Strip District Meats

Duck duck goose this is it… the most unique butcher I’ve ever visited. They have almost every animal you can think of. My husband got alligator because he had a delicious alligator burger when he went to New Orleans. But I think we are a bit too north to get good alligator. Maybe we cooked it wrong but it was too chewy and dry for me. My main reason for going to strip district meats was the duck. I love duck. I have intense cravings for duck but when you go to a Thai restaurant they give you three skinny slivers of it. Or a French restaurant will charge $ 65 for an eighth of a pound. Here we got two huge boneless duck breasts for $ 13.99 so we made an amazing Thai basil meal. I like to simmer it in the sauce for 10 minutes and then fry it skin side down. Heavenly just heavenly. So now I have a duck source and am overjoyed. Maybe I’ll be adventurous one day and try the camel.

Excellent customer service. As a small business owner, I try to patronize small businesses whenever possible. For the first time since I moved to Pittsburgh 5 years ago, I am cooking our Thanksgiving feast at home and I wanted a special turkey as the centerpiece of that feast. I went to Strip District Meats because I have dealt with them in the past and got wonderful products that yielded fabulous meals. Unfortunately, there was a mix-​up and I didn’t get the turkey that I wanted — I didn’t want an enhanced turkey so that I could do my own brining. Shawn and the staff worked very hard to find an alternative for me. Unfortunately, given the close proximity to Thanksgiving, they were unable to find a small unenhanced turkey for me. However, Shawn did some research and explained to me how to prepare the turkey I have and still use the dry brine that I planned on using. He also asked me to call him after the holiday and let him know how the meal turns out.
Bottom line: Even though I didn’t get exactly what I wanted, I am happy that Strip District Meats took the time to attempt to fix the problem. I will do business there again.

Ordered my fresh turkey Monday to pick up Wednesday didn’t have it till Thursday lost my order slip told me they had one the size I wanted showed up gave me a fucking frozen turkey that wasn’t the size I ordered thanks for ruining thanksgiving never again don’t waste you time and money there

Walked in 15 minutes before closing and was asked to move out of the way of several staff members cleaning before being offered help. Does not have a great offering of fresh premium steaks, but lots of frozen exotic meat. It was tough to hear the person who finally offered to help me over the lecture the manager was giving the staff about taking out the garbage properly. Wait until closing please.

So what’s there to do in Pittsburgh?
I been to the strip area a few times to run a few errands… this place is worth checking out if you are into fresh produce but they are still worth checking out just because… They do all their own butchering and buy all their animals locally… Good prices and good quality products and the workers are friendly and knowledgeable!

I ordered my Easter ham from Strip District Meats this year, and was quite pleased with it. I called a week before I wanted to pick it up, and they quoted me a price of $ 2.59/lb. for a Daisyfield bone in ham. Because I was expecting 5 guests (plus myself), I told them to give me a ham that was between 10 – 12 lbs., and no smaller than 10 lbs. When I picked it up, the ham ended up being 14.62 lbs., and they asked me if that was okay. I said it was, because I wanted to err on the side of caution, since this was my first time preparing a bone in ham for a group of guests. The total cost ended up being $ 37.87.
After re-​heating the ham (which was fully cooked) in the oven for several hours, glazing it and adorning it with pineapples, cherries, and cloves, I sliced and served it. The quality was excellent, by far outshining the quality of the garden variety spiral sliced ham I obtained from Giant Eagle last year for Easter. Of note, it was incredibly moist, and didn’t taste salty at all – it was clear this was a high-​quality product. All of my guests were very impressed and pleased with its quality. Needless to say, it provided leftovers for several more meals for all of us.
Overall, I was very pleased with the quality of the ham that I ordered from Strip District Meats, and would definitely order from here again. My one criticism is that it would have been nice if the folks fulfilling my order would have called me back and confirmed that I would have been okay with a ham above the size range that I specified – although, to be fair, the guy who waited on me did ask if it was okay.

I love Strip District Meats! They literally have everything, and will cut anything in anyway that you like. You absolutely cannot get this quality and level of service at such a great price anywhere else.
I love their homemade sausages and beef jerky — it is so delicious! We also use them for every dinner party and holiday because they will expertly customize anything you order. We also love the exotic meat variety packs! I have been trying to eat paleo, and they have the best variety for someone looking for high quality lean protein. I had no idea that camel was so great! Even if you want traditional offerings, this is the best meat, incredible prices and excellent service!

