This is a scam. They sell food-service quality meat at astronomically inflated prices. The sales woman had lots of great lines. She told us they were in the neighborhood making a delivery for our neighbor, and wanted to get rid of the last of their dry aged grass-fed premium steaks before they drive back to Sonoma. All lies. I noticed later it says right on the box: "grain fed". We got suckered for $40 worth, and I'm very thankful that's all we lost. She was trying to sell us $400 worth at first. It's hard to judge the quality of frozen vacuum wrapped steak. After defrosting, there was no marbling, the steaks were not trimmed, and one was folded in half before freezing, so it looked good, but defrosted it was 1/4 inch thick. The steaks I've tried so far have been badly oxidized, meaning the meat is grayish brown on the outside. (see photo). The meat is edible, but only barely, on par with flank steak from a school cafeteria, airplane food, or hospital food. read more

Sonoma Cattle Exchange - Defrosted steaks in bags - Meat Shops Near Me - Petaluma, California

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You might wonder who would ever consider buying meat from a door-to-door salesman. I'm one of those people. Look, the concept isn't that strange; I was used to local butchers selling "freezer bundles" to neighborhood residents and boutique operations-gone-corporate like Omaha Steaks made it seem even more plausible. But I'm here to give you the loudest warning I can yell via my keyboard. Don't be fooled by the authentic sounding company name. Sonoma Cattle Exchange is on par with Ginsu-knife salesmanship. They sell their meat in flash-frozen packaging in stylish boxes that read: "A cut above" and state that their fine meats are "hand trimmed." In the box I purchased was an assortment of new york, ground sirloin, strip loin, filet mignon and a few other cuts. Here is the cold, hard truth. While the meat they sell is not unhealthy, the quality of meat is worse than you get at the supermarket. USDA's meat grades are as follows: Prime (finely marbled and what you would find at fine steakhouses), Choice (supermarkets), Select (Food Service) and so on. Some of Sonoma Cattle Exchange's meats are choice, but the rest are select or worse yet, ungraded! To make matters worse, they are NOT trimmed. Huge chunks of fat are stuck to many cuts and some are even pumped full of a solution ("up to 15%"). Now the reason for the solution is up for speculation: a) it makes the cuts look bigger when frozen, b) it preserves them, c) it colors the meat, d) it enhances flavor, e) it adds weight, or f) all of the above. So far I've noticed that when the meat reaches a certain temperature, it wicks away the solution and reveals a grayer-colored meat. They also falsely use labels like "porterhouse". Now a porterhouse is a large cut of meat with a strip loin on one side and a large filet mignon on the other (this is what distinguishes it from a T-Bone). If you look at the pictures I attached, you will see that the filet side is merely a sliver (also note the whopping hunk of fat). I also posted a picture of what a porterhouse is supposed to look like. Because of the mystery solution, I initially thought the meat was near expiration but I've come to the conclusion that they are cuts that retailers simply don't want because they are of unacceptable quality - either not meeting up to standards because of quality of cut or fat content (or both). They then flash-freeze the discounted meat and market it to appear like prime-grade beef. The fat content is a bit disturbing. After cooking the hamburgers, I noticed a huge build-up of fat "blobules" on the underside of my grill. Later when cooking a strip loin, I was horrified to find blobules forming underneath the meat itself. I have no one to blame but myself. I paid $200 ("original price $350+!") for about $60 of meat I'd never buy in the first place. My only defense was that I was woken up from a nap and was hungry. So how does the meat taste? Like I said, there's nothing unhealthy about the meat (except the fat). I've been eating it almost daily so I can quickly rid my freezer of any trace of this bad experience. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised, but most of the time I'm incensed how after cooking, most pieces of meat have shrunk to a fraction of their size once the fat and/or solution has burned off. Have you ever ordered a T-Bone steak at Denny's? Honestly it's worse than that. Consider yourself warned. NOTE: Areas of operation include the greater Sacramento, CA region as well as the greater San Jose, CA region (where I am located). UPDATE: As I mentioned above, the brand the boxes were marked with was: "A Cut Above" with the meat being from Sonoma Cattle Exchange. After some internet sleuthing, I discovered that A Cut Above has had its share of troubles: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/recalls/prelease/pr032-2003.htm UPDATE 2: I want to clarify that I'm not a "disgruntled ex-employee." Nor am I a current employee or friend/family member of one who chooses to write a positive marketing spiel (oops I mean "review"). read more

