European Quality Meats & Sausages

It would be a disservice to not write a review, after coming here since arriving in Toronto, before it closes.
I love the whole butcher experience behind this butcher shop. Getting the little number to serve you is so quaint but well organized. I am an organizational nerd so this satisfies my square bone. The ladies behind the counter are super efficient and friendly. They even have a «captain» directing the order. I love it.
The meats are cheap. So far, I’ve never gotten sick or developed hives. Nutritional, healthy meats.
They have a lot of cuts and red meat is not specialty but whenever I have asked for suggestions, their recommendations hit the bull’s eye. Their prosciutto has been delectable. Their bacon is better than supermarkets. The chicken is fine.
I always ask for my meat individually wrapped and they oblige. I’ve always felt uncomfortable asking but it appears it is no big deal. They give a good service.
It doesn’t matter who came before who, because you are checked out upon completion of your order. Your little basket does a little line-​up in the manual conveyor belt. This may seem antiquated and slow, but it works delightfully!
I am a fan and my Kensington Market grocery shopping will not be the same.
I will need to find another butcher, and in this large city, corner butchers closed shop years ago. But before I look for a butcher, I am stocking up on meats before closing day!

Welcome to the house that meat built. After my inaugural visit to EQMS I woke with phantom meat sweats every night for the first week thereafter. The strange thing was that I had neglected to purchase anything during this visit. It was as if the power of having so much quality meat in such personal proximity had simply permeated my subconsciousness and subverted anything else from entering. I dreamt of men playing the piano with sausage link fingers, of Baseball players swinging giant pork tenderloin bats and of opening presents filled with double smoked bacon on Christmas Day. And stranger still… I wasn’t really bothered by these visions of meat dancing in my head.
Although I didn’t make a purchase my first time at EQMS I have been back many times since. I now know to take a number immediately upon entering and know that what they may lack in customer service they more than make up for in terms of their meat. Prices are fair and the «quality» prevalent in the name is not misleading. You may want to physically ready yourselves and steel your nerves if you are embarking upon your first visit here, as hordes of hungry carnivores jostling for favourable positioning can be intimidating and you may need to rely on primitive strength reserves to ensure that you get your meat fix in a somewhat timely fashion.
One word of advice. Do not buy the house made chicken fingers. You will find many better brands in your local superstore.

Part of Kensington market, they have been there as long as i can remember. Miss the saw dust on the floor, but miss a lot about the market. Shopping here is like shopping anywhere, you have to know your prices. Cold cuts are prob priced better here then anywhere and I really like the peppered liverwurst. I always stop here when I go to the market. Must say I do not like things like knockwurst and wieners that have coloured plastic skins, but there are lots of other things to buy.
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OK — I’ll give you the European Meats and Sausages part — but Quality? Let’s talk…
This large shop in Kensington Market is noted for sporting some very low prices on prepared meats /​sausages, a large selection, and the most arcane ordering process in Western Civilization.
IMMEDIATELY upon entering take a number. This is really more of a symbolic gesture — an homage to order as it were. The number is really designed as a badge to be waved in the faces of ignorant newbies. It can also momentarily distract your fellow carnivores as you jostle for the hard-​to-​get and even harder to maintain attention of those who purportedly help behind the counter.
The meat: The beef is pretty much all middle of the road quality and although reasonably fresh it has that decidedly factory farmed flavour. The pork is a bit better, but then again, Ontario produces some of the planets best pig, so it’s kind of hard to mess that up. Poultry is a big miss for me — mostly long frozen (when the insides of the bones are black, it’s been frozen for a long time) not that great to begin with birds. The prepared meats are cheap and super salty — not my thing, but some like it that way. The bacon is better than supermarket but you can do WAAAAY better at any of the better butchers around town. They do manage a pretty good showing in the tubed meats category — sausages, wieners, wurst, etc. Their natural casing dogs are cheap and meaty and not too terribly salty. If you’re lucky, they even get the all veal variety occasionally.
Their grill/​snack counter is actually a pretty good spot for cheap and tasty carnivorous delights (hot dogs, hamburgers, steak sandwiches, etc.)
EQM&S is not a bad stop for inexpensive meats, but please do not delude yourself into thinking that anything in here is the good stuff. Cheap meat is always cheap for a reason — quality and/​or end of edible life.

