In addition to the many international markets identified by dining critic Eve Hill-Agnus as alternative grocery shopping sites, don’t forget about your local butchers. They are working overtime to disinfect their already sterile stores and keep Dallas in rump roasts and pork chops. Some, like Nate Abeyta at Deep Cuts, are also limiting the number of customers allowed in the store at a time (no more than 3) to reinforce social distancing.
But they all say their protein supplies are in good shape. Cal Wineland, from American Butchers in the Dallas Farmers Market, just brought back fresh meat from his own small USDA-certified meat processing facility in Nebraska. He and his wife Desiree are currently stocking steaks, roasts, chops, smoked items, a variety of jerkies, sausages, brats, and hot dogs. And they are taking orders for quarters and halves of beef, lamb, and pork.
Call ahead just to confirm, then stop in to fill your freezer and support one of these local butchers:
American Butchers
Once a week, or as needed, Calvin Wineland drives 11 hours to his home state of Nebraska where he and his wife, Desiree (a former Army helicopter commander), own a meat locker. They work with small ranchers from Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, South Dakota, and Nebraska who bring in their animals, usually one at a time, for slaughter. Calvin then drives the carcass back to the American Butchers’ stall at the Dallas Farmers Market, where it is dry-aged on the rail for at least 14 days before it is cut to customers’ specifications. 920 S. Harwood St. 214-655-6328.
Cooper’s Meat Market
They have all the standards plus chicken, salmon, and shrimp. And they’re prepared frozen food case is to die for. You’ll find lasagna, King Ranch chicken casserole, queso, sausage and cheese from New Braunfels Smokehouse, and whole smoked turkeys and hams. And wine: lots and lots of wine. 778 Fort Worth Ave. 214-200-4128.
Deep Cuts Dallas
Deep Cuts carries pork from Chubby Dog Farm, Four U Farms, and Windy Hill Farm; duck and chicken from D’Artagnan Foods; fresh elk and venison; and bread from La Spiga Bakery in Addison. All sausages are made in-house from whole-muscle pork shoulder and the shop’s own spice blends. Its two primary beef vendors are Texas-based: 44 Farms in Cameron and Flatonia’s HeartBrand Beef. Both ranches emphasize open grazing, with no antibiotics and genetic traceability of the stock. 7989 Belt Line Rd. 469-906-6420.
Hirsch’s Meats
There are separate mounds of ground chuck, round, and sirloin, plus bacon-laced sirloin on weekends. Bratwurst, Polish kielbasa, stuffed pork chops, and chicken wings are arranged in neat rows. You’ll also find frozen whole Cornish hen, duck, pheasant, rabbit, veal liver, and Frenched rack of lamb should you be so inclined. Wood chips and chunks for smoking are kept in tidy bins in the corner. 1301 W. Parker Rd. 972-633-5593.
Kuby’s Sausage House and European Market
The shop is full of German imports, from pickles, tube mustard, and spaetzle to Karl Jr.’s cousin Dieter Probson, a Metzgermeister, or master butcher, from Trier, Germany. Beef is wet-aged until it is at least 24 days old, and chicken is delivered fresh daily. They make their own corned beef and pastrami. 6601 Snider Plaza. 214-363-2231.
Rudolph’s Market and Sausage Factory
What you find here are no-frills sausages—German, Italian, Czech, and Polish, fresh or smoked over hickory. The men behind the counter cleave mammoth slabs of flesh from a case that seems triple-deep with cuts. For ground beef, they custom-grind all-Texas beef in either all-chuck or a mix of short-rib, chuck, and brisket. 2924 Elm St. 214-741-1874.