Sonoma Cattle Exchange - What they call a "hand trimmed T-Bone Porterhouse". Note the sliver of meat on the filet side and gargantuan hunk o' fat. - Meat Shops Near Me - Petaluma, California

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Having shopped for meat for about 35 years, I am confident I know what good beef looks like and what to avoid. After thoroughly checking out a salesman's wares last week, I highly recommend avoiding this company's product for several reasons beyond just their salespersons' over-the-top, pushy tactics: the meat is overhyped for its quality ("choice" is not that good), it is overpriced for its quality, and the usable amount of actual protein in any given portion is far less than the stated weight of the item because of saline solution (chicken), huge chunks of fat (not just 'marbling' here, folks), and water (fish fillets). The sales person tried to tell me that the meat was all local to Sonoma County and was from organically raised, grass-fed cows. When I told him I'd love corroborate this with a friend of mine who is active in the "buy local" scene here in Sonoma County, he quickly back-pedaled on his statement. It was then I told him "no thanks." If you want to buy salt, water, and suet for $20+ per pound from a pushy door-to-door salesman, knock yourself out. read more

....."I was coming out of Petaluma Market when a man in a Sonoma Cattle Exchange van who asked me if I was local. I said yes and he started telling me that he had some meat and seafood that a winery had ordered but didn't want and he could sell it to me at cost.".... posted by Smari A. 5/6/2009 This was the exact thing that happened to my wife as she left a restaurant in Glenn Ellen. The guy said the winery was B.R.Cohn that has supposedly rejected the meat and he wanted to sell it at cost. SONOMA CATTLE EXCHANGE = HUGE SCAM. BEWARE ....oh and their website doesn't work either read more

PT Barnum said there's a sucker born every minute and I definitely felt like one after purchasing one of these meat packages. Like many of the prior reviews, the guy who sold me was a fast talking sales guy with a pitch saying that he was selling to one of my neighbors. I never buy from solicitors so I was in some sort of fifth dimension this day when I purchased this so-called high quality meat. These guys are all over the bay area and they caught me in the south bay. The deal is that many of the pieces are supplemented with flavor enhancers. Can you say "plumped"? The beef will shrink down to half the weight. Up to 15% of flavor enhancer can be added. It's on the ingredient label. Now I am using up my beef and pork purchase, because I won't throw it away. The meat isn't bad to eat, but it just isn't good or the high quality meat purported to be. I won't go on except to say, "Stay away from the little meat trucks! Be afraid, be very afraid. " read more

A couple months ago while parking my car in the garage I rent in the Haight, I was approached by a guy in a pickup truck. "Wanna make a deal?" he asked. "No" I replied, to which he insisted "why not?" Thus began a rather interesting encounter. First of all, this guy wasn't taking no for an answer. I was super skeptical to say the least. Buying frozen steaks from the back of a truck is strange, I will agree. Although he was rather pushy, he was friendly enough. He said he had to unload everything he had, and he had a lot of steaks in that truck. It was a refrigerated truck, and all the steaks were vacuum sealed. Initially he wanted me to buy 6 boxes, each being a different cut of beef and containing 4-8 steaks depending on the cut. I ended up buying 3 boxes of steaks, and he let me pick them out so I got t-bone, sirloin 'filets', and peppered filets. The t-bones are super thin and thaw rather quickly. The sirloin filets are thicker, and we have yet to try the peppered filets. Let me tell you this: these steaks are damn good, especially for the price. I spent about $100 for 24 steaks. That's a good deal if you ask me. I see all the other, negative reviews, and I would agree that it does seem shady the way they go about it. But I have had nothing but fresh, tender steaks since I've started defrosting and grilling their beef. If you're a fan of quality beef at a great price, look out for these guys. You never know where they will show up. read more

The owner is flat out distorting the story and I don't find that a bit surprising. I informed the salesman that the rotted meat had been thrown away and as for the rest of the meat, I returned. I thawed 4 steaks and 1 was rotten and brown and smelled. Keeping the other meat was then out of the question. My husband was polite until the owner dangled the check in front of him and then proceeded to be insulting. Mister, you can spin this any way you want..but we know how you behaved and it's shockingly unprofessional. Bottom line is the purchase was guaranteed satisfaction or refund..you refunded AFTER my husband DROVE down to get our money because you HAD NOT returned it and WOULD NOT return phone calls. YOU CALLED ME A PORK CHOP! and you know what..laughed it off and had chops for dinner..it is STILL out of this world WRONG for you to treat people that way...do you know that? do you GET that? We aren't just dollars in your pocket..we are families trying to make it. had there been no bad meat, we would have kept that meat. you are flat out lying about the behavior of yourself and my husband. read more

