One stop shop

Good food in Reno is on the rise, and new stores like Butcher Boy Prime are the answer to everyone’s question: Where can you buy good quality meat? I think with growing health concerns, people are becoming more conscious of what they’re putting into their bodies, and it’s locally owned and run businesses that are bringing it to the table.

Butcher Boy’s location in Sparks, off Rock Boulevard, has long brought quality meats and gourmet items to the area while still maintaining an old-fashioned butcher appeal. But it’s in Sparks, and in this case, two locations are better than one.

Meat is not the only thing you can buy at the new, bigger Butcher Boy. This store is designed to procure every ingredient necessary to put together a fantastic meal, without having to drive laps around town finding each ingredient. As the family cook, I have grown tired of having to travel from one location to another to put together family feasts.

Butcher Boy Prime has seafood, produce, cheese, wine, a deli and a huge selection of every kind of meat you can imagine, including dry aged beef on display. There is also an exhibition kitchen/tasting room and a dining area upstairs where you can take a break and enjoy a meal from the deli—no doubt the coolest new food “mecca” in Reno.

I was preparing a feast for my mom and my girlfriend’s mom for Mother’s Day, and I knew that this would be the perfect spot to get some “big ass pork chops,” as my good friend Mark the Greek would say. Good luck finding them anywhere else in town. I called ahead—which I recommend—and placed my order for a dozen bone-in pork chops cut two inches thick. It was no problem. I think this is the best way to get exactly what you want, without waiting.

When I arrived the next day to pick up the pork, I was blown away by the store: It’s beautiful, and it’s huge. The meat and seafood department is gigantic, and it has a display case of dry aged beef, showing what the meat looks like throughout the aging process. As I gazed around the store, I was stunned by how well planned this place really is. The wine department is impressive, too. It has a tasting area that I can tell is already a huge hit with the locals.

Wayne in the butcher shop helped me get my pork chops. It came to 60 bucks for a dozen huge chops ($4.49 per pound). Sixty bucks may sound like a lot of money to pay for some pork chops, but it’s actually very reasonable considering the quality and the fact that they were for 12 people. To me, the price of meat at Butcher Boy includes professional service, which is almost