Meat People Butcher — Local services in Madison

I called the store to make sure they sold tomahawk steaks prior to going in. They said they do, and they will have my steak ready for me when I come in. I asked them what grade it is, and they said they don’t grade. I asked if it has nice marbling, and the worker said, “yes it has good marbling”. You can decide for yourself from my picture whether that’s “good” marbling or not. It looks a lot like Select grade if you ask me.

Additionally, this is not at all what I was expecting when I requested a tomahawk steak. This is a bone-in steak, but certainly not up to “tomahawk” standards. I don’t understand why they lied to me twice. Once about the tomahawk and another about the marbling. It was a 30-minute round-trip, and I would never have paid as much as I did had I known. Because of their dishonesty and lack of quality, I will never recommend this place to anybody, and I will never go back there myself.

They charged me $55 for this 1.96 lb. steak. That’s $28/lb. I should've weighed it, but you can clearly see the incredible amount of fat left on the steak, so I really only got the small center piece. I cooked the steak to a perfect medium rare, and it still did not taste good. It tasted like it was from Walmart. Not worth the crazy price tag at all. I won’t ever go back. Better off buying one from Walmart. Edit in response to their response The call I made lasted less than two minutes, according to my phone records. They certainly did not tell me what they are claiming they told me over the phone, which only proves my point even further that they lie to their customers to make themselves look better. They even wrote "Tomahawk" on the paper wrapping the steak.

With all of that in mind, I would expect a genuine tomahawk, since the person on the phone did not say it wasn't actually a tomahawk. Actually, they said barely anything at all since the call was less than two minutes. The interaction happened exactly how I said it happened, and I will not be gaslit into believing otherwise. I appreciate ethically sourced meat, but don't sit here and lie claiming you "educated" me on the types of cuts in the phone call. I won't allow someone to lie and get away with it, hence, my review.

Consumers beware. If you have any valid criticism, they will just attempt to gaslight you and make themselves seem holier than though by constantly reminding you that they are "ethical" and...

Really great butcher shop and more. The meat is locally sourced and they can tell you the farm it comes from, the breed, and how to prepare the cut. Unique cuts are available as they try to maximize all of the sides of the meat. They even offer classes on how to break down a side of beef or hog. They have a variety of house made sausages that changes weekly- it's worth getting their newsletter to know what's current.

In addition to the meats, they have a modest but well curated selection of gourmet condiments, canned seafood, snacks, craft beers, wine, and liquors. Their selection of amaros and apertivos is particularly noteworthy, many of which I haven't seen at much larger specialty stores in the Madison area.

I highly recommend taking advantage of the staff's knowledgeable advice and willingness to help with special orders on any of their products, especially since they have new and interesting items every week. Selections will vary with their focus on freshness (or aging) and quality, but I've never been disappointed with trying something...

Hats off to you Meat People!! I worked in a steak house for 5 years, Im educated. Had a 10 minute conversation w the butcher yesterday and learned a few new things. Got 3 different steaks, baseball, denver and delmonico to do a taste test after talking about chasing the perfect steak and fries. Cooked all three 5:30 each side on a super hot natural charcoal grill. Let them restt for 25 minutes. I can not express the quality of their beef! Baseball cut won for steak and fries, tender, good balance of lean to fat, and excellent flavor. The flavor on that Delmonico was truly exceptional, that strip of fat fed the charcoal and the grilled flavor was next level. Denver was in the middle of the two, great all around steak!

One of the better butchers I have found in my travels with an amazing selection of pork, beef and Lamb... not to mention the amazing selection of house-made sausages. Well stocked pantry of both local and...