Okay, yeah, so it IS weird to buy steaks out of the back of a truck. Do I usually buy steaks out the back of a truck? Hell to the NO. Was I skeptical about the whole thing? Hell to the YEAH. So that totally paints a picture about the quality that they're touting, right? But I took a chance on the meat....and it's actually quite good. I just polished off 2 of their rib-eyes less than 30 minutes ago. And this is coming from a fireman, who hand picks the rib-eyes from a local grocery store for quality and price every week to feed up to 10 discriminating appetites. Yeah, my neck is on the line every time Saturday night rolls up (Steak and Caesar Salad night). So is it better than the grocery store? No....there's no way you can beat a hand-picked, freshly (in front of your eyes) butchered 14oz. rib-eye w/ awesome marbling from a local mom-and-pop butcher, hidden from local public knowledge, at $3.75 a pound. No effin way. But for you Joe Public types that are strapped for cash and time...this is a pretty good alternative to your Safeway or Lucky. Outside of work, I'm a single guy living in SF, that's always out and about or at work, and often uses the house to entertain guests for dinner parties, BBQs, and poker nights. I'm strapped for time like anybody else, and so what you're buying here is very decent quality at bulk and convenience. You can definitely find equal to slightly better price deals at your grocery store when you can find the time and sales...but for my purposes (out of town house guests, and a BBQ/Poker party for 10 in the next 8 days)...this worked out just fine. Yes, the guy is fast talking. Yes, half of what he says is probably hot air, but 'buyer beware' is always the case in anything you buy.....and I ain't afraid to talk faster. Probably worked out in my favor as I priced out at about $9 a pound for USDA Choice cuts. read more

UPdate on my review...I contacted the company and they said they take complaints seriously. I e-mailed them back and never have I heard from them again and someone should have said they wanted to speak to me by phone etc, instead I get this e-mail from a customer care rep. They need to be reported to the better business bureau. AWFUL and SCARY EXPERIENCE!!! Just the other day I had one of the sales guy knock on my door, or shall I say ring the doorbell and knock on the glass and shake the door handle. I answered the door and he said he just sold some meat to one of my neighbors and had some left over and wanted to know if I wanted it, as in I thought he was giving it away. I was on the phone and not paying too much attention, so as he went to get the meat from his truck I had my neighbor come down to see if he wanted any. After we realized he wasn't giving it away and wanted us to sell it, we told him we were not interested in buying any today and apologized for the confusion. He then became very angry that we wouldn't let him go through his sales pitch and he began yelling at us and calling us awful names. We shut the door on him because he was screaming and he then charged the door and began beating on it for several minutes. I had to call the police because he was very aggressive towards us. I wrote the company to tell them about the situation, and they have not bothered to call me back. I am appalled that any sales person would behave this way and threaten someone because they did not want to buy their product. If you see any of these trucks or the salesman approach you, I would walk away!!! read more

A guy in one of their vans stops me on the street in my Mom's neighborhood asking if I want to buy some meat or salmon. I say no thanks, I'm only visiting anyways. He says, "Well, tell you what-I normally only sell in bulk but I can make you a deal on a few pieces just for while you are in the area". I say no thanks and he says, "Aw, come on man, you don't wanna even take a look!?". I say, "That's exactly right. 'Man'... I don't even wanna take a look". He doesn't say anything further (like thank you for your time, etc) and just speeds off in his van as fast as he can screeching his tires. This company is a menace to the community and needs to be shut down. read more

These reviews confirmed what I felt. To the reviewers who commented about haters posting without having tasted the meat - would you not be concerned if a guy in a truck drove up and down your street saying 1) they had un-sold meat (only to find out later that it was NOT due to customers forgetting to pick up their orders) and 2) kept pushing the sale when I had a child with me, targeting the child. Maybe you don't care. That's your prerogative. However, I like to know where my meat comes from. There are plenty of butcheries sourcing locally and transparent about their meat source. You don't care, again, that's your choice. I respect that. However, a guy trolling the streets selling frozen meat trucked from out of state. No thank you and creepy. It's not the same as an ice cream truck. read more

