Keep in mind what this place REALLY is, and if you are still in the market for what it offers, it maybe the best place in Chicago for it.
Allow me to explain in simpler terms...
What this place is or has:
- Wholesale meat distributor
- Plenty of on-site butchers to keep up with cutting on demand
- Their business is primarily for restaurants who order in bulk
- This is a PROCESSING facility, which means the nitty-gritty work is done here (though, I'm unsure if actual slaughtering is done here)
- Almost every cut and part is available for purchase here since they are dealing with the whole animal
What this place is NOT, or does NOT have:
- An overtly sterilized showroom with butchers in gleaming white coats packing pre-cut meat for you to take home
- A clearly marked door for outside consumers to walk in and get what they want (just walk in, and someone will point out where to go to place your order or to see what they have ready)
- A comfortable area to wait in line to buy your meat
- A household consumer friendly one-stop-shop for all things BBQ (this is meat and only meat)
When you put these things together, in my opinion, you have EXACTLY what you need to buy fresh meat (these people distribute to restaurants and probably many grocery stores directly) to go about your cooking, BBQ, recipe, etc., and to get it done at a fraction of the price you'll pay almost anywhere else.
I'd call this place dirt cheap, but adding a word that means unclean is not accurate. The entire operation is an icebox (felt damn good walking in there on a 90 degree day) and nothing looked to be dirty at all. I'm confident things are "clean" and fresh and when you consider how much cuts are, you'll then see just how steep a standard mark up is at places like Jewel, Dominick's and other grocers.
Considering this place's specialty is the pig, you can get a lot of pork for very little money. Hams for about $1.50/pound. Pork Butts for about the same. Pigs ears, kidneys, livers, skins, etc. They also had a lot of cuts of beef available, and I watched as someone had a butcher cut individual steaks for him.
If you are a little queasy around raw meat or feel a little twinge in your stomach during that scene in Rocky where he runs through the meat plant punching a side of beef- then head on down to Olympia shiny store front where you'll find those butchers with the bleached coats.
If you are looking for tremendous value and pretty much any cut of pig/beef/chicken you want- come to Grant Park Packing. read more