Meaty man

I can’t believe I’d never been to this place before. I have really been missing out. Butcher Boy is a one-stop wonderland for meat lovers. It’s an old-school butcher’s shop, grocery, deli and full-service caterer, serving all your meat needs in one place. It’s a real meat market in the traditional sense (although considering how busy it was when we visited, it might not be a bad place to meet people either).

The deli sandwiches are conveniently divided up between “cold” and “hot” sandwiches. I went “hot.” My friend Dan went “cold.” Both of us, however, went pastrami. Dan had the deli sandwich ($4.29) with pastrami and Monterey Jack on rye. I had the grilled pastrami ($5.69) with Swiss and onions on sourdough. The sandwiches are big, with the tasty, freshly carved meat piled unbelievably high on freshly baked bread. The sandwiches are so big and filling that the staff applauds you if you’re able to finish one.

I’m actually having trouble writing this now, the day after my visit, because my stomach is crying out in longing for another one of those delicious sandwiches. I regret having eaten the whole thing because I could be eating the second half right now, but, at the time, I just couldn’t help myself. It was too good. A more conservative diner, however, will be able to stretch one of those sandwiches out for two or three days worth of satisfying lunches. Actually, come to think of it, Dan took half of his sandwich home, and he’s probably eating it right now, savoring every tasty bite, the lucky bastard!

A sandwich comes with a side of salad or chips. I had the macaroni salad, which complemented the sandwich nicely. Lunch overall was terrific, but a big part of the appeal of Butcher Boy is just shopping the aisles and the butcher’s display cases. There’s a lot to see and savor, and, because ’tis the damned season, you’ll have no trouble finding gifts for the foodie in your family.

In the display cases, there are rabbits, pork kidneys, pigs’ feet, ostrich, buffalo, innumerable kinds of sausage, a wide range of seafood and poultry and pretty much everything else you can think of. And there’s nowhere better to go for a good lunch when you need to pick up your holiday goose.

There’s a wide variety of beer, wine and liquor. There are all kinds of garlic seasonings and barbecue sauces, and it’s a hot sauce lover’s haven, with rows and rows of bottles adorned with tacky names—See Dick Burn and Burn in Hell, Osama—and tasteless artwork encouraging culinary masochism.

Butcher Boy is a family-owned operation, run by the aptly named Jolly family, which has been masterfully carving local meat for generations.