Intense, high pressure, slick, fast-talking and fake friendly. Tried to pass off steaks labeled "Select" as premium quality. Select is below Choice grade and two grades below Prime. In other words, Select grade is inferior quality. Also tried to tell me their beef was grass fed with a grass "finish" even though the box said grain fed. I felt beat up the rest of the day after enduring their sales barrage. I bought one box of meat just to get rid of them. Don't let them in your house. They said they didn't have a pamphlet or price list on the initial encounter on the sidewalk. I suspect it's cause they prefer to use their intense sales routine on you. read more

I'm not sure what I'm missing here, seems to be a lot of haters. Most have not even tried the meat. Anyway, yes some young guys drove by flagged down, and sold me pork from the back of there clearly marked truck. My girlfriend used to get great steaks from an unmarked van with guys who could barely speak English. Price was ok, I only got the pork, I'm not a beef eater. So far, its all been pretty good, no complaints. My only issue was that the kid was pushy salesman, but well, it's the industry. He did not force the beef on me when I said I don't eat it, but he did keep suggesting it. I don't feel ripped off, and am not annoyed that this kid is working hard to make a living. read more

I called the cops on these guys and haven't seen them in my 'hood since. They troll the streets, jump out of their small pickup truck and aggresively come right at you with an offer to buy their overpriced product. $195 for a 10 lb box of NY steaks? Isn't that $19.50 a lb? Whole Foods ain't even that expensive (I think). "Delivered fresh to your door!" the ad says. More like delivered FROZEN to your door. From the other touts here, the quality is good but almost $20 a lb it better be. No thanks. read more

OK, I'm the current sucker in what appears to be a long list. Last Monday, 4.30.12, I was getting gas with a friend on the way to Napa next to a Sonoma Cattle Exchange truck. The driver said he'd had a customer order 4 boxes of high quality grass fed beef, like Ruth's Chris Steak House (which I love) and seafood including lobster tails. He said the customer only took 2 of the four boxes and asked if I would like to buy the remaining two at cost. I was skeptical and he said let me show them to you. I did. I ended up buying them. That night my friend and I cooked 1 piece of the John Dory. It was OK ... tough and not delicious. The next night I took a 2nd piece to a different friend's house. It was worse. It was stiff as a board when we attempted to pan saute it. The sauce was great; the fish was disgusting. I was pretty clear by now I'd been scammed. I called Sonoma Cattle Exchange this morning, 5.7.12 (7 days after I wrote my check to Luke Witty, Salesman) and spoke to Andrea in Customer Service. She is very nice. She took Customer Service Report #0614 from me and assured me that Matt, the Warehouse Manager, will call me to arrange a pick-up of the product in exchange for a full refund within the next 7 to 10 days. She gave me the #1.800.621.0397 for their beef provider in Illinois. I called them and was told that the beef is fed grass for the first 2 years, then goes to feedlots for 120 to 150 days before butchering where they are fattened on corn - NOT on barley and molasses as Luke said. That alarmed me because it is likely GMO corn since it is not organic. Big learnings all the way around for me. Sonoma Cattle Exchange did not want to give me a refund but the sales rep did. He wrote me his personal check. I am very appreciative of his integrity and wish him the very best. AND ... I will never purchase anything from this company again. read more

Yeah, we fell for it. Called across the street with "I'll sell you some at cost". He said they've done their deliveries and had some extra. Grass fed beef falling off the back of a truck? I'm in! Thinking that this was high-end Sonoma grass-fed beef, which sells for $20/lb in the little markets up there, we ended up spending over $10/lb for what we later realized was only USDA Select (not choice, not prime), like you can get at Safeway on sale for $5.99 a pound fresh, not frozen. Oh well, fortunately, it was only four thin t-bones, frozen, like you might get at a cheap diner for steak and eggs, or at Grocery Outlet, but you got us Sonoma Cattle Exchange! I was hoping they'd double charge my AMEX so I could revoke the charge, but alas, they did not. I had a feeling this might be their ONLY sales outlet, these trucks. After all I bought speakers that way in the 80's for $150. They lasted a long time though! read more

