Iowa Meat Farms
Category: Meat Shops [Edit]
Neighborhood: Grantville6041 Mission Gorge Rd
(at Twain Ave)
San Diego, CA 92120 (619) 281-5766
- Hours:
Mon-Sat 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
24 Reviews for Iowa Meat Farms
A bit on the expensive side, but the butchers here know their meat. And I love the beer cooler, aged meats, frozen andouille sausage, selections of hot sauces and gourmet oils, spices, etc. Also, check out the deli at the sister store on Morena Blvd. - Siesel's... I daydream about their club sandwich almost daily at 11:45 a.m.
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We love this store. Just the plastic cow outside warms the cockles of my heart. They will make you any cut of meat you want and the selection is amazing. They have exotic meats like ostrich in the freezer section.
Even if you're a vegetarian, there's plenty for you. They have a nice wine and beer selection, artisan sauces, rubs, spices, cheeses, chips and dips. Everything is oriented towards the meat, but it's a great gourmet shop on its own.
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If you are looking for something to put on the grill, Iowa meats is the place to go. Maaann, they got everything! Supermarkets for the most part limit their meat selection to the most popular cuts, pre wrapped in Styrofoam trays. At Iowa, they have the entire animal and will cut just about anything to order according to your specifications. Not only will they do it, but they will do so with a sense of alacrity that is so hard to find these days. These guys are pretty cool!
If you have questions, they have answers. All the employees there have a passion for and knowledge of their goods. In fact, they often give cooking classes at Great News Cooking school, to spread the word on how to properly prepare their precious product.
They also have a good selection of meat accessories. Beer, and wine. Ice to keep it cold on the way home. Fish, chicken, cheese. Also sauces, condiments, marinades and rubs: try OVER 350 different sauces, from famous chef's signature sauces, to super hot pepper sauces, micro-brands, and a line of house made products as well. I scored a Tabasco brand jelly- who knew? (this is really good rubbed on a finished steak).
The meat is the star of the show here. My favorites are the flatiron steak and the baseball cut top sirloin. These cuts are tender like filet Mignon, but have a lot more beef flavor. The porterhouse steak is not to be missed. There is a freezer in the back with some specialty items, such as tripe, venison, buffalo, wild boar, cual fat, sweetbreads, stuff like that. There is also a fridge filled with USDA Prime ribs, dry aged to perfection if you don't mind dropping a 3 "C- notes". The photos tell only part of the story. You will just have to Go and Taste what MEAT can do for you.
Iowa meat farms...."too much good stuff!"
Tip: If you are a bit more advanced and want to try sous vide cooking, they have the packaging machine there and will custom sous vide package that lamb loin, salmon fillet or whatever it is you want to cook. Now that is pretty cool!
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Imagine you've devoted every ounce of your energy to something that you truly love, and that your greatest sense of joy is sharing that thing you love with others, even those who may only have a passing fancy in that thing that you love. Picture yourself building a shrine to that thing, and staffing it with like-minded lovers of said thing. Now imagine that the thing is meat.
Welcome to IMF.
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This place always exends itself fully to support the gastronomical needs of everyone that it serves. They're always helpful, the best cuts possible and the best prices. You can't go wrong here.
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Their pork chops are the best I have EVER had. I also bought a marinade for the chops there. My BBQ party was amazing because of Iowa Meat Farms. My guests LOVED the ribs and said they were the best ribs they ever had. Considering my guests are tough to please, they had to be the best!
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I got taken on a date here once...well, really, a pre-date, but still odd. It's a good thing that I can appreciate a good butcher shop, and that I'm from Iowa. Lots of things to check out inside to distract me from my weird date. Anyone know if they'll sell me marrow bones for my dog?
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Iowa Meat Farms is the meat mecca of San Diego. To date, I have bought sausages, steaks, ribs and a turducken from IMF. The quality of the meat is superb, the staff is knowledgeable and the store also features a ton of options for sauces and accompaniments to your meat.
I think the turducken was far and away the biggest success. If you are not familiar with this fantastic fowl abomination of nature, it is a de-boned and stuffed chicken inside a de-boned and stuffed duck that is inside a stuffed turkey. My family cooked one on Thanksgiving and it was smashing! You have to reserve one at least a week before Thanksgiving because it is so time consuming they can only handle a limited number of orders.
They get an effortless five stars for running such a great operation. They could use a bigger parking lot though....
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If you're looking to buy something that was at one point a constituent part of an animal, then you must come here.
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If you are having company over for steaks or any kind of good meat, go here, definately the best selection in town! Everytime we pick up meat here for the grill, out friends/guest rave about it.
My second choice would be to go to whole foods.
Let me start by saying that cooking of any sort isn't really my strong suit. At all. Period. Hence I review more restaurants than anything else.
My boyfriend, on the other hand, is quite an accomplished chef, and being that our oven is on the fritz, he's been performing quite brilliantly on the grill of late. After a session of knuckle-tattooing (his, not mine) we decided that we were in the mood for meat, and having passed this place on Mission Gorge a number of times on our neverending trips to the Home Depot, we decided to pop on over half an hour before closing time.
What an AMAZING selection. No need to reiterate all the reviews below, but they've got everything from dry aged meats to homemade sausage to lamb kebabs, rabbit, duck, and ever so much more. Nice wine selection (cheap riesling for me), REALLY wide variety of rubs and sauces and the like, and the staff was extremely helpful and friendly without being condescending in the least (our butcher pointed out a sweet deal on some great ribeye for grilling).
So while I have yet to report on the final product, which has just been thrown on the barbecue behind me, I am definitely a newly loyal fan of Iowa Meat Farms and highly recommend it to those in need of some seriously meaty goodness.
