Joe Scalise Jr and Sons Butcher Shop

Best hidden gem!
Tried going to Baron’s — I thought this was the only butcher… Their prices were way to high and the staff didn’t even seem to want to help.
Come to my surprise I check Unilocal and find this one! I can NOT say it enough, best Alameda hidden gem ever. The owner works directly with his customers. Very friendly and interacts with every customer — helped me choose a great cut.
Oh, and one last thing. His filets are beautiful, delicious, and $ 10 CHEAPER than Baron’s. Sorry Baron’s but I will never be back.
PS. Their grocery market is just as good. 5 Stars!!:)

Best Butcher Shop in Town! Excellent Service and Excellent Quality and Price
I buy all my meat at Scalise– Fresh Salmon on Thursdays, Fresh Chicken and Excellent cuts of meat.
I also order all my holiday Turkey, Easter Dinner and Christmas meats from them. Never ever disappointed. :)
Thank you Scalise

LOVE this butcher shop! They carry Irish bacon which we love and can’t find anywhere else. Worth the drive.

Great service, always. And the meats I’ve purchased here (pork chops, ground pork, frozen duck thighs, various sausages) have always been fresh and high quality. Pricy, but not ridiculously so.

«…Look how thin that is, see that’s all surface area. The taste has nowhere to hide.» Cosmo Kramer, Seinfeld.
From work, it’s 3 min. to Whole Foods or 15 min. to Scalise. When I need charcuterie, in particular prosciutto, it’s 15 minutes well spent. They nail it everytime, unlike WF who 3 times now have disappointed. Yeah I needed it bad and the guys at Scalise delivered.
I jokingly commented to the gentleman helping me that he’d make my wife happy if we could «see through the slices», he smiled and worked his magic. WOW, when I unwrapped the meats at home to prepare the noshin’ platter for the night, we got exactly what we asked for: Perfectly sliced Prosciutto, coppa, salami, mortadela, tissue thin you could almost see through. Pair that with home made home made roast beef and Italian sausage, alpine swiss, and a couple of steaks, I’ve got no reason to look elsewhere for butchery, deli and charcuterie.
Whole Foods pales in comparison in these areas… can’t wait to get to Scalise tomorrow!

I love this place.
Tucked away in that little shopping center, don’t look for an actual sign — this is inside Encinal Market.
I first came here to buy a butterflied turkey breast and they were super on top of it. They assured me they would have it on hand, and they sure did!
The men behind the counter were very accommodating, informative, and friendly.
Honestly, there’s just something about going to a nice clean market and having people cut up your meat then and there!
Another thing is, I am very sensitive to smell, and here, there was no old meat smell, if you know what I mean. (That stale smell you get sometimes when you walk by the meat section of a store).
Today, I went to buy brisket. Again, great service, reasonable prices, and good meat! This is my go-​to place for fresh meat. Since I rarely eat red meat anyway, I think the price is worth it.

I came here the day before Thanksgiving (heh heh) to buy a boneless skin-​on Turkey breast and boy did they deliver! The people behind the counter were pretty friendly and he even butterflied the turkey breast (I requested this) and lightly pounded it out to even thickness.
I don’t really remember the cost, it was probably a bit pricey but I was so glad that my sister found a butcher that would do all the prepping for me so I didn’t have to do anything except follow the recipe! There are no shops like that in Socal :(
The place also had a whole buncha other grocery items and cooking/​baking materials (twine, paper plates, aluminum foil, etc). They had a DELISH jalapeño artichoke dip that I almost bought and other samples.
(Btw, if you ever have a small Thanksgiving gathering, I highly recommend making Ina Garten’s Turkey Roulade and come here to buy your Turkey!!!)
Random Note: You won’t really be able to see the sign when driving by but it is definitely in the plaza so just drive into the small parking lot.

Best Meat, Best cuts, HANDS DOWN!!! Customer service is great as well Big guy named Jesse hooked me up with some very delicious meats, gave me advise as well too! All included. Made the best dinner of my short home chef career. GF loved me for it. Thanks guys love Local vs. Big business.
Get ya Fresh Meat HERE!!!

Best butchers in town! They know their product and are more than willing to do special cuts. I love picking a cut of meat and having them grind it for dinner. (lamb) The Kobe burgers are a special treat in our house. I love the Italian Sausages and would recommend the Hot and Sweet Marinaded Flat Iron steak. I also love that they have marrow bones and are willing to cut them smaller for our dog. Service with a smile. I love coming here.