OK, I totally fell for the scam. The usual random encounter with pushy"gotta sell some steaks fast" delivery guy who accosted me on the street led to some haggling and a hurried sale of a package of "filet mignon" that turned out to be ranch steak (a tough and inferior cut). I should have look more carefully at the label but I was in a rush, it was an unfamiliar situation, etc. etc. In fact, in the situation I was the sucker. I haven't tried the steaks yet but I know I way way way overpaid so even if it's good, I won't enjoy it. Perhaps because of Sonoma Cattle Exchange's poor reputation, this truck's label was painted over, though I could still see the brand name on the truck. Lesson learned: don't buy street meat. read more

I was hit by the same pushy sales people today. Didn't think much of it, but even discounted the price they are charging for grain fed beef is outrageous. If you run into them say that you don't eat meat. I kept trying to politely get them off of my front porch, but they wouldn't go. That was the first time I had to close a door on someone while they were talking. Bottom line: Stay away. Creepy salesman and prices are way too high (not that I tasted anything). If you decide order you can get a much better deal than they offer. To sales people: don't ever say anything mean to someone you are selling. It won't help your case. read more

This creepy guy just came to our door. My antennae went up when this guys says he has a box of meat in the back of his truck to show me. I told him I wasn't interested but he wouldn't go away. I asked for the name of the company, a brochure, a business card. He refused saying, "people don't eat paper, they eat meat." What the heck? I asked if he was trying to get subscriptions, he said no, he just needed to get rid of the meat out of his truck and just wanted to get his money back, sell to me at cost. I asked what he meant by prime beef? USDA? Grassfed? Organic? He said he's a salesman, not a cattleman. He was extremely pushy. He kept asking if we were the only ones home, or were there other "kids" around to feed. I said that my husband was napping. I'm so glad my kid didn't "out" my lie. I told him I'm sorry that we already subscribe to a local farm for produce, eggs, and meat. He kept trying to sell to me. Brought IN a whole box and started laying his stuff out on the floor of our foyer. I just wonder how many of those vacuum packed bags of meat he pedaled to people. how many times had that meat thawed and froze, re-thawed. I almost bought something just to get rid of him, but I knew I couldn't trust the meat and would probably have to throw it directly into the trash. I don't have money to throw away. The guy tried to then sell his "chicken fritters" showing it to my son asking if he was hungry and don't they look like chicken nuggets. My son said, no. Then he tried to show him the flavor packed chicken and my son said, "we don't eat that stuff and it looks too spicy." With that I kicked him out. I feel so relieved I didn't give him any money. What a sleaze-bucket!! read more

They rang my door bell. I opened the door. Sales person said he was making deliveries and had some meat left over and wanted to sell the rest of them at cost. I said no thanks. Then he said, how about seafood or shrimp. I said no thanks again. Then the guy said, Whats the matter, you don't eat meat? I'm like what?? Then I closed the door. What's the matter? Don't understand English when I say No thanks? Then I go online and saw all the reviews. Glad I didn't fall for this. read more

DO NOT BUY THIS MEAT! Fell for this last year and bought a couple hundred bucks worth of steak. I did it because I wanted to supplement the grass-fed beef we get as part of a pool of people who split up a whole beef. But since we only get 100lbs, it doesn't last my large family all that long. What a mistake! The meat was horrible quality! Making a side-by-side comparison with true grass-fed beef, this meat has very little taste. In fact, it has less beefy taste than the beef that you can get at a grocery store which will be much fresher and better quality than this crap! In any case, after that experience, I vowed never to cave in again. So when one of those guys came around about fifteen minutes ago to pitch me his lines, I just kept repeating, "Not interested." But he persisted. I must've had to repeat myself four times before he finally got it. These guys are creepy. They have all sorts of lines that they use to corner you. But you have to be firm. Do not even get the small $30-$40 box. You will NOT like it. If you really want hormone-free, grass-fed beef, do a search on local grass-fed beef companies and order it direct. Many will ship, or if you live close enough, pick it up yourself. There's actually a company called Sonoma Beef in Sonoma that sells grass-fed beef directly. That company shouldn't be confused with Sonoma Cattle Exchange. But take note that the SCE guys will try to trick you into thinking it's the same company by saying, "Hi! I'm with Sonoma Beef." That's very misrepresenting, to say the least... If you do contact the real Sonoma Beef, if you're in the Bay Area, pick up the beef yourself. It's a good excuse to go up and do some wine tasting while you're at it. read more

So bummed I fell for their gimmick! They act like their meat is from Sonoma/Petaluma, but in reality it is package in Illinois and the meat itself comes from either USA, Canada or Mexico??!!! WTF. DON'T BUY!!!!! read more

