I know many people on the wine boards have ordered from Bryan. I never have, though I’ve considered it from time to time.
His website is impressive and clearly he’s got a passion and a premium product. However, assuming the CA Reserve line is grass fed, prime meat, and I plan to order a 2-3" thick porterhouse, we’re talking about $90 before overnight shipping of something like $50. That’s $140 for 1 steak. Is it really worth it?
Are there “Bryan Flannery” meat purveyors closer to the east coast that I don’t know about?
Would like to have a source for special occasions, but this seems pretty rich.
“Is it worth it?” is a personal proposition on value, hard to answer that question. I think Bryan’s product is second to none and well worth the premium. I order from him every couple of months, but shipping to me isn’t so bad. I don’t order from the website, I just call him and ask him to send me whatever looks great. He never disappoints.
I’d suggest just doing two day air. It’s really well insulated. Stuff comes cold to me.
Also CA reserve is not grass fed. Tough to get grass fed prime, the marbling just doesn’t occur. Also there is much better value in ordering more due to the shipping costs. His shipping tends to be pretty static.
John, the way you pose the question, no, no steak is worth $90. But I agree with the comments about loading up to save on shipping. A lot of goodness fits in that little insulated styro shipper. We place an order every few months for an assortment of steaks, caps, hangers, short ribs, and burger(s). The Wagyu sliders are awesome. Actually, all of the Helluva Deal items are excellent. We tried the filet tails for the first time last weekend and they were fantastic. You’ll find a lot of threads on this board with good info if you search “Flannery.”
The shipping costs are high but you are shipping a fresh product across the country. We usually buy a bunch with a few friends and that helps. However, ordering meat of this quality and then complaining about shipping costs is a little like buying a Ferrari and complaining about the price of gas!
The beef is the best you will have and Bryan’s customer service is even better. I have visited with Bryan in CA and his passion for what he does is amazing. It is expensive especially with shipping but it is worth it IMO. The ribcap is something you have to try.
Depends on what your buying. If it some of the “Helluva deal” items, it may be already frozen, however, I have received non-frozen/fresh product as well.
if you ordered the “hell of a deal”, which I think are $20 a rib eye, they sometimes will come frozen, in fact it’s advertised as frozen. If it’s fresh sliced at the $30/lb mark, i’ve never seen it frozen before.