Who’s got the best steaks (meat) between Costco, Erewhon, Bristol farms, Gelsons, Rainbow acres?
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Bristol Farms is my initial answer, though admittedly I’ve not done a very dive into this matter…
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What do you mean by “best”?
IMO, dry aged steaks from Eataly should be in the mix here. Normally quite expensive, but not badly priced for the quality when on sale.
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we got a five-rib roast from bristol for thanksgiving and the quality was ok. it was prime, and they did a fine job of trimming it. but it was expensive, nearly double the price of a costco prime rib that i would’ve gladly trimmed myself.
erewhon beef is good (i.e., grass fed etc) quality, but i haven’t found any thick steaks that i was excited to grill. and there’s no butcher, so you’ll never get to discuss a particular cut. you just take what’s in the cooler.
haven’t been to rainbow. gelson’s is good, but i think costco has the best qpr of all the options you listed as long as you have the space to store it.
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Agree Costco is probably best qpr. Size gives them access.
If you are open to factory meat, I like Wild Fork for what it is, specifically the variety of cuts and large format options.
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Whatever happened to Harvey Guss? He had the meats!
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Closed for a number of years. Best meat I’ve ever purchased to cook at home.
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retired years ago (has it been a decade?). very much missed!
Agree Costco is best qpr. We used to go to Alexander Meats in Howie’s Market, but that was years ago. I recall they had really good quality at very reasonable proces.
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Standing’s is a good butcher.
Personally I mail-order my steaks from Flannery.
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Standing’s, Flannery, and I’ll throw in Pat La Frieda (for mail order), Gwen Butcher Shop, and A Cut Above, etc. all good - but I wouldn’t consider these purveyors as “grocery stores,” which is what the OP was asking for.
For steaks from actual grocery stores, I do like Bristol Farms, especially when they have BOGO prime ribeye or NY.
I did like Eataly’s, and I think they still do run great sales, but I have a preference for when they had Creekstone Farms instead of Double R Ranch. Double R ranch’s steaks don’t have the same flavor as Creekstone’s, even if their products look great. Clean butchery and great display case for a grocery store, though.
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Butchers are not grocery stores, no. Though some old-school independents have real butchers I don’t know if there are any left around LA.
Costco’s prices on prime beef (when they have it) are hard to beat.
Trader Joe’s kosher steaks are pretty good for the price.
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right, the two butchers you mentioned are not grocery stores as OP was asking for…
on independents with real butchers - in the Bay Area there is Lunardi’s (the Burlingame/Millbrae one on El Camino by the hospitals has a lot of offerings. many offal and rarer cuts of lamb, kidneys, etc.). someone mentioned Vicente Foods in Brentwood to me but I haven’t checked out their butcher to confirm.
but anyway, back to actual grocery store steaks in LA - Bristol’s BOGO prime ribeye or NY for $38ish/lb (so each steak is about $19, because they’re portioned to about 1 lb. each). next time I see the mailer, I’ll post it in the Sale Thread. even if one doesn’t have the flyer, some cashiers are nice about it if one asks.
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Flannery is the best domestic beef, consistently, I’ve had. I learned about Brian Flannery years ago in the wine world and got to met him and his daughter. Wonderful people and just amazing at what they do. The often have sales, which mitigates the painful retail/shipping pricing.
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Flannery beef is great.
I’d love to wean off of grocery stores largely and purchase meats and seafood from good purveyors and vegetables from farmer’s markets. Beef from Flannery / Pat La Frieda / or a local butcher like Standing’s, seafood from Wild Local at the SM Farmer’s Market, etc. etc. real pastured raised chicken, wild game, etc.
But grocery stores are so convenient - I’ll stick with Bristol for the BOGO deal if it’s stricky about grocery and not dedicated butchers or mail order purveyors. I sound like a broken record by now but think that at effectively $19 per lb. a bone-in prime ribeye is pretty good these days.
Eataly does have a nice range of really clean cuts and some more premium options, too. Their “jidori” chicken is quite inexpensive. It’s my go-to for grocery chicken at the moment but best to go around 10:30am to avoid traffic because the mall can get very busy - enter Ave of the Stars, go straight up to 3rd floor, ample parking near Equinox.
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Vicente still does custom meat cutting / ordering. They have a huge butchery staff for a market these days. Customer service has been beyond excellent at that counter. At least that’s been my experience.
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