I don't have the time or the energy to write a long review about this place or their business practices. Chances are you just bought some of their steaks off the back of the truck as he pulled up to you house while you were doing something outside and the fast talking sales guy proceeded to splay his wares out in front of you and all the passers-by. I let the guy talk and then informed him there was no way I needed all the beef he was trying to sell me. bottom line is I eventually bought a little of what he was selling and got some shrimp thrown in for free. total cost $140 with "tip" The beef is from nowhere near Sonoma or California for that matter. So far nothing rotten as other customers have mentioned but nothing very good either. the cuts are all off and are of dubious nature. They claim to be rib eye but are most definitely not. Fillet? not on your life. T-bone? missing the tenderloin. Price wise if you talk the guy down you may get a fair price but no deals to be had here. If you can't buy from the store and don't have the time to shop on your own then maybe this service is for you. If not and you want a quality product at a good price avoid this company and their high pressure sales team at all costs. Bottom line. I don't feel good enough about my transaction with this company to ever buy from them again. read more

I say " I'm happy and saved Luke's number on my cell phone." My wife says, "I do not think it was the best deal in this life time but very happy with the quality so far.We paid about $10.07 per pound on average which is more expensive than the average supermarket ($3-$7 per pound) but like I said the quality is much better." read more

So a couple weeks later, without me ever talking to anyone (but after several vm messages and e-mails on my part), a refund appeared on my credit card. Thanks, SCE. I still don't like your business practices though. read more

I have to say, I almost fell for it, if it wasn't for the fact that I literally had no space in my freezer, not even for half a case that he bargained for. And my friend had already bought packages of meat through Groupon, and wasn't wiling to go through that again. He was a talker, I'll give him that. Overstocked because the 49ers didn't get to the Superbowl, just sold two cases to a lady down the street, won't be back if we don't decide now, he handed us a menu (which we could barely read at dusk), etc. After ten minutes, we said no, he told us that we couldn't keep the menu, and we continued walking towards our original destination. It'll be interesting to tell my coworkers on Monday: "I was approached by a guy on the streets to buy meat off his truck." read more

Just got door-knocked today by these people. Yet to try the food -looks fine. Will update once we have tried. Only comment would be haggle as hard as you can imagine because if you do you'll probably get a decent price but if you don't you can expect to get ripped off. This is especially good advice if you are the type of person who has trouble saying no to people! read more

SCAM! LIES! If I could give zero stars I would. Luke stopped us on the street, dropped the name of a "so-called" person who lives in the neighborhood and then tells a story of BR Cohn Winery in Sonoma stiffing him on an order and now he will sell it for 1/2 price so as to not have to drive it back to Petaluma. The biggest lies, though, were his answers to our questions - he told us the meat was certified organic, grass-fed beef that is USDA Prime cuts - I know now those are all lies. The meat isn't even from No. California (like he also claimed), it's labeled from a company called "A Cut Above" located who knows where... read more

OK, so I totally fell for the high pressure sales pitch as well. I had just come back from a 45 mile bike ride and was hungry and tired - nuff said. On the other hand I have to say my experience with the meat was actually very good. If you follow the cooking instructions for grass-fed beef, the meat comes out tender, juicy and quite delicious. Here's what I did: 1) Defrost the meat in the fridge over night; 2) let it come up to room temperature at least an hour or more prior to cooking. 3) Tenderize 4) marinate in a little bit of olive oil 5) salt and pepper just before cooking 6) cook over no more than medium heat in a little more olive oil and a dash of butter for browning, no more than 3 minutes per side for the smaller pieces, up to 5 minutes per side for the thick ones. 7) remove from pan (I used a Dutch oven) and cover for about 10 minutes, 8) meanwhile in the pan deglaze with a mixture of low salt soy sauce, a little red wine and a dash of balsamic. Serve with the sauce and some roasted Brussels sprouts or sliced and sautéed turnips and enjoy... I would give them 5 stars if it weren't for the used car sales pitch... read more

Here we go again. When will these meat clowns get it. They've been to our house numerous times with the same answer, No. I would not buy meat from a guy, who looks like he just finished shoeing some horses, and double parks and runs up to our house like there is some emergency, telling us about some great meat deal. Any way every time we tell them we don't eat it they look at us like we are crazy. Rick Berkeley, ca read more

