The story of Otto's Meats is a sad story. Otto Knoche did a fantastic job building this business, but the new owners haven't followed his recipe for success and now the business is suffering. Under Otto's leadership, this establishment sold high-quality sausages and other meats. While the quality of the products has not diminished greatly, the quality of the service has suffered. Relying on gimmicks like "Free Item Friday," instead of focusing on customer interactions and relations, I often both enter and leave disappointed. Take today, for example. It's a quiet morning. The front counter is staffed, but the employee has her back to me as I enter, I can hear her phone on speaker, and the employee didn't even acknowledge me as I entered. At first, I thought maybe she was on the phone with another customer, so I didn't think too much of it. But, when I completed my product selection and brought my items to the cash register, this woman still kept her back to me. Then I noticed she was taking a personal call. When she finally turned about to face me, she didn't even say a word to me; she just started working her scale and cash register. It was very rude and unprofessional conduct. Furthermore, she didn't thank me or anything else. It was the worst interaction with Otto's staff I have ever had. As for the availability of product, products which were normally well-stocked have been out-of-stock. This has been due, in part, to the scaling-up of operations engaged in by the owners; they're expanding their building, and production capacity, which has drawn focus away from keeping high-demand items in stock (e.g., various smoked items, hams). While most items have remained true to Otto's recipes, I have noticed a difference with some items (e.g., breakfast ham). When Otto ran the place, I never encountered bone fragments in my ground meat products - whether beef or pork. Under the new owners, too often I have found bone fragments in ground pork products. In fact, I chipped a tooth while eating a bratwurst patty because there was a large bone fragment there. This, coupled with sloppy cutting of bacon, has caused me to reduce, and in many cases cease, buying many items. Now, as for prices, they have increased dramatically since the new owners have taken over. Five years ago bacon was five dollars a pound, now it is eight and a half dollars; ground pork was three dollars a pound, now it is five; lard has doubled in price; and all other items have risen in price much, much higher than their grocery store equivalents. I tried to take the changes with a grain of salt, as they say, but I have reduced my purchases by at least two-thirds, if not three-quarters, over the last twelve months or so. As I said earlier, Otto's Meats is a sad story. P.S. I hope Otto Knoche is very much enjoying his well-deserved retirement! read more

I never knew Otto, but the people running this place have done an excellent job of making a small-town meat shop into a world-class meat processor and meat distributor. The cuts of meat can be a bit different from your typical grocery store cut of meat, so you have to go inside with an open mind. (I didn't.) So if your looking for those grocery store cuts that are typical of American grocery stores, you might be surprised both good and bad. However, when it comes to being able to buy Organic meats, this is hands down the best place I've ever seen for certified organics. It's also less expensive than some places I've been to, that seem to think that Organic means give me all of your wallet. But, what I really loved there the most was the meat sticks. You can taste not only the jalapeno, but also the cheese, the barbecue and other flavors coming right out of the meat. Most places just taste like beef tube. These are great, and after sampling a piece, I bought $50 worth of beef sticks, and they're not made cheap either, so they're not a "Jack's Link" kind of stick, that can taste more like wood or shoe than actual beef. This will be my go-to supplier from now on of Beef Sticks for whatever occasion. (Deer Season, Bear/Beer Season, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring, etc.) This place can be hard to find. I drove by it three times before I finally asked someone in the area how to get there, so signage could be better, but maybe it's supposed to be a "hidden gem" among all that snow they have out there this time of year. read more

Ottos, Konops, and Salmons. About as good as it gets in the meat business. Each has some specialty things they do, but all are simply master craftsmen. Much like a great master brewer, or bread maker. Recommend them highly, Ottos for processing organic meat and excellent sausages, Konops for terrific variety of great brats and weiners, and Salmons for weiners, bacon, and everything smoked. Never have had anything even average from any of them..... I drive from Chicago two- three times a year to visit and buy at each. read more