Definitely a go to location for choice meats such as beef, pork, goat, and fish. I love a good steak on the grill, also oxtails , curry goat, catfish, so I come to park packing. I also enjoyed their smoked and fresh turkey parts. Good sales items, pricing is reasonable read more

Going to Halsted Packing House reminds me of Ralph Furley. You know Ralph...the whacky landlord from Three's Company, the show that turned the art of misunderstanding into an eight season hit sitcom in the late 70's / early 80's. Many an episode would include Mr. Furley listening in on something and getting the wrong impression. His eyes would bug out and he would get all irritated and uncomfortable like. Whether it was stuffing a chicken or a cooking pot, Mr. Furley always got it wrong. So what is the connection? Well on just about every occasion I have been here someone invariably walks in and thinks this is a butcher shop. What follows is Mr. Furley-like eye bulging and body twitching as it sinks in. This is a packing house. Yet, despite the fact that it is in the name even, this establishment seems to be punished for what it is not even though it never claims to be a butcher or meat market! I even see it in some of the reviews. Our family is intimate with how food sources. My parents, aunts, uncles raised whatever they ate in the mountains of Greece and that was the only source for food. The whole lamb I get from Halsted Packing House (on four occasions now over three years) has been the closest to the real deal. When lamb is fresh, you do not need to do much to it (salt, pepper, oregano, garlic) and everyone just loves it! That has always been the case with anything I procured from Halsted Packing House. I will spare the details it but suffice it to say, you're cutting out the middleman. With that said, you're also cutting out the frills of having things presented in a manner that eases your conscious a bit. Perhaps this may be due to having been conditioned to detach from where our food really sources from when we visit the local grocer. I'm not saying one is better than the other...it just is. However, there is substantial cost-advantage to cutting out the middleman. The 35# whole pig I got last week set me back just $122 and it was FRESH! I roasted it for the neighborhood block party and it was all the rage. I was getting text messages the next day from neighbors telling me how good it was. The meal had hang time (in a good way). What you get: Great fresh whole or large cuts. Friendly honest service from the lady that runs things there. What you don't get: Sugar coating. EASY five stars because it is as good as it gets at what it does. read more

Halsted Packing House - Best whole pigs around - Meat Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

WARNING TO VEGETARIANS: Do NOT read further Looking for a freshly slaughtered lamb for the holiday table? The Davos family has been butchering lambs, goats, pigs and cows since 1933 and this retail shop is the place to go for the freshest meats around. I wasn't able to snap a photo but dear Cookie Davos took me into the cold storage and showed me the lifeless lambs, pigs, and goats hanging by their hooves. (I warned you...!) Had I not been on my bike, I probably would have bought a few lamb chops at $4.69/pound. read more

Halsted Packing House - the outside of the building - Meat Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Recently we wanted to make chicken soup and there was no whole chickens to be found at Trader Joe's, Jewel or Dominick's. So I took one look at this place and figured this place has chickens for my soup. Nope!!! What we did find was a glass case of animal parts. Who shops here? Why do they even have a store front? I do now know where to go when I need a giant pig foot. Oh yeah and there is a over powering smell of blood in the air. This stuff is fresh!!!! Now you may be wondering why 5 stars? The lady behind the counter was so nice. She said that she did have chickens but it wasn't for a chicken soup. She said it would be too tough and we wouldn't be able to eat the meat. It sounded like they were just for restaurants to make stock. I'm glad she told us and didn't try to sell it to us and rip off the young family. I really do love places like these because they are how people use to shop. You went to 10 stores just to make dinner. I miss those days!!! read more