We went here because they have a larger selection than Sanagan’s. I asked some supervisory type if their meat was organic and she rudely responded, «of course not!» I should’ve walked out, but I didn’t. I definitely won’t be back. You’ll find me down the street at Sanagan’s where their meat is local and organic and the staff is super friendly.

I got a hotdog from here :-) it wasn’t oily and tasted pretty good :-)

DON’T BE FOOLED BY THE «NUMBER SYSTEM»!!!
once you grasp the workings of this store, you’ll be fine. Simply grab a number, go to the counter and hand it to them. If there’s a crowd, you might have to be forceful, but just make sure they’ve seen you and they’ll be prompt and curdious. There is essentially no proper number system. It’s just a formality.
Good quality, inexpensive meats that, even if there is a crowd, are quick to pick up. The best offerings, in my opinion, are the deli meats. They’re dirt-​cheap and pretty good. I always get the capicola (could be better, but oh well. it’s f*ing cheap!) and the pastrami. Honestly, the prosciutto is kind of expensive, but it’s still reasonable compared to Metro’s prices.
Chicken livers are a steal, as well as bacon, oxtail, and chicken wings.
Just grab a number, demand some attention, and you won’t have to wait. It’s kind of empowering, really.

This butcher is on my list of places I go 99.9999% of the time I go to Kensington Market.
They have decent to occasionally excellent prices on your favourite meaty succulent cuts of deliciousness.
The standout items from this place: the sliced bacon. It’s a little fatty sometimes, but you can ask the staff for some meaty stuff rather than a random fist-​full-​o-​bacon. Sometimes you strike out and it’s too LEAN! Which makes it harder to cook since it will stick to your non-​non-​stick pan. (Yeah, I have a big stainless one!)
They sadly only have TINY selection of sausages and they almost never have fresh rib-​eye steaks. (They are always the frozen variety)
Chicken here is generally quite good and very cheap if you get the bone-​in and skin-​on variety. It really only takes about 4 seconds with a knife to de-​bone and de-​skin… So why pay 2x as much for something that can be accomplished in so little of your own time?
Lamentably they don’t sell any lamb and they do NOT take credit cards. Yes debit, but no credit.
I generally come here once or twice a week and thanks to the prices I suspect I always will.
One of the hidden gems of this place is the lunch counter. You can get a fantastic steak-​sandwich for only $ 3.99 or a decently large burger for $ 2.29 (I think it’s still 2.29). The condiments however are a little limited.

The whole process can be confusing for a first timer. Be sure to grab a ticket on your right as soon as you walk through the door. I missed this crucial step on my first visit, and spent 10 minutes standing in front of the sandwich meats like an idiot.
Once you do get a ticket, it can be hard to communicate with the employees over the loudness of the ever-​present crowd, so be prepared to shout.
Those problems aside, the meat is of decent quality at an excellent price. Any place where I can get a whole chicken, a pound of ground beef and a pound of bacon for $ 10 and not get food poisoning gets my stamp of approval.

This was my genius idea to go here … that’s probably the *only* reason I stuck it out, and fought my way through the massive crowds of people — I wasn’t going to leave without my slab of’ high fat bacon and half a pound of Pastrami.
I didn’t want to leave when my boyfriend gave me ‘that look’ … I was going to show him that this place was awesome!. errr. right???
Don’t bother taking a number.
Screw the number system. They don’t follow it!
There I was, with my little piece of paper, stating I was number 83. I looked up up up above the very tall deli counter, at the number machine letting me know that the last number they served was 71. This seemed like a farce. hmm …
After a few minutes of standing politely, waiting for my number, realizing it wasn’t going to happen when the ‘meat women’ behind the counter yelled out, ‘ANY NUMBER ANY NUMBER!’, and people started to storm the counter, shoving THERE little paper numbers into there hands.
BOO!
That was it!
It’s fighting time!
I sent my 6’6″ boyfriend into the mess of people, where he quickly got served.
This is one place where height is a pure advantage. And size. If you’re big & tall, and can shout, you’ll get served much quicker than the ‘polite & wait’ sorta person.
So, finally, after 15 minutes of waiting (which obviously wasn’t necessary), and $ 10 later, I had a lb of shaved Pastrami and half a pound of yummy, fatty bacon.