I sure wish I had read the Yelp reviews... One of my friends bought some and said it was pretty good, but she wouldn't buy again. When they cruised through my neighborhood and flagged me down I agreed to look because of said friend and he hauled all of his stuff out. It was a lot of meat! He said that if I bought a case of beef he would throw in a case of seafood. Here is the deal: even though the steaks were small, he told me they were GRASS FED FROM SONOMA RANCHERS. I thought $400 was a deal, bought them, and threw in the $20 he begged for. As I am unpacking all this for my freezer, I am noticing that the boxes and labels say GRAIN AND CORN FED BEEF FROM THE MIDWEST. Not even a state, just the midwest. I take a good look at the label and it is all graded CHOICE! This is the leftovers that they couldn't sell to Sizzler. Then after further examination, I notice the lines in the meat indicating meat glue... they take inedible meat lining the organ cavities, wash it in ammonia, and use a melted grissel recipe to put the lower cuts back together to look like a nice piece of meat. You can see the divisions. I unpack the seafood and the frozen seafood has a fishy smell. Right. I don't think so. Of course he did respond to my calls on his cell phone and when I called the bank, they had already put the charge through. I initiated a chargeback, cancelled the credit card and when I did all this, I finally got a call back from him agreeing to come pick up his crappy garbage meat. We will see if he shows up. If he doesn't, I am going to go dump it all in front of his storage locker in Petaluma. read more

Yes these are the guys who sell meat to strangers out of the back of a truck. Well despite the reviews, I had good experience with SONOMA CATTLE EXCHANGE today. I bought a box of 4 steaks. It had Filet Mignon on one side and a NY Strip on the other with a T-Bone in the middle. Cost $33 from a very friendly and polite guy named Matt. Unfortunatly, I had to call Matt back after he left to ask for a refund. To which he obliged. With in 5 minutes he was at my door with a full refund and a smile. I will definitely do business with them again and can't wait to try their meats. I give them 5 stars for service, attitude and manners read more

Thank God for Yelp! My husband and I just returned from a vacation and minutes after our arrival a salesman from SCE was on our doorstep. I was immediately wary and told him I was not interested, wondering where in the H*&% this meat had come from. The guy was extremely persistent and my husband began to be swayed. The seller was pushing some HUGE amount of steak, which clearly we were not going to buy. After pushing and pushing, my husband caved and said he'd buy a smaller box. In the meantime, I went on Yelp! and found these very useful reviews and was able to stop my husband from giving him our credit card and causing God knows what kind of heartache. Thank you Yelpers! We have been saved!! Pat, Oakland, CA read more

Problems w/ this company? FILE A COMPLAINT w/ BBB (Better Business Bureau) DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THIS COMPANY I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE WHO BOUGHT FROM THESE PEOPLE TO FILE A COMPLAINT w/ the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU I got 7 boxes of beef from them for $200, the majority was NY steaks (or I was told). That comes to around $4 a steak/burger. Sounds like a good deal until you add up the weight of all this beef. It weighed a little over 20 lbs....so about $10 per lb.Not a good deal at all! Wouldn't be so bad if it was good. I tried a burger and 2 different steaks tough & flavorless. I went thru all the boxes and all were sirloin! Not ONE was a NY steak. I complained about it to their customer service and they had the sales guy call me. He just kept telling that NY steaks are the same as sirloin! I said that was a load of crap. I called again to return them and they came to pick them up the next day, said I would get a refund minus the 4 pieces I ate. Here is the kicker: They charge you for the full box if you ate even one piece out of it( they are all indivually wrapped) so even though they made me return all boxes of meat they will only refund me on the full ones. So they charged me $56 for 2 burgers and 2 sirloins! (My husband and I had one each) I could have bought a lot FRESH, not frozen, Ribeyes or Ny Steaks for $56!!!! read more

Thank God for SFRAW, otherwise I would have fell for this. They were out front of the house, wanting to sell a case of different types of beef cuts. Said it was organic grass fed. He said that it retails for 400 plus but would sell to us at the chicken price of $279.00 I asked if he would do $200 but he said he could only do $250.00 which would be what he paid for it. I told him that I feed my dogs raw and shop at SFRAW which is also for humans. He tried to tell me that I would pay more with SFRAW then them. Actually SFRAW is cheaper and a better quality. I have been with SFRAW for almost a year, I have volunteered there, I know exactly what type of meat Im getting and I trust them. I told him that I would have to google him before buying anything. read more

