Windsor Meats

Needed some meat for my Valentine's day dinner (who can afford to eat out nowadays...). Google advised me the closest store were Rio Friendly Meats and Windsor Meats. I walked into Rio and walked out to Windsor. Upon entering I was greeted by the butcher Gavin. Right off the bat he asked what I was looking and I said meat to which he replied 'we have a few of those here haha'. Funny guy. Anyways, I asked for short ribs without looking at the display to which Gavin promptly told me they MAY still have some and that he'll check in the back. Fingers crossed he may have a hidden slab for my red wine braised short ribs dish. I wandered through the shop. Noticed how clean, organized and we'll lit and laid out the products were. To my surprise, there was even meat & bones labelled for dogs available. Gavin returned carrying a vacuum sealed bag and asked how I wanted them cut. My good friend recommended me I have them 'English style' to which he nodded in approval. The butcher showed me the product doubled checked that his cut was what I wanted. Gavin was friendly, kind and treated me (and the customers that came in after me) with the utmost courtesy and respect; didn't belittle or embarass me for not knowing my meats and somewhat educated me through the process. Prior to leaving, I asked if he was one of the shop owners ('cause IMO his demeanour and how he showed he cared) and he simply replied "I'm just one of the butchers". Humble dude. Windsor meats, you have my business and will pass on my experience to who will listen.

Been coming for quite a few years. Always have a great experience. Today I got frozen dog food and they packed it up in portions. So convenient!! Thanks !! This is why I support local businesses!!

Nice staff, handy location and great they open on Sundays. It’s pretty pricey though. Hanger steak clocked in at 30% more than for similar quality at Windsor Quality Meats (the similar names are just a coincidence) on Main St.

The staff was very unfriendly and impatient. The meat sticks are overpriced and Landjäger and Beerstick are way too soft. The turkey pepperoni stick was very unpleasant.

Really great local farm-raised butcher shop. Love the selection, cuts, and the quality. I’d really love if society brought butcher shops like this back into mainstream — where we could all buy our meats — rather than our industrial meat industry we typically buy from at grocery stores. I’ll definitely be back to support Windsor Meats. One request — I would love if the prices could go down a little, but of course the high quality matches the price.

I like Windsor meats (Main Street) and visit about once a month. This visit I asked for a 4” striploin off the slab but cut it short. For some reason they kept asking me “That’s a lot are you sure that’s what you want?” Yes that’s what I want. In fact I even said “Cut bigger than you THINK, just don’t cut it short.” It took them four tries. Legit I don’t know why they just didn’t measure. Next time I’ll make the trip to Columbus. *Google prompted me to Hastings location but that was incorrect*

Really awesome staff, friendly and knowledgeable. High quality cuts at reasonable prices. Highly recommend the crab cakes, as well as their beef kebabs and pepperoni sticks! Thanks for keeping our plates well rounded and delicious Windsor.

Love supporting local, ethical, and sustainable butchers. Ever since I cooked my first Windsor chicken breast, I haven’t had a second thought to go anywhere else. they serve the highest quality and the staff are very kind and approachable.

This is such a special place, the meat we chose was wonderful. I don't know if anywhere in the valley can provide this good of flavour. The minute this hit the pan we new it would be incredible!

Love this place. I wish all meat was as as good as Windsor's, both in quality for us human and for the sake of the animals. You always know that the meat there is of higher quality and ethically raised. They also have a great selection of interesting things like wild boar and venison as well. They sell bone broth, pre made stews, various gourmet oils and condiments. The service is professional and friendly.

I remember the first time coming by this place, after they changed the name, and one of the guys working here had a BBQ going... it was raining yet he was just roasting some sausages for anyone who was willing to trek through this rain along Hastings. That was awhile back, and now this place has been another go to in terms of fine meat products for me. Last time I came with a 'nomnomnivore' as she had some grocery shopping to do and wanted some premium sausages for a brunch she was cooking up... as she was hanging with me, and this is my hood, this was where we were going to go! I guess I haven't been here in awhile as I see a funky hipster individually bulb lit 'BACON' sign on the backend. It was early on a Saturday and everytime you come in here, everything in the meat fridge while you window shop looks fresh and screams buy me now and bring me home to eat! From your raw meats, to ground meat in tube form, this place is ready to serve your ethical meat needs, they also have cold cuts like prociutto too. Just going through a list of goodies they have here.... dry aged beef, multiple different cuts of beef, veal, poultry (if the red meat doesn't jive with you), lamb, pork, exotic meats... even 'CUTE BUNNY' I found in the freezer, bison, elk, frozen pies, flours, cheeses, sauces, even syrup in this tiny little place, and a staff that understands where their stuff is from, you will be taken care of. Our sausages were great, a definite reason to return alone even if you buy nothing else, wished that one of them didn't burst out of the casing while cooking it, but obviously the meaty goodness wanted to bust right out, and some knifework had to be done to make a picture perfect presentation at brunch the next day. If you live around the Hastings-Sunrise area here's another good grocery shopping place to hit up your protein needs!

