Matterhorn Meats & Sausages — Local services in Yakima

You wouldn't imagine that much happens inside of the humble building that is the Matterhorn Meat shop, but you'd be wrong! This place is awesome! The owner, Fred (Alfred) is a friendly swiss man who must be in his 80's. He has a thick swiss accent, but that only makes sense considering the name of the store! During my discussion with Fred, I found out that he started working with meat in the mid 60's. He started the Matterhorn Meat Shop in 1975 and has been doing it ever since. He told me that he got into the business because he enjoyed doing it, not because of the money! I was excited to try a get a feel for the quality here, so I decided to trying a little bit of several items:

Jerky ($16/95/lb): Very good. He keeps it frozen, but it's been great once it's thawed. It's a bit on the thicker side, but I'd get some again. Jerky is always expensive, but this seemed pretty reasonable.

Gothaer Zervelat - It's basically a german salami. It's an oblong shape and has a pretty good smoke flavor to it. If you're into salami, try some of this!

Knockwurst - I'm told that its the swiss version of a hot dog. It's good!

Spicy Sausage - Good flavor (not too spicy), but the casing is a bit tough

Mild Sausage - Good flavor, but the casing is a bit tough

Landjaeger - Its quite a bit different that the other ones that I've had. Based on my experience here, I can't imagine that this is anything but 100% authentic. They are pretty big, but the flavor is mild and worth trying.

Bring cash - I'm not sure if he accepts credit cards or not. I think that his register is the same one that he had in 1975, which is awesome! My only regret is that I didn't discover the Matterhorn Meat Shop earlier. This is undoubtedly on it's way to becoming one of my favorite...

Update* I called in again, he was super apologetic. He remembered me calling. He explained his practices, (being a one man show and all) and invited me down to have a face to face conversation. Super old school, which I can respect. Seems like a nice enough guy when he's not super stressed, and incredibly knowledgeable.*

I'm a local farmer fairly new to the area. I had my pigs delivered to this place recently. I called in to place my cut order, and whoever answered the phone said they were busy. Understandable, it's the holiday season. So I politely asked how I should place my cut order, or if there was an online form I could fill out, and all he did was repeat that they were busy, and then he promptly hung up on me without even an attempt to answer my question. No "please call back later," nothing. He just hung up. Shortly after this my customer's called me to complain about how rude and unhelpful they were as well. I can tell you, I will NEVER use this butcher again, and I'm going to recommend the same to my friends. Rays may be equally busy, but at least they don't hang up on...

Lived here for years but finally went last week. This little store kicks out some great homade meats. I purchased their Italian sausage,(very well done and they have 20 more to chose from). German Bri cheese (best I've had) fresh bologna was really good. I tried their picked herring and it had very good flavor. Sweeter than I usually eat it. German red cabbage with apples is a great side. Even for breakfast! I will be back many more times! Remember that they only take cash or check. Their cash register is super cool old school. Also the lady that worked there is a real sweetheart. She takes pride...