From Brooklyn to Bluffton:

By Kat Rice

Contributor

In 1999, a Brooklyn butcher retired to Mount Pleasant where he quickly realized there were no butcher shops like there had been in the Big Apple. He saw a need, and he opened the first New York Butcher Shoppe, which 25 years later, now has 35 locations, the newest location right here in Bluffton at New Riverside Village.

The New York Butcher Shoppe business model is simple. They sell premium meats and quality wines at an affordable price. Their goal is to have a space where the community can trust in a positive experience with a premium product. 

With the growing infrastructure and community needs in the New Riverside area, the brand saw this as the perfect space for their newest location. And, according to manager Steve Hamburg, the community welcome has been warm.

Hamburg explains, “it’s a food desert over here, so people are excited to have access to our prepared and hot meals. There’s a real need in this area, so we killed our goals for the first week.”

The hot meals are simple to order. Anyone can reserve the day’s dinner by 2 p.m. for same-day pick up at 5 p.m. They serve two specialized rotating options like roasted chicken, pot roast, prime rib, carnitas and ribs. Another option is the weekly cold special for grab-and-go, which includes options like chicken parmesan with salad and baguette.

Besides the meals is the obvious reason for stopping by, the high quality, cut-to-order, premium meats. Some favorites are the organic chicken, heritage pork and certified angus beef. Certified angus is only attributed to 30% of all cattle, based on the USDA specifications for grading. And, of that 30%, the top 3% is prime cut. That’s where the butcher shop gets their prime rib and tenderloin.

Hamburg explains that, while the average grocery store will offer choice grade meat, at the butcher shop, they offer only high choice grades and above. Their in-house smoked sausage and wild, open water, net-caught, North Atlantic salmon also set them apart from the others.

While you’re there, you can also grab local products like snacks and pastas, as well as fresh baked goods and gluten free desserts.

Hamburg says the crab cakes and the frozen cookie dough have been best sellers, with one returning customer saying, “the cookie dough we bought is almost gone, but we haven’t baked a single cookie.”

He also says they want to make this an affordable and accessible place for locals. The Butcher Shoppe has a lower markup on wine than the local grocery stores because they want to be a single, quick shop for busy people just trying to get good food. He says, “the community is so happy we’re here, and I’m also excited because I live five minutes away and now, I have better options, too.”

The shop is open Monday through Friday until 7 p.m., offering first responder and military discounts as well as options to order ahead. Stop in sometime and see what the New York butcher experience is all about.