This is a fine butcher shop, and I mean that in two senses. I say that because you can find specialty and/or artisan meat and side products. However, the prices are quite high. Don't expect to save or be economical by purchasing products here. I like the selection of meats, whether it's blueberry infused farmer sausage grown locally, or it's a bit of bison, elk or crocodile meat. You can definitely attribute variety to this place. Also, all the meat is very fresh, whether you purchase it frozen or raw. As for other products, you can find different types of quality pasta, condiments and local cheeses or pates, etc. They have quite an extensive selection of sauces for the variety of meats. It can be a bit overwhelming and confusing, but the staff is friendly and ready to help. I like to come here every once in a while for a special treat or to spice up my food fare at home. It's a must-visit-at-least-once kinda place, but I'll continue to pop in every once in awhile.

Windsor Meat Co. has taken over where Moccia Urbani had their location on E. Hastings in Vancouver's East Village. They still carry some of Moccia's products (that was the deal,) including the Risottoballs but they also have a full line of their own quality meat products including their own line of sausages. We were addicted to Moccia's sausages, so now we've tried a variety of Windsor Meats sausages. They're pretty tasty and an easy meal to make. UPDATE: I've been a regular now at this new East Village shop since they opened and overall I'm satisfied but I admit my preference will remain for the previous owners products. Windsor's sausages are more rustic and Moccia's had more fresh herbs. Also the price is kind of out of step with the area. I mean, hello-? -we're not in West Van over here. Organic eggs by the dozen will set you back nearly 7 bucks and the bacon is priced for royalty. But the service is friendly, the shop is always tidy and clean and It's great that they're open 7 days a week.

I've only shopped here a handful of times, the employees having been friendly and professional each time. I decided to write this review, though, because I was thoroughly impressed by the woman working there today and her ability to keep calm/not punch anyone in the face. While I'd much prefer to review the customer she was dealing with and perhaps school him on how to treat human beings with respect and kindness, I will say that the employee in question had to listen to a man berate her the entire time I was in the shop (for reasons that did not warrant berating), including but not limited to threatening to write a poor review on this website/app. Said employee not only displayed saintly behaviour by preparing this dude's order without rebuttal, she also made sure I was attended to. I'm sorry that you had to deal with that today. 5 stars for the excellent customer service (bonus stars for the metal music).

Their pepperoni selection is pretty good but it's pricey. We also bought a couple of small grass fed rib eye steaks for about $13 each. I have never had worst quality of beef in my life, nor paid such a premium. They were so tough, it was barely edible. We specifically went to buy meat there as we thought it would be better quality then what we would find at the grocery store next door, and we celebrating our anniversary so wanted to splurge and even bought a nice bottle of wine to go with the steak. The meat was such an incredible disappointment it kind of ruined the evening because I didn't even eat it because the meat was so tough.

I'm a bit of a connosieur when it comes to a good steak. I've visited many butchers all over Vancouver looking for a good dry age steak and I decided to give this place a try on a recommendation. I was NOT dissapointed. Let me tell you, for those who have not had a dry aged steak, there is a BIG difference in taste. Dry aged beef has a more intense flavour and it's not even necessary to use spice or gravy to jazz it up. The flavour really comes out on its own. On the other hand, regular beef requires careful seasoning and preparation in order to make it palatable. I picked up a nice chunk of dry aged steak that was cut for me on the spot. It was a fairly large portion for $30. I'd say the price was A BIT more than what I paid for at other butchers (for a dry aged cut). Maybe 5% more expensive.. but the taste was MORE than worth it. This was THE Best steak I ever had. It was sooo easy to cook. It didn't require any special seasoning, I just threw it on the frying pan with a bit of salt / pepper on each side and let it sear for a few minutes. The meat came out soo tender, and flavourful. This is one of the benefits of the dry aging process, it breaks down the protein making it much softer. I've had dry aged steaks from a couple of other butches around town and I found them to have more of a "gamey" flavour. Some would mistake it for the meat "going bad". But the steak I had at Windsor was PERFECT. Not "stanky" at all. This has definitely become my go-to place for high end steak that's super easy to cook. Oh, the people there are very nice and helpful as well. Top notch staff that knows what they're selling.