I'm a culinary student. So when I go out to get groceries, I'm just a bit picky. I went to Halsted Packing house looking for a few quality cuts of pork. I had very high expectations for this place. I was thrilled to see that they advertised having goat and lamb. Very few places actually have goat and have only a small selection of lamb. Upon my arrival, my expectations dropped dramatically along with my stomach. When I go to a butcher I look for the same 4 things: friendly staff, no odors, the ability to fill and order, and sanitation. This place had none of those attributes. When I walked in for the first time I took a deep breath and almost vomited. It smelled like a barn yard. It was this off, musty, dirty smell. If you're butchering animals whole, that's fantastic, just do it in a shed outside so it doesn't stink the front of the building After walking in and almost high tailing it out of there, I took a second to look around. The man I presume was the owner of the shop greeted me with a stiff and unfriendly "Yes? What do you want?" Talk about a bad first impression. I was coming in to purchase something and this guy was giving me attitude. I was a little taken aback at first but he just kept glaring at me so I placed my order. I thought I had a very simple request, one and a half pounds of pork shoulder and the same amount of pork loin. Yet they only had the pork shoulder. It seems like a place that prides it self in breaking down whole animals should have a little wider selection. When I looked at the case to see what they had it was nearly empty. Right when I was getting ready to pay them for the hunk of pork the owner started to bust my chops about not having cash despite a sign that said the accept credit and debit. Finally, the coup de grâce of the whole experience was the sanitation. The case looked as though it wasn't keeping the meat at a safe temperature. If the case was chilled, they were still leaving it open. Next, the employee helping me didn't put on gloves when he was handling the meat and I'm not sure if he washed his hands before he rang me up. I mean, come on, this is basic stuff to prevent making someone very sick. I highly doubt I will go there again unless I want to be treated poorly and get low quality cuts of meat. I could probably go to a prison and be treated better than the way this jerk of an owner treated me. Not to mention it would probably smell better. Unless you like being treated like trash and going to places that smell like the business end of animals, I highly suggest you avoid this place and go somewhere else even if it is less convenient. read more

I hit this place on Saturday. Really wanted to make veal chops. They didn't have them. Kind of an odd selection here-lamb, ground beef, pig parts, oxtail. As far as I could tell, not steaks. I picked up half a lamb, which were cut into nice 1" chops. You have to buy either the liver or the head-I picked up the liver for my Yiayia. The chops were good. It really stinks in there. I think there are probably better places to go, and I intend to find them. read more

Love this place. This is the place to go for nice tender lamb meat, they have any size you need. No stinky odors as far as my picky husband can tell, we like their prices and of course they MEAT our high expectations :) read more

The best meat packing house on the Northside! Bought some beautiful cuts of lamb. Store is clean, and the staff is quite friendly. Prices are reasonable as well! Definitely will come back. read more

Wow!! What a great place. I remember visiting this place with my father 40 years ago. The service and food was excellent then and it's still the same today. Kalle and Cookie are outstanding and their staff are truly professional in every way. Thank you for maintaining the family tradition and for your gentle spirits. You are #1 in my book!!! Peace read more

A real old-school butcher shop with old-school butchers that brought the trade over with them from Greece over 40 years ago. You'll find here what you can't find elsewhere. This isn't your boutique, butcher shop - come here if you want to do some real meat shopping and maybe plan on putting a lamb on a rotating spit - you'll love the experience and the quality! read more

We dropped in quickly, and it was an interesting place. They had a lot of random parts in their small glass coolers, like tripe, liver, huge pigs feet, and it smelled like goat. I asked if they had beef tenderloin or baby back ribs (just testing them for selection) and they said no for either. Really shady place, but might try back for the lamb? read more

It has been said this place has a real stink, but I found that not to be true. It smelled like a butcher shop, but not overwhelmingly so. The service was friendly and gives the sense that it is truly family owned and operated. I was looking for goat, which I had never cooked. The woman behind the counter was very helpful with suggestions and assured me that I was being given young goat. I think she was certain older goat would be too pungent for a newcomer to goat cooking. She was also kind enough to throw in a few fresh bones for my dog. I recommend this place. read more

IF I CAN GIVE THIS PLACE NEGATIVE STARS I WOULD!!!! i just called in asking if they had chickens to make a roasted chicken, and she had hens....and then she proceeded on asking if I was MEXICAN...she wanted to know my race, in her exact word she said she needed to know if I was Mexican, nigerian, etc....and I said "excuse me" why do you need to know my race? and she said "so I can tell you if the chicken is going to be good for you, because if you are MEXICAN then this hen will not be good for you because its not what you are going to cook, this hen is used for stew"....EXCUSE ME??? why does my race matter, i told her that i was going to make a roasted chicken, whether I am MEXICAN , CHINESE, NIGERIAN whatever I am, my race does NOT DEFINE, what I am cooking. I am not that type of person to get upset over "race" stuff easily, but this really upset me. IF this was the owner of this place, shame on her! and if it was not, I hope tis person stops asking for someones RACE and decide whether their meat is good enough! I WILL NOT GO BACK nor tell other people about it. read more