Today was my first (and probably last) time there — «very cheap», I thought. Well…
First, I was wondering about a guy cutting in before me but I bit my tongue. Then there was a second one where I complained and he explained about the ticket system. I’m pretty sure there are no signs whatsoever about that.
Then there was the lady processing my order… a slightly older, grumpy woman. I tend to eat healthy food, so I wanted very lean, yet cheap sliced meat. When I asked her what the leanest they have are, she just replied «What do you want? Bacon, Ham?». I thought «Bacon? Lean? Really? And you got like three different kinds of ham — YOU give me a recommendation?». But I patiently asked her once more about what the leanest ones are. Giving me an annoyed look, she didn’t say anything any more, went behind her counter and pointed out some meats and mumbled stuff I simply couldn’t have understood with all the noise and the thick glass in between us — though I’m pretty sure she just told me the names of the meats — which I already read myself anyway.
So I gave up and just took my chances with the cooked ham.
The prices are fantastic (though that of course might be an indicator of what’s in the meat as well…) but that’s really the only thing positive about this shop.

This place is awful. I used to go to this butcher quite a bit back in the day, back when I was buying expired meat from No Frills thinking it was okay. What’s a day after expiration gonna do to me? And then I’d occasionally ‘broaden my horizons’ by shopping here. Now that I’ve had a taste of real quality meats from elsewhere, such as St. Lawrence Market, Vince Gasparro’s, the Dufferin Grove Farmer’s Market and other fine and fresh farmer’s markets outside of the city, this place is going to be given the boot.
I went in here today and left in disgust. It’s also really hard to place an order with the extremely tall counters and the people behind the glass peering down at you, who are completely void of any kind of proper communication. I left without accepting my order because not only was it wrong, but it was SO WRONG.
Sorry, I take butchering very seriously.

I totally second and third the guy that said their meat has a foul odor. I have wasted all kinds of money throwing out their bad meats. I’ve bought their butchered meats and something must be wrong with their storage or quality controls. Either they are selling old meats (I know they sell frozen meats and not always fresh), or their fridge/​freezer is NOT COLD enough. We have bought meats and kept it in our fridge at home for a day and then I will get up the next day to separate it and put it in freezer bags to put it in the freezer, it already smells rancid. It should not. Trust me when I say it’s not my fridge temperature. FRESH meat should not smell like that after not even 24 hours in a cold fridge. It smells like it’s been in there for two weeks! Years ago this would not happen which brings me to believe that the quality and process in which they handle the meats has went down. I mean if you could smell it and it’s like it’s mostly comes off the chicken and then tends to contaminate anything else in the same bag. I also feel I should note I’ve had to change to buying my chicken from St. Andrew’s because I know it’s fresh and it’s close in vicinity.
I should also let you all know that a couple times my husband took ALL the meat back, and we spend about 80 to 100 bucks there, and they smelled it and gave us new meat. Not that it was any different. The second time thy gave our money back. The third time I was so frustrated we threw it out. It’s really sad to waste the money like that. But if they are smelling it and giving new meat (which is the same rancid quality) or giving the money back without a fuss, you know there is a problem. Please let me know if St. Lawrence Market is better quality but competitive pricing along with European, because I will make the switch.