This is one of my favourite butchers in Vancouver. All of the staff here are amazing and I always have a lovely time chatting with them. As for their products, I recommend the bone-in ribs Maui ribs, hangar steaks, and skirt steaks. They also have one of the more unique selection of sausages as far as butchers go, including truffle sausages, ghost pepper sausages (ultra spicy!), wagyu sausages, texas hot link sausages (also spicy!), and a dark almost black coloured sausage that I haven't seen since last year that tasted tremendous (hope it makes a comeback soon).

Not a bad little butcher shop. I went in the other day looking for some corse ground brisket or Chuck. But of course they did not have any. So I was just gonna grab some regular 80/20 ground and add some pork fat for flavor and moisture. When I mentioned what I was doing with the ground beef, the big English guy behind the counter said screw that let me grind you some brisket and Chuck fresh. HELL YEAH I SAID. Super nice guys that work there. And he said next time just call ahead and we will have it ready for you. I will be back. Minus 1 star as it was a little pricey, and there was membrane in my ground beef. But that was easily removed.

Terrible service at this location. I have been going to windsors for the past year to get my meats, both the one on Main and the one in Kerrisdale, and this one has terrible customer service. They are both operated by different owners (brothers I think), and i've experienced great customer service at both of them, expect this one. My partner and I both just moved into the hasting-sunrise neighbourhood and have had bad experiences with sour faces and bad attitude's. I went on a 9:30 morning run to go pick up some bacon, and arrived at this location only to find no hours posted outside and was completely ignored by the person in there after 10 straight minutes of knocking trying to wave at him and signal "what time do you open". I even went to the back and he still didnt open the door to answer. He was unpacking things, and to his fairness he was busy, but he was completely rude and ignored me without decency to courtesy signal or open the door to answer 9:30, or 10. This was the absolute last straw of a string of bad experience's with their front of house staff. I will avoid going to this windsor when I can now.

This is a knowledgeable butcher if I ever met one, and I like hearing his take on which meats are in supply/demand and why. Best place for organic soup bones - I used to go to Pasture to Plate, but they were always sold out. This place has a great selection and seems to keep things turned around quickly.

I initially discovered Windsor Meats at a whisky tasting event about 6 years ago. They were serving up some of their hand crafted sausage, love. Since then I've lived in all 4 corners of Vancouver.... Windsor seems to be following me around as I just moved to the Hasting Sunrise area and lo and behold..... Windsor Meats. Everyone here knows their product and have been very helpful with such questions as "what should I eat for dinner". Seems the Hastings location has an awesome European staff and one fellow I recognize from the North Van shop. Keep it up guys!

they ran out of their ''soup of the day'' which was suppose to be chicken chipotle. So i got a bowl of potato, leak and bacon soup instead. There was no one in the store yet it took 10 minutes before i could get the soup. Not to mention the lady didnt seem bothered that they didnt have what i really wanted. The soup was mostly broth, barely any condiments, not filling, very dissapointing. I also got a 250 ml lemonade made out of sugar cane. For the small size it was quite expensive, 3 dollars to be exact. So in total i spent 7 dollars and i left very dissapointed. I was going to try a sandwich but they were 10 dollars or so. No way was i going to waste more money.

Happy to find this place since it's a short drive from where I live. They have excellent quality meat which is important to me since I eat Paleo. A previous review did mention the price being a bit steep. As with any non medicated/ organic meat you definitely pay a premium for good quality. To be honest I'm willing to pay more for some excellent quality meat (you can taste the difference!) and eat out less.

We were lucky enough to move within walking distance of this great store. The service is great and all the staff are super knowledgeable. The meat is amazing and a great variety of cuts and meats. A little on the expensive side but you know the meat is always top notch. If you want to impress, buy from Windsor.