Divisadero Meat Market
600 Divisadero St
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 921-6159
M-Sat: 8:30am – 6:00pm
What: A neighborhood butcher with great prices and friendly staff in a clean environment.
Why: The prices are low. I’m not sure what middleman is being cut out, but that’s ok with me. I’ve bought chicken breasts, ribeye meat steaks, and sausages there repeatedly, and they’re always fresh. The chicken breasts are huge – you’d think the chickens were of the Dolly Parton variety. The ribeye cuts are less thick than the ones I’ve purchased at the more expensive places like Mollie Stone’s, but this just means they cook faster (at almost 50% less cost per pound).
Also, note that they make no claims about providing locally-sourced, naturally-raised yadda yadda, but I figure this is still more fresh than something frozen or saran-wrapped at a big-box supermarket. It’s not glamorous – you won’t get the meats wrapped in waxed butcher paper, you’ll get each order in a thick plastic bag. But I’m ok without those fancy trappings if that helps keep costs down.
Parking along Divisadero, whenever I’ve gone on Saturdays, has always been easy. Just make sure you bring some coins for the parking meter.
For those of you looking for cheap eats recipes and that still want meat in your diet, think about shopping at a local butcher, for sure.
How: They’re open 6 days a week, and not late. I do my shopping there on Saturdays since I can’t usually get there before they close on weeknights. The employees are fun-loving Cantonese guys. Don’t worry, they all speak English, but if you’re looking for some rarely-requested cut of an animal, you may want to be ready to point to what part of the body it comes from. Next up for me? Oxtails.
These guys are great too for good prices on seasonal fresh Dungeness crab!