This is a great little butcher shop. I have come in several times, mainly on a whim and usually during Thanksgiving looking for a turkey, and have always been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the meats they have present.
I will continue to return.

How to put this neighborhood into a nutshell, well, that’s quite a little challenge. I’ve been around long enough to see the tremendous change this area has gone through through the years, and though some of it is good, a lot of it is not.
Now many Unilocalers and tourists have heralded its benefit as a ‘destination’, but really it can only be called a destination nowadays because it really is one of the few remaining neighborhoods in the area that actually shows signs of life somewhat regularly on the streets. But again, this ‘life’ is mostly tourists and wanderers, with some actual grocery shopping going on.
In days gone by, this really was the place to go to get good deals on food. There were several reasonably priced produce shops, meat shops, ethnic markets, and places to eat. But with time, greed, and uppification came the demise of those ‘reasonable’ places, replaced by bistroids, an abject glut of black-​and-​gold crap shops, and overpriced offerings in almost every department.
Now instead of a hub for necessary shopping, it has turned into a weekend parade of tourists, suburbanites and yinzers milling around aimlessly en masse, eating greasy or overpriced food, and raving about it.
With the entrance of the Buncher ‘Corporation’ sucking up every inch of real estate that they can, and the remaining landlords jacking up rents to further line their pockets, many of the local business owners being of the ‘ME, ME, MINE!!!’ mindset, very little of what gave the Strip it’s reputation and functional charm is left.
And more recently a few historic and very cool buildings have been torn down for Buncher ‘progress’. But hey, we need even more unaffordable ‘loft’ space in no-man’s land, don’t we?
There are very few remaining shops that I frequent in the Strip, or that I believe are worthy of a visit.
My first stop will always be Strip District Meats, for REASONABLE and decent meat products. An old fashioned-​ish butcher shop, with a little bit of everything from daily basics to exotics like Gator and Antelope. The exotics are a bit pricer, but if you’re in the market for it, it still won’t be as price gouging as the big bird. My personal advice, go early any day. Before 10 am. They cater more to the WIC crowd, so later in the day can be… well…frustrating.
Second stop will be Market Outlet across from Wholey’s. Past sell-​by date goods sold for what the products actually should have been sold for to begin with. A superb stock up shop.
If I need produce, I will hit Stan’s produce, a corner staple until recently when they slumlord jacked up the rent and forced them out and across the street. Between Market Outlet and Stan’s you will find very reasonable produce. Just make sure you use it up quickly.
IF I need seafood, and can’t find it anywhere else, I MIGHT pick it up at Wholey’s, fully understanding that price gouging and nickle and diming shoppers may have been invented here.
If I’m looking for some kind of specific spice that I need in a decent quality, I may hunt for it at Penzey’s. But their prices are extremely high as well.
Places I avoid like the plague are Pennsylvania Macaroni company, which is owned by one of the meanest, greediest, arrogant smug humans I’ve ever encountered, is staffed a bunch of women who have the patience of Job for having to work with a group of positively Neanderthal men. More abject price gouging, which is laughable since not only do they already own half of the Strip, but they could actually afford to sell at actual reasonable prices. But hey, if people are dumb enough to pay…
Peace Love and Little Donuts… sounds all tree-​hugging lovely, doesn’t it? Owned by a man who used to have his own blog that blatantly displayed his deep rooted hatred for blacks, gays, and anyone else who wasn’t a basic tea party nut. Go ahead, Google it.
Labad’s Middle-​Eastern Market. I was a regular until Larry went off on an anti-​gay rant one day while I was buying his products. He ranted that he would take gays money, but he didn’t have to be their friend. Well, they got no more of my money.
Reyna Foods. Talk about price gouging. I lived in Puerto Rico and I lived in Miami, as well as spent some substantial time in Peru, and this guy’s prices are so out of control that my visiting Latino friends have gasped. A bottle of marinade, 99 cents on a grocery store shelf in Miami is near $ 4 at Reyna.
For immediate food consumption, I would hit Chicken Latino before any other place in the area. Superb rotisserie chicken, exactly like you’d find on every other street corner in Peru. Excellent chicken and fair pricing.
Nothing else that I’ve ever eaten in the Strip as near worth the price that they sold it for, but when your rent is jacked beyond market value, it’s the only way to survive.
BUT…if you need cheap black and gold garbage en-masse…the Strip is the place to go.

