.com
When we want a restaurant steak or chop, we head to a New York institution, like Keens, Old Homestead, or Peter Luger. But when we want to grill it ourselves, we pick up our meats from another New York institution: Ottomanelli Butcher Shop. Onoforio Ottomanelli opened his first shop in Greenwich Village more than 50 years ago, and has built an empire of shops and restaurants with six locations to date.  Most importantly, the quantity of outposts hasn’t affected the quality of their meats.  We highly suggest stocking your freezer this summer with their signature, steakhouse burger patties.  There’s much more to this shop than just beef.  Ottomanelli carries lamb chops, pork chops, chicken, and turkey.  For more ambitious cookouts, definitely try the veal loin chops porterhouse, which includes part of the sirloin and the entire filet.

Staubitz Market
Address: 222 Court St., at Warren Street (Brooklyn)
Phone: (718) 624-0014
Staubitz Market has pulled off quite a feat: It has managed to remain a Cobble Hill fixture for nearly a century by bridging the gap between old-school and modern butcher shop.  One family of butchers has run the store for over three generations now and they continue to offer the same, hand-cut prime steaks and cuts, but they’ve also added hard-to-find meats, like ostrich, foie gras and Serrano ham.  There’s also an impressive array of sausages for everything from cookouts to stews. Our favorites are the chorizo, Andouille and wild boar, to name just a few.

Lobel’s Prime Meats
Address: 1096 Madison Ave., near E. 83rd Street
Phone: (212) 737-1372
This Upper East Side shop is a little like the Tiffany & Co. of butcher shops.  That’s because only the most prized proteins, from well-marbled Wagyu to free-range squab, earn a spot in Lobel’s meat locker.  How many butcher shops actually have decor?  Not many.  This one’s got elk and deer heads mounted on the walls along with a few taxidermy game birds.  Decor be damned, this shop has some prized cuts and kinds of meat, including a killer, dry-aged bone-in sirloin, tenderloin, flatiron, as well as Piedmontese strip, porterhouse and T-bone. They also carry all-natural lamb & veal and excellent kielbasa sausages.

The Meat Hook
Address: 100 Frost St., btwn. Manhattan Ave. & Leonard St. (Brooklyn)
Phone: (718) 349-5033
The butchers at this Williamsburg protein parish are an all-star team of food artisans.  Tom Mylan and Brent Young are the head butchers here, but the entire crew excels at chopping and charcuterie.  The meats are meticulously sourced from local farms with a great selection of cuts for any kind of cooking.  Their pork belly is exceptional and great for Korean barbecue if you’re feeling ambitious. For tacos, we love their skirt and flank steaks.  And The Meat Hook carries both grass-finished and grain-finished beef.

Halal Meat Market and Grocery
Address: 232 Atlantic Ave., btwn. Court Street & Boerum Place (Brooklyn)
Phone: (718) 625-2781
Most people associate Atlantic Avenue (in Brooklyn Heights) with funky coffee shops and bars, but once upon a time the street was crowded with Middle Eastern shops.  And remnants of the old guard remain, including Halal Meat Market and Grocery. This shop is ideal for those who want their lamb butchered in accordance with traditional Muslim law as well as for non-observant folks who just want a giant leg of lamb to slow-roast.  They also sell plenty of spices, including turmeric, cumin and coriander.

Satmar Butcher and Meat Market
Address: 82 Lee Ave., at Rodney Street (Brooklyn)
Phone: (718) 963-1100
Come Friday morning, Williamsburg’s Orthodox Jew community flood this shop for Shabbat dinner supplies.  Even if you don’t observe, you’ll want to get to know the meats here.  We still can’t find better or fresher chicken in the city. The whole birds and thighs come out juicy every time we baste them in barbecue sauce and throw them on the grill.  And for dessert, grab a strudel or babka at Kaff’s Bakery just across the street.

Pat La Frieda Meat Purveyors
www.lafrieda.com
When New York’s best restaurateurs and chefs want premium cuts and grinds of meat these days, they go to Pat La Frieda. They’re behind Minetta Tavern’s black label burger and Ai Fiori’s white label burger to name just two.   But if you wanted their meats, you had to dine out or know someone who knows someone because they’re a wholesale outlet. Not anymore.  Just a few days ago, we learned that you can now buy La Frieda’s burgers and ground meats from Fresh Direct, shipped directly to your door. Genius.  Let the summer grilling begin.

Dickson’s Farmstand Meats
Address: 75 9th Ave. (Chelsea Market)
Phone: (212) 242-2630
If you’re committed to eating and cooking locally raised meat, you might want to get to know Dickson’s in Chelsea Market. Jake Dickson, who left his marketing job to pursue his passion for butchering, hand-picks his protein from  upstate New York farms no more than 400 miles away. Dickson’s is a particularly great option for summer parties because they sell a stellar, “Summer Grilling Spectacular” package.  For a $130, you get 16 sausage links, including our favorite chili garlic pork variety, dry-aged ground beef, barbecue chicken, pulled pork and baked beans. That’s pretty much all the food you’ll need for a phenomenal cookout.