HUDSON & CHARLES Local Sustainable Grass Fed Meats — Local services in New York

The concept is good but they keep selling older pieces of meat that look like they have oxidized and have been sitting in the fridge for too many days. On two separate occasions, I bought beef which I thought looked good but turned out to be foul. Once it was a sirloin that was redish on top but when I opened the package at home the entire bottom was brown. Now, this kind of meat which has ‘turned’ is not bad, it just isn’t freshly cut. It has a smell to it. It means the piece has been sitting out. Another time I saw roast beef on the counter and ordered some, it was bright red and looked delicious. Come to find out they didn’t cut me THAT piece which was ‘newer’ and red, they cut from an older piece that had already turned brown. The older piece was sitting in back of the shelf. I didn’t look at the slicing machine before I paid so I didn’t notice it until I got home. Within 48 hours in my fridge, that roast beef smelled DISGUSTING. We bought enough for a whole week, but after 2 days it went in the garbage. That’s what bothers me about this place, they are conserving the ‘old’ bits and selling them for full value. They sell the old before they sell the new, but all at full price. At a farmers market, a product that is an older and has started to age/turn gets sold at discount. But at this butcher they try to pass it off for full price. If you look at the freezer, they do the same thing with some of the frozen pieces. When you look closely you realize it’s just product they couldn’t sell fresh in time, so they just threw it in the freezer before it went totally bad and slapped a full price sticker on it. Totally unfair. Honestly I really want to support grass fed butchers in this city and I like that Hudson and Charles is working with some ethical farms, but the way they are breaking down the meat and selling it is just not for me. I have not been back and I am now spending my money at...

the next time you have a bout of the "meat sweats"--ask yourself: were the animals humanely and locally-raised? and grass-fed and/or pasture-raised? the answer is always "yes and yes" at Hudson & Charles bc they are not just selling things as an intermediary...BUT they are actively involved in knowing what they are selling as well as the sourcing of what they selling...and that makes all the difference which you can taste in the high quality cuts of beef. the small butcher shop sits on Hudson Street. the interior is neatly packed with various items from the meats in the main counter to various produce, dairy, and bottled items. the focus is clearly on meats and meaty items. stopped in here placed a order for fresh cow liver, the order was neatly packaged for pickup when i specified, and the service was friendly. the folks here know meats and it shows. the quality of the liver was AWESOME--cleaned and cut & NOT FROZEN, but fresh. the difference in taste and flavor when i made a pate with it was way above anything i could buy in a normie supermarket. obviously, a much higher quality of meat comes at a higher price and to me...it's worth it especially if you are cooking things like offals. imo, we have become way too disconnected from how basic things we eat come to be and end up on our plates...bc we have become way too over-reliant on factory-farming, gigantic food conglomerates, the mindset of convenience at any cost, the trappings of current modern day life etc. and while the aforementioned gets the "job" done but at what cost to ourselves and everyone else? while butchery is a skilled trade that has existed for the past 1700+ years…it seems to be fading away, but it's reassuring that Hudson & Charles is still fighting the good fight in NYC so some of us can enjoy a better...

I have been buying weekly in this place! Unfortunately when you call them over the phone they are not very helpful! They have been time when a made a phone called to make sure the have enough chicken because I have to drive all the way to the village so I want to make sure they have what I need before I even hit down there! Many times they are very rude over the phone, not to mention they have told me many times they do have what I asked for but when I get there they say the don’t have enough! Today 10/ 08/2023 I have called to asked if they have 12 chicken breast, of course the person couldn’t even answer the question and he replied I have some chicken but I don’t think I have 12! So I asked do you have 8 chicken breast and he answered I do have it but I can’t guarantee I will have it when I get there! So I replied I go the weekly to buy , I am a regular customer and you are telling me you can’t put those chicken away for me even when I am willing to pay over the phone! He replied absolutely not! I would never buy in the place again! I will be spending my money in a place where they appreciate supporting customers! I absolutely don’t recommend this...