Yea some guy was driving by in a Sonoma Cattle truck and asked my wife if she wanted to buy any meats or fish. We weren't really interested but then he brought out the boxes and showed us what he had. We hesitantly bought a box of beef from him for like $30, normally $70.. according to him. He'd take a check so I figured it's probably a real business. hoodlums wouldn't take a check from you... So my wife cooked some the other night and I tried it. My wife loved it..I thought it was pretty damn good too. It was nice and soft beef. The flavor just hits your mouth. Then my friend came over and we didn't tell him where it came from we just said you want to try it? He took a bite and immediately told us this is some high quality meat! He loved it...and then he kept eating it, which kind of got on my nerves because I wanted some more. We got his card and will be calling him again. read more

It would be great that people reviewing this company that just don't like door to door sales people not waste their own or the readers time writing one star reviews. DOOR TO DOOR SALES PEOPLE are often pushy. It's their job to sell things. Get used to it or put a "no solicitors" sign on your door. Anyhow... we have bought from these people two times now and both times we've had courteous people and are fairly satisfied with their product. Pros: Portions are great. We eat less because they pre-packaged portions are done in a way that keep us from cooking more than we need. Meat tastes good. Have had very satisfying results. It cooks well on both grill and in oven and is juicy. I can't remember having a dry piece of meat from our last $440 dollar package although we didn't buy the pork this time. The ribs were a little tough, although they told me if we had called they would have replaced them for us. Try that at your local grocer! It saves time not having to go to the store and buy something all the time. We rarely go out to eat so knowing we have something in the freezer works for us. Cons: Price. It's sort of a good deal. If I bargain shopped and repackaged everything into portion controlled amounts, i'm sure I could find as good of a deal if not better. But the meat last time lasted us about 6 months for 2 people. So it's not bad. It's a little unclear where the meat is actually from. The lady yesterday told me it was the same as Krist steakhouse dry aged. On the box it said grain fed from illinois or something. However, everything you'd buy at the grocery store is about the same. read more

I bought a case of meat and I also got a case of seafood for what is clearly far less of a price I could buy at the Safeway, if Safeway even sold "choice" cuts of steak, which they don't. The price was great and the meat tasted fantastic. The only question I have is now that I buy Sonoma Cattle's meat, what do I order when I go to a restaurant since I have great meat at home? No question about it, the meat is top quality and I'm happy that I found these guys. read more

A couple of years ago I purchased some meat from a fellow who ran into my local pub & talked a good game. The Meat was OK & the price was OK. You get what you pay for & I got what I expected. Today I'm sitting in my local pub (I moved...different local) & a guy literally runs in, claims to be an employee of Golden Gate Meats in the Ferry Building who get half price off. He has the monogramed, although begrimed, polo shirt from Golden Gate Meats to boot. I say I'm interested (though I'm not) and he runs out to the small Reefer truck & brings back a case of meat. There is no way in hell that Golden Gate Meats is going to cut skinny little, un-marbled, been-frozen-longer-than-most-Yelpsters-have-been-alive, steaks & crappy cuts & market it as their own. I call the guy on his crap, he realizes no one is buying, tosses out two crappy cuts for free, & runs like hell from the place. I call the number on the back of his truck (1-866-707-2333) and get Sonoma Meat Exchange. Either they are a bunch of Sheisters, or one of their Sales guys has gone off the reservation. Golden Gate Meats doesn't sell this kind of stuff off the back of the truck & neither would their employees! Next time I'm taking pictures & making a citizen's arrest Mr. BS Meat Dealer! :-) QUAKE IN YOUR HOOVES MR. BS MEAT MAN! THE FORCES OF HONESTY ARE COMING TO GET YOU! read more

If there was a zero star review they would get it. I don't support door-to-door solicitors in general but this bug-eyed creep's extended knocking on the door AND ringing of the doorbell had the dog going in fits. He starts off his spiel by extending his hand for a handshake and then saying how he just happened to be in the neighborhood dropping off an order for a neighbor and wouldn't I like to see some of his fresh steak. When I said "not interested" and started to close the door he mentions that he would throw in some free chicken. I hate this kind of salesmanship. After I repeated the words "not interested" with a little more emphasis he sulks away shaking his head at me like I'm stupid. Hey pal, I don't interrupt you at your house by trying to sell you something you don't want, what makes you think it's okay to do the same to me? read more