B&W Meat Company At 4801 N. Shepherd Dr.

[20thStDad]

Went there today for the first time, they had good prices on most meats. Also had several pre-cooked/pre-packaged meats that I am used to seeing in LA markets but not here. Nice selection of spices and marinades as well. TONS of sausage...something I admit I could stand to learn more about. It also appears that you can get large animal portions (side/loin of beef), I might have to explore that some day. I wish I would have spent more time shopping around but we were close to baby nap time and I was hungry.

Got some beef short ribs, they turned out great after several hours of smoking with red oak.

Any experiences/opinions of the place?

[crunchtastic]

Got some beef short ribs, they turned out great after several hours of smoking with red oak.

Any experiences/opinions of the place?

how much did you pay for the short ribs? Were they cut super short? I do mine in a long, red-wine braise, used to be cheap but they've been crazy expensive lately. Like $10 /lb crazy. Ribeye money.

[cwrm4]

Three times I have gone in there to try to purchase meat, and the wait was so long each time to get a butcher (>30 minutes) I left all three times empty-handed.

Perhaps they have "slow" times, but I doubt I would go back, unless I was planning a big smoker session. I also noticed a number of people come in and get service right away, without a ticket, whereas when I tried that (twice), I was told to get a ticket. It may have something to do with me being in the "minority" when I'm in there? (serious observation).

Now that I-10 is relatively free-flowing, I find it much simpler, and likely cheaper, to big large quantities of meat at the Bunker Hill Costco. (now with self check-out!)

[20thStDad]

how much did you pay for the short ribs? Were they cut super short? I do mine in a long, red-wine braise, used to be cheap but they've been crazy expensive lately. Like $10 /lb crazy. Ribeye money.

They were $3.99/lb. They were about 8 inches long and had a bunch with a decent amount of meat on top. I would expect $7-$10 a pound for a standing rib roast, but not short ribs.

Three times I have gone in there to try to purchase meat, and the wait was so long each time to get a butcher (>30 minutes) I left all three times empty-handed.

Perhaps they have "slow" times, but I doubt I would go back, unless I was planning a big smoker session. I also noticed a number of people come in and get service right away, without a ticket, whereas when I tried that (twice), I was told to get a ticket. It may have something to do with me being in the "minority" when I'm in there? (serious observation).

Now that I-10 is relatively free-flowing, I find it much simpler, and likely cheaper, to big large quantities of meat at the Bunker Hill Costco. (now with self check-out!)

Maybe they were just staffed up for Saturday, because they kept calling numbers no one had drawn yet, and when I drew mine they were already calling it. I definitely think some people must qualify for not having to draw a number. And yes, we were also in the minority. Most of the time that means good food where I come from, but not always.

Anyone know if they do crawfish during that season? Seems like a place that would.

[Heights2Bastrop]

If I

[brucesw]

I went a few times a few years back on the rec of a friend who is a good cook but I wasn't very impressed. I'm a sausage-aholic and tried a number of their sausages without finding anything very impressive (I bring back coolers-full when I go to Central Texas). I tried a venison summer sausage; it's not unusual to have small bits of bone in summer sausage but the bits of bone were larger than any I'd ever encountered and there was gristle, too, which I've never found in any other summer sausage.

The only crawfish I've seen there are the frozen, imported (i.e., Chinese and tasteless) tails instead of the Louisiana variety. The boudin they sell is DJs from Beaumont, availble at supermarkets all over town (it's a very good supermarket boudin).

I never saw any prime beef. I had a Sam's card and Sam's carries very good choice beef at very good prices so I didn't even look at that.

First visit, no one was taking numbers but I was ignored until someone told me to get a number. On another visit a young Black butcher or helper wrapped up one purchase and walked away. I had to call out to him I wanted some other stuff. He walked away again after the second package. Thankfully I only had 3 things I wanted. The cashiers however have always been very pleasant to deal with.

I don't have a Sam's card anymore but if I want something better than what I can get at Kroger, I'll go to Guy's on OST or Pete's on Richmond or even Central Markup.

[cottonmather0]

I like that place because they will custom cut stuff for you that other places won't. You want 6 inch thick pork chops? They'll do it. They will also process deer and pigs for you.

It is ALWAYS crowded in there, particularly late in the day in the Spring and Summer. I am not sure why. The clientele tends to be mostly black, perhaps because of the neighborhood more than anything, so they have a lot of different cuts of pork and pork products available. They also have good beef, but chicken and seafood and anything else is an afterthought.

I don't think the quality is great, but it's not horrible and the prices can't be beat, especially considering the service. Central Market will do the same sort of service for free but charge you 2-3 times as much for the underlying meat, which is better but isn't necessarily 2-3 times better. Same with Pete's (on Richmond), although I don't live near there so I am not as familiar with Pete's.

Yes, for steaks and ribs and briskets, Costco is the way to go, but unless I am wrong, Costco will not custom cut anything. If it's not wrapped in the bin, it's not for sale. (someone correct me if I am wrong) Costco doesn't sell pork butts, either, like B&W will.

I used to think Sam's was good, but Costco is slightly better, both for selection and price. You can't go wrong with either, though, compared to the grocery store.