I only come here to get cold meat… if there was a better choice close to me I’d probably go to that other choice. The smoked turkey is $ 4.99 a pound which is quite a bit less (30%?) than Metro for instance (that may not be too tough of a task mind you). St. Lawrence Market may be competitive (I dunno) but who wants to go half way across town to get cold meat…
This is pretty much the conversation I have with myself each time I pass by to once again convince myself to enter and make my purchase…
«The cold meat tastes just a little funny»
«The smoked turkey is $ 4.99 a pound»
«The ordering/​paying process is annoying»
«The smoked turkey is $ 4.99 a pound»
«Aw crap, there’s a line up»
«The smoked turkey is $ 4.99 a pound… and you can get an (edible) burger to go from the grill for $ 2.40.»
«Eh, „sigh“, all right»
Note on the ordering process — this is what I do anyway … when you enter immediately on your right there is a number dispenser (almost behind you). Take a number. Directly proceed on the left side of the store and present yourself at the display directly in front of that monitor that displays «now serving (number)». Even if no one is right there to greet you, just hold out your number and someone should come and collect it and put it in the queue.

Honestly, anyone who actually likes this butcher hasn’t been to the quality butchers you get in St Lawrence (and they are cheaper too) European is always ridiculously busy. Usually a sign of a good butcher. Unfortunately this means that, even mid day, mid week, you can wait for upwards of 20 minutes before even being able to order.
Their ticket system is super slow. If you’re patient enough to wait and order you then have to wait a second time in line for every person to go through the one cashier. Such a brutally slow system.
Also, this isn’t the kind of place that happily caters to custom orders. Now, maybe if you order in advance you can get some custom stuff, but you can’t just rock up and request something they don’t have around (as far as i know). It’s basically just order from whatever is in front of you. Contrast this with any butcher in St Lawrence who will walk in the fridge and grab you whatever you’re looking for.
One plus is that it’s still definitely cheaper than a supermarket, though, as I mentioned before, the St Lawrence butchers are often cheaper with a much better selection. I pretty much only buy my cold cuts from here now as I can’t be bothered to spend my time on anything else.

This place is an experience. A big selection of basic cuts and deli meats at amazing prices and top freshness. If you want great steaks, you’ll be going elsewhere though. If you don’t see it, ask for it: they may have it behind the counter. The hot dog grill is legendary. A market original.

Ahhhh this is a great meat place. For some reason I am the exact opposite of Connie, and I LOVE going to the meat counter in grocery stores. This place is a giant meat counter! I’m not exactly sure why I enjoy it, probably because it’s just so efficient and you can pick whatever you want without actually having to touch the slab of meat. This could be where my love stems from.
And speaking of efficient, European Meats has efficiency down to a science. Literally grab a number and you’re set. Just wait a minute and someone will take you under their wing, and you can get whatever you want. Even if you ask them what’s cheap or good, they’ll suggest stuff in the fastest yet nicest way possible. Then they’ll bring you to the cash and you’re done.
Then you can go home and make the best salami sandwich of your life! Good prices, great service, and amazing meat. Yum.

Jeez, this is the third meat-​centric review in a row. I think that year as a vegetarian has me catching up on lost intake.
Anyway, I usually hate going into butcher shops. I’d rather roll into a grocery store and pick up my meat all packaged, without the smell of death entering my pores. But this is a bustling place, and I’ve gotten a few satisfactory things from here. Nothing gourmet, by any means. These are straight-​up cuts for the commoner, and I have no qualms with that.
I still have yet to try the burgers from their food counter, though; there are many times I’ve seen people standing outside with one of these sandwiches, and my stomach pretty much lunges from my mouth in envy.
PS: Coming here feels like going to a website and not having any clue how to get past the intro page. Do I click here? Do I scroll left? Right? Take a number when you get in the door, and you’ll be fine.

Top quality meats at decent prices! They even cook some of their stuff on the side and sell it in the store. Line ups can get long sometimes but most of their stuff is fresh and the staff is very friendly.
The only reason why I didn’t give it 5 stars is I bought some chicken breasts (and although this could completely be something on my end), froze them and once thawed, they had this AWFUL stench wreeeking from them, I had to toss all 3 pounds out. ‘Tis a shame but there was no way I was cooking them.

Never seen a larger meat store with an assortment of all meats possible. Take a number at the front, pass it to a helper. Tell the helper what you want. I like the «hot pepperinis» by the dozen for $ 0.15 each as a snack.
They even make the cheapest burgers in store. The fact that there are fifty people employed at the counters and they are all busy most of the time — says many things about this store.