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Iowa Meat Farms is love. The meat itself is beautiful and they have everything to make your meat experience good, from rubs and sauces to wines and even a few veggies. I just grilled up another of their marinated tri tip roasts tonight and it was /delicious/. Funny thing, too-- most of the customers walk around with pleasant smiles. Must be all the MEAT. Also, this is a small business that clearly cares both about their product and their customers. Unfortunately, all that delicious MEAT doesn't come cheap but it's worth it for a special occasion.
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Carnivores delight - you can pre-order free-range turkey for Thanksgiving, prime rib for Christmas, corned beef for St. Pat's Day. Love their carne asada, pollo asada, and shrimp for grilling in the summer. Their dips are my secret gastronomic sin - with El Indio chips! There - I have admitted it....
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I don't go here as often as I used to since i moved DT but this place is great....If you've only bought your meat a grocery store, you owe it to yourself to check this place out. Huge selection and very knowledgeable staff....Mention vaguely what you're looking for or how many people you're cooking for and they hook you up with everything....They introduced me to flat iron steak a few years back and I'll never be the same....They'll even rub your meat for you! :)
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My roommate brought me there last week and it was great. Although I don't know much about meat, the steak we bought was amazing. (Best home cooked ever~)
It does remind me of East Coast where butcher shops are more popular.
There isn't much parking tho, so maybe it's a problem for the weekends. Oh, you can't miss it, look for a big wooden cow in front of the store.
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When it comes time to get serious about meat, and trust me when I say I can get downright SERIOUS about it, I hit up the Iowa Meat Farms and their most excellent butcher shop. The meats are of high quality, fairly priced and you always receive great service from their hard working and knowledgeable staff. Need some sirloin for beef jerky? They got your back. Need some hot links for that bbq? Covered.
Sometimes it can get a little busy, but there's plenty of other things in the store to keep you busy while you wait for your order to come up. Gaze in awe at the massive collection of hot sauces. Drool in anticipation of the impressive selection of barbeque sauces. Wander into the freezer in the back and, hey, whaddya know!! Beer! And lots of it! Locals, Belgians, Mexican beers... all bases covered.
I love meat. It keeps my teeth sharp. I love beer. It dulls the pain of having to be employed.
That said, Iowa Meat Farms, for the win.
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I never actually went here, not being much of a carnivore, but I'll never forget driving nearly three days from Nebraska to get to our new apartment in San Diego, getting off the interstate onto the main street of our new neighborhood, immediately getting lost, then rounding a bend in the road ... and coming face to face with Iowa Meat Farms. My husband and I went from tense and anxious to laughing in an instant. There's no place like home.
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No where, I mean no where else should you go for your cuts. During Football season it's a must stop on Saturday when prepping for Sunday's tailgate. Not only do they have any cut you need, but they have plenty of great premade/marinated goods ready to go. Add in the fact they have a hefty selection of beer and Iowa Meat gets 5 stars from me any day of the week.
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Along NY, you can find these amazing little butcher shops that offer the top cuts of meat. San Diego has Iowa Meat Farms. They offer AMAZING steaks, and pretty much anything. You can even special request certain cuts or anything. Definately can't find steak like this in your grocery store!
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Meat makes the meal!
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the people here know their meat, and they'll be really nice to you if you have stupid questions about the meat, need directions for cooking it, or have special requests for cutting it. if you eat meat, support local growers and independent stores and buy it here--it's better for you than that grocery store slop.
also check out their unique selection of sauces, dips, rubs, and condiments.
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Man, this place deserves every star its given. I walked in here for the first time today and it has EVERYTHING. Every cut of meat, every type of meat (beef, pork, fish, chicken, game hens, rabbit(!), duck, pheasant...). It's amazing. I was blown away by the number of sauces, rubs, marinades, seasonings and spices they have. It's endless! They also have produce, fruit, milk, dips and tons of wines and beer. Walk into the walk-in refrigerator in the back and check out the beers, soft drinks and hams. Impressive.
Definitely check this place out.
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Seriously I don't know how anybody can give this less than 5 stars for a butcher shop. Their meat selection is wide and vast. Including dry aged meats, to game meat, and some seafood. The main attraction is obviously the fresh selection of meat, meat and meat. The butchers are super friendly and helpful. When they ask you how you are cooking it, it seems like they are more interested to hear about how you are doing it as opposed to telling you that you are doing it the wrong way. They will offer plenty of useful advice if asked. They have a wide variety of sauces, rubs, marinades, and BBQ additives. A small selection of fresh veggies. A healthy wine selection- my one knock is that their wine is a bit pricey though. My favorite, besides the meat, is the walk in beer cooler. I feel like I am in an icy, beer clubhouse. I love it. I nice selection of locals and imports. Once again, the staff is super friendly. My favorite place to pick up meat, and BBQ necessities.
+Awesome meat selection
+Knowledgeable butchers
+Friendly staff
+Walk in beer cooler
-Wine a bit pricey
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The real deal!!! This is an outstanding butcher and meat shop that will give you the best steaks in SD. Be prepared to pay for it however. They are getting top dollar for their meat, but if you want the best you must pay for it. All the Chargers shop here as it is close to their practice facility and those boys need their meat and can afford the best. Only place I know where one can get a Turducken. They even sell some very unique boutique barbeque briquets for use in cooking their meats. If you are into meat and backyard barbequeing, this is the place for you. The staff is very knowledgeable and happy to offer tips to improve your culinary experience. Spend the dough and taste the difference--it is immense!!
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