I see advertisements for mail order steaks, and the package always includes chicken, burgers, hot dogs, perhaps some stuffed potatoes, some kind of desert, etc. I've never been tempted to try them because it seems so expensive, and there's no per-pound cost details cited for each of the different items in most of the advertised bundles. I'm looking at the Omaha Steaks website, and the have a half-price special on a 2# package of 2oz. ribeye medallions, at only $75. That's $37.50 per pound, marked down from nearly $80 per pound. Then there's the $30 to ship them, so the delivered cost is $53 per pound (marked down from $95 per pound.) The 2 oz. ribeyes have (16) Five Star Reviews on the Omaha site, but with no comments and no attributions to specific reviewers...just "5 Starts from 16 Reviews." Yelp rates Omaha Steaks 1.5 Stars from 450 ratings, but s0me of those are delivery-related problems (if you rely on FedEx to deliver your Christmas Eve meal on the 24th, you sort of deserve to be disappointed.) Have any of you caved to temptation and tried these? What was your experience? Was it worth it, or do you feel like you got ripped off? @Hedi Mitchell: Your husband was in the industry. What has he got to say about this stuff?
We’ve bought from Omaha during the pandemic. I don’t remember that we had any other. Omaha seemed fine, don’t know how their pricing is now.
We have had Omaha Steaks and Kansas City Steaks; both were very good. My brother used to send us a box of them every Christmas. It comes packaged very well in a styrofoam shipping container with dry ice, and vacuum packed to go right into the freezer. Last time there were steaks, pork chops and stuffed potatoes, and everything was good. We've not had the hamburger or other stuff.
We do Omaha Steaks a lot, and they're good. It's not all steaks either, they have a bunch of stuff. Michelle does the ordering though, so I don't know a lot about the mechanics of it, but I think she only orders the discounted stuff and gets free shipping. I don't think I've had anything from them that I didn't like, except for the stuff I wouldn't like from anyone, like pork chops. I'm just not big on pork chops, it's not a quality issue. There's probably not much of a reason to order hot dogs from Omaha Steak, however - not that there's anything wrong with them but you can find them in the store at a better price, I think.
This is interesting. I don't know why I anticipated zero "Yeh, we've done it" responses. Given my rural location, I might be advised to see what the local meats cost and try it first, if I'm gonna start paying in that range. There's a farm in my neighborhood that sells their own beef and chicken, and the seafood guy I like so much also carries the local stuff in his store. That being said, you all have me tempted to try the mail order places at least once.
We've a bunch of Omaha Steaks items (i.e., burgers, steaks, apple tartlets, etc.) that were sent as a gift from a relative. Their stuff is good but local meat and seafood is better, IMO.
Never have ordered steak like that. Could not afford the prices. Hubby will say any meat can be good if it is Cut right. Order Choice vs Select when possible. Mail order food items um,he would never do that.
I've mentioned before that I had a job that took me to Lenexa, Kansas every once in a while. This was in the 80s. Yeh, I ate a lot of beef when I was there.
Some of the comments I read said that Omaha uses their own marketing terminology when referring to cuts. I figured that a butcher would want to first-hand inspect.
I think the Omaha Steaks stuff is better than we'd usually get in the local supermarket, and we don't have any standalone butchers near us.
I was just thinking that most of the meat I've bought lately was less than great. Now that "they" are trying to save us from ourselves the cattle aren't allowed to get fat enough to taste good anymore.
I agree with that. It then becomes a matter of price. Maybe I'll take a deeper look at what they (and others) have to offer. I agree with your hot dog observation. They have "gourmet pigs-in-a-blanket." Hmmmmm.... That sounds like the Luxury Edition Vega. And I've never set foot in a butcher shop in my life. We've bought stuff (breads) from local bakeries before, but I've never lived in a town that had a butcher. I might see what competitors the Yelp reviews offer up.
There's a butcher near where our camp is up north. Although he buys some meats from others as well, he raises his own beef and pork, and there's no store-bought comparison to that. We built a website for him a few years ago, but I see that he has let it go for a cheap Weebly site. That's a couple of hours from where we live, though.
The closest I've come is going to a seafood shop in Charlottesville. I am not paying $30 per pound for tuna...and this was in 2015 or so. The beef at the farm near me is a few times more the cost of the grocery store, while the chicken is many many more times the cost. I've not asked the guy why (I know him well enough that he would tell me.) It makes no sense because the beef must be processed at a USDA-approved facility, while he can process his own chickens. One would think that the price hike would be reversed. It's been that way since I moved here in 2010, so it's not COVID Supply Chain related.