Shame on me for not finding this place until last week.30 plus years of going to the Strip.
Pick an animal, any animal.
Pick a style of that meat.
Yep…they’ve got it.
My son and I had kangaroo last week, waygu beef tonight. The place is seemingly always packed. Prices are very reasonable for all that they can provide. Rabbit, Llama, camel, python, elk, antelope etc. etc. etc.

Holy Cow !!! & Pork & Chicken & Buffalo & Wild Boar !!! I LOVE THIS PLACE ! Every time I am in the Strip, I drop a heavy coin at this meat market. First, the staff is very helpful, attentive, accommodating and friendly and the place is clean & spotless. The best thing about this meat market is that they have a huge variety of super fresh meats & cured meats, as well as, a variety of exotic meats like, Kangaroo, Goat & Buffalo. I got an amazing Goat leg there today at a very reasonable price and I cant wait to make stew with it. I also bought Kobe beef and ground Kangaroo. This is an A+++ affordable market and once you buy from here you will wish you lived nearby. I love the staff here; they are so friendly and funny and always make you feel welcome. Do NOT miss shopping at this gem, there is nothing like it nearby. It is fabulous !!

Rattlesnake, bison, wild boar, elk, ostrich, duck legs, kurubota pork… they have it all, which is pretty neat. But I get the feeling that they don’t most of their business selling exotic species, but rather in 5 lb. or 25 lbs. orders of chicken wings. SInce I LOVE chicken wings, I’m all for it. BUT, the place, I think, is a little gimmick-​y, and not necessarily the high-​brow, grass-​fed, source meat place you might think of when looking for kurubota. That said, it’s great to stop in and see such a wonderfully diverse selection. Cool find, good prices, even for the fancy stuff.

I LOVE this place. First time I dropped by was when I had a craving for some bison burgers, but didn’t want to shell out the cash to go to Burgatory. The bison was incredibly flavor and juicy, though all we did was salt and pepper it (they were cooked after a Steelers game and we were in no capacity to do anything more than salt and pepper).
I have bought their bison a few times along with a couple of NY strips, ground lamb, and ground venison. The NY strips didn’t seem to be any better than you can get at Giant Eagle on a good day, but the lamb was just as amazing as the ground bison. We made burgers out of the venison (we’re burger and steak people, yes), which were pretty delicious, though of all meats for a burger, bison holds my heart.
I’ve never had issues with the staff. Sure, they aren’t super perky like the attendants at GE, but that doesn’t really bother me. I’ve almost always managed to get in and out pretty quickly. The customers are indeed another story lol. On weekends it’s a big mix of everyone, of course, since that is when the Strip is busiest. During the weekdays — hehe, it’s an adventure.
Anyhoo, their prices are comparable to other butchers I have visited around town and their selection of meats is incredible. Check the exotic meats. My boyfriend and I are planning on trying out a couple of those sometime in the near future. :D

This place is one of the Strip District staples, in my book. You see, I have this goal in my life to eat every kind of animal I can possibly get my hands on. I’m up to 33 different animals at this point (lumping all fish into one category,) and Strip District Meats has helped me add a few new ones to the list.
I’ve always had good service here. I don’t know if the prices are reasonable because I’m always buying weird stuff and rarely have a standard for comparison. I once got absolutely phenomenal duck breasts from here. Of course, it may just have been my culinary expertise that made them as phenomenal as they were, but the quality of the meat couldn’t have hurt.
I really do like this place.

I’ve only been here once, but I had a good experience with the employees. Their prices are pretty competitive and they have some great exotic meats.
The quality is fine. I wasn’t expecting (where I normally get my organic meat) wonderful quality, but since there was a huge line (even right before closing on a Monday) I figured I could trust the majority vote. It’s better than Giant Eagle, but not as great as John McGinnis on rt 88 or Thomas in Saxonburg.
I haven’t tried the bison we got when we where there yet, but it’s on the slate for dinner this week!

When Rick and I come down to the Strip District we sometimes stop at Strip District Meats. Depends on what we’re in the mood for. It definitely has that Old World Strip District feel to it. Believe it or not their head butcher once studied art and sculpture at CMU which gave him an idea of how to arrange everything so the customer can get a vision of a wonderful meal.
They can do holiday orders here. And all their meats can be prepared to order. If you need suggestions, their staff can help you. We mainly get our meat here when we’re planning a special meal. We love the smoked meats here and the sausages (except Italian – we get that at Donatelli’s).