A real throwback to go to a real butcher shop. It can be pricey here, but you certainly get the impression that you’re dealing with real quality here. What’s also neat is that if you walk up and say, «I’m just trying to figure out what to cook for dinner», they can suggest something like one of their great pre-​made meat dishes to cook up.
I had a hankering for a whole turkey for New Years at the last second, but I couldn’t find one anywhere. Scalise had a big frozen Willy Bird. Tasty, but super expensive. At least they had it.
Located inside Encinal Market with pretty easy parking.

It is so great to have a top quality butcher shop in the neighborhood. The guys behind the counter make it even more special, they remember you and treat you well. Love getting the sliced cooked turkey and roast beef also the special prepared dinner items like beef stew or roast chicken along with veggies and other side dishes. This can make shopping at Encinal Market, where Scalise is located, a one stop shop.

Privately/​family owned, great selection, a bit pricey, great cuts and friendly staff. Instilled inside to the immediate right of Encinal Market. Been coming here off and on for years and yes as a child, my Nana took me here as well. The marinated meats (teriyaki chicken skewers last night) are great on the grill. Their stuffed flank steak is yum! You want to impress fam or friends with a good meaty main dish, come here and get what you need.

Very, Very Friendly and Great service Mark was wonderful!!! The only thing that stops them from being the best meat market in the East Bay is the lack of variety. Other than that Joe’s is top notch.

The best meat market in the East Bay… Sorry Oakland. Italian sausage, cuts of everything, these are the boys who will hook you up.

Just another five stars for Scalise’s. Everything about the shop has already been said in the other reviews. Good meat, good service, reasonable prices.

I love the selection of raw meats available, I just wish I was able to get in on fish delivery day. Jesse told me once when it was, and I did actually happen to wander in one work from home day to get lunch and saw the masses milling about and realized it must be that day.. . but damn if I can remember which day it was (Wednesday was it? Or Thursday maybe?), and I’m almost never home at that time to take advantage! Total bummer, because the shrimp I got this weekend were quite fishy, which kind of put me off. I know you don’t want to let stuff go to waste and just throw money away, but I kind of count on my butcher/​fishmonger to pull stuff if it’s not super fresh. That said, of course they tasted fine and none of my dinner guests got sick, but I don’t want to have to worry.
I agree with other reviewers — Jesse really is the best, but all of the guys behind the counter are helpful. I picked up some corned beef recently and it was great. I also decided to try out the rotisserie chicken — it was great too!
Now I know that I can get fantastic cooked meat here too, I’m super excited to not have to trek to a chain store on lazy nights.

What a great butchers shop! My mom suggested this place because she used to go to it when she lived in Alameda. She remembered it being on Encinal near the high school. Anyways, the butcher was very helpful. He helped me pick out some good shrimp, filet mignon, and bacon for a nice dinner at home I was preparing for. I feel like everything was reasonably priced as well. The rest of the staff in the market were also very kind and helpful.

Great market in Alameda and they’ve been there a long long long time. I think I was still wearing diapers. no, just kidding but my kids were.
I went to the market to get some sausages and mortadella. I like how they cut the mortadella and each slice is placed nicely in the package. So, when I get home and open the package of the mortadella. I feel special… they took care of me.
Seriously, try it. Go to Safeway and buy the deli in there and you will see the difference. The deli @ Safeway is placed in a plastic bag, you open it, you make a sandwich, and no big deal.
But very different at Joe Scalise shop.
You might think it is silly, but I have a stressfull life and I like to feel special
I have to go back to get that yummy mortadella and some TLC

There are butchers who know meat and then there are ones who know how to cook it too. The boys at Scalise’s Meat know both. Mondays night I save for doing bills, laundry and cooking. Since the weather has been good I decided to fire up the gas grill on the deck (it is small don’t worry) and barbq some dinner. I usually order the rosemary chicken which is very delicious but I decided to try out some flat iron steak. I have never cooked flat iron steak before and one of the butchers (the one who looks like Manny Pacquio) told he how much time on the grill, recommended a marinade and what kinda of seasoning to apply.
When you go to Safeway, Nob Hill or Costco you just don’t receive that kinda of customer service. I think the selection is very good, not like a Whole Foods but they do carry high quality meats and seafood. The prices tend to be more then the bigger markets but I think it is worth to spend a little more for the quality of cuts of meat.
Remember it is all about the customer service…

great service, good selection of meats, and i love that my stuff is wrapped in old school paper, not styrofoam and plastic.
And I love Jesse. He’s my favorite guy there.
I drive across town to shop here and don’t buy my meats anywhere else (unless I am near Star Meats in Oakland).