Butcher Block Meats & Cheeses

Sad to write this review. I just had my last disappointing experience at the Butcher Block. They really have some nice artisanal cheeses, but they don’t quite get how to distinguish themselves. Their fresh meats are anything but fresh. Twice I’ve bought meat, once pork and once beef, that was spoiled. So I decided that I would stick to their cheeses and cured meats, which are typically very good. And it’s a local business. Today, I shopped for the weeks groceries and thought I would stop by for some sliced deli meats. I arrived at 5 to 3 and was told they closed at 3 so I was out of luck. I will not be back. Hope that they can figure things out.

Great place. I usually grill or smoke something at least a couple times a week year around and the Butcher Block is a great place to get my meats. The steaks, especially the fillet, are great. I got anything from their brats, ribs, to a pork shoulder and all good cuts of meat. Also have a good cheese selection too.

Sigh. Apparently this is one of those places that I really want to like more than I actually do. As evident in the name, they carry meat and cheese here, as well as a few odds and ends like fresh eggs, and I believe they’ve recently added a very limited selection of fresh bread. The butcher and cheesemonger are a husband and wife, and both are super happy to discuss the ins and outs of their product and make suggestions. Sounds fabulous, right?
However, given the nature of the store, they do have a limited selection, which can get old pretty quickly despite their efforts to mix it up, and unfortunately, we’ve had several issues with meats that we’ve gotten here. It started with some pork chops that were cut unevenly (making them very difficult to cook properly), and then some steaks that were not only not remotely the same thickness, but actually had flaps hanging on them. With some creative cooking the boyfriend managed to get them right, but I don’t understand how such quality meat (and it is quality, believe me!) can be cut so poorly. It’s to a point where, rather than bring up the issue, we’ve just stopped coming here and get our meat at Festival instead — and we pick up our CSA in the parking lot at the Butcher Block every week!
Who knows, maybe we’ll give them another shot sometime, but given our recent experiences, I won’t be back any time soon, which is frustrating, since I really want to like this store.

Visited the shop looking for some good steaks for the holidays. Got some fantastic NY strip (great marbling), fresh and cut to order for grilling (1 ¼″ thick) right there in the store. Price was expected and reasonable considering you can’t get this kind of attention and service in the big box grocery stores. There’s room for the fifth star once I have a chance to try some of their cheeses and homemade sausages.