Rosa J.
Yelp
I would say sometimes it's the best to smell like meat all over in order to get good deals for you all carnivores! Enter the "Peoria Packing Butcher Shop." I like this place, and you're right: my sensory is temporarily numbed because of the copious amount of meat I'm surrounded by, but the money I save from buying the meat here can get me an extra bottle of air refresher for sure.
In other words, this meat shop is really meaty. You help yourself on grabbing the meat you want to purchase with a pair of disposable gloves. The prices are clearly listed and they were rung correctly upon checkout. I know some Yelpers have experienced price discrepancies and were over-charged, yet I didn't have any trouble whatsoever.
I found deals on their lamb chops; they were $4.99/lb. and I got almost four (4) pounds worth of them. Most lamb products I have seen in grocery stores throughout Chicagoland are around 7 or 8 bucks per pound. With that being said, I can have lambs a little more often without feeling B-ROKE!
There's a butchering station in the back of store. I didn't need the guys to cut off the meat. I guess they can help break apart the ribs or bones. If I ever need it, I will definitely utilize the service in the future.
So the first part of the shop is the giant freezer of raw meat (pork, beef, chicken, frozen seafood, sausages, and etc.). Anyway, the list isn't exhaustive. The second part, on the other hand, is the stuff that goes with the meat: spices, veggies, frozen meat, deli meat, and groceries in general. I skipped the latter portion rather quickly since I already stocked non-meat items in the fridge.
The checkout was efficient, in spite of being pretty crowded in the early Sunday afternoon (and the Bears made it to the playoffs). During our trip I had to maneuver the cart fairly carefully to avoid unnecessary collisions. However, for the most part, patrons were courteous and we were able get through each aisle.
One last thing to mention: they do charge bags ($0.07/bag) even though many meat shops in the city sometimes include free bags to prevent meat drips. In addition, the young lady at the register asked for my ID with the credit card purchase. Therefore, bring an ID, just in case.