Anthony's Butcher & Deli — Restaurant in New York

I know I was close to the 3pm closing time, but I called in my order and gave my credit card number over the phone to allow for the order to be charged before I got there. By the time I got home, I noticed that I was overcharged for what I ordered. It wasn't a small amount.

I ordered four 6 ounce steaks - filet mignon, which at ~$40/lb is a decent price. I asked for the steaks to be LESS THAN 1 INCH THICK - maybe around ¾ inch. 6 ounces times 4 steaks would be 24 ounces, which would have been $60. I checked the receipt when I got home, and it was almost $100. Not sure where the disconnect was.

The steaks are not close enough in size for me to cook them together. I got 1 steak that is 8.1 ounce, 1 steak that is 8.4 ounce, 1 steak that is 9.5 ounce, and 1 steak that is 12.3 ounce. None of the 4 steaks were remotely close to the weight I asked for. With ¾ inch steaks, the variance would have been within cooking parameters, but the largest steak is ⅓ larger than the smallest one. As my friend and I do not eat rare or medium rare meat, 2 inch steaks (they are actually larger than that - closer to 2 ⅛ inch thick) are entirely useless for me to cook. I will have to have my friend (who's birthday it is) cut the steaks up - something the limited use of my hands from rheumatoid arthritis makes impossible. What a great birthday this will be for her!

The store is now closed, and I am stuck with an extra $40 worth of meat (the label says 2.39 lbs instead of 1.5 lbs, so I received the steaks, but not only have no use for them, they will go to waste and it has destroyed my budget for the next 2 weeks.) I bought this for a good friend's birthday tomorrow. I have now spent the money that was part of her birthday gift, so the dinner will now be my only gift to her (let's not forget she is going to have to prepare part of her birthday dinner too.) Because it is just the two of us, I am going to also be throwing filet mignon steaks in the trash (frozen filet mignon steaks are useless trash - no one in their right mind would spend money on frozen filet mignon, and it is why no one buys filet mignon from Costco anymore - when you have to buy 3-5 lbs of steak, it truly is useless, because most people don't have a need for 3-5 lbs of steak, regardless of the price.) I would have been better off taking her to a nice restaurant.

I have been pleased with the meat I have received in the past, but the extra $40 (not to mention a pound of the steaks going to waste) means I cannot afford to come back. Yes, it is my fault for not having the time to check the bag, as they were closing, and I wanted to leave so they wouldn't be held up with me standing there checking bags at closing time (I thought, how difficult could the order have been?)

I split the difference on the rating, as the meat I have gotten in the past has been good. Using a full service butcher shouldn't only be rated on the quality of the product but also the quality of the service. As it is, paying $100 for what I asked for meant I paid the equivalent of $68/lb...

Five stars for fantastic subs and even more outstanding service. Anthony himself is usually around to help customers, but all of the staff I've encountered thus far is friendly, competent, and clean.

Their meat quality is great, but perhaps my favorite thing is their sausage links. I'm not really a sausage person (insert innuendos here) but the husband Loves them. Since we discovered Anthony's, I've stopped giving him a hard time when he suggests sausages for dinner.

Also try their Primo Italiano sub. Yum.

Edit: Actually, try The Italiano. Even better!

It's hard to find a butcher (especially in Brooklyn!) that is always friendly and positive, who answers the phone when slammed, and who takes the time/has the patience to give you exactly what you needed (for a weird recipe you've never...

I have bought meat from them several times. The quality of the meat and the service are good, but each time they cut the meat about 0.5 lb more than the weight I ordered. For example, a 1.5 pound steak was 1.9 pound and a 1 pound steak was 1.4 pound. I ordered a little less than I wanted and got the amount of meat I wanted. Since the meat is cut by hand, some margin of error is unavoidable. However, in their case, it seems like they are doing it on purpose to sell out the meat quickly. I want to support small markets like this, but I got fed up with their dishonesty and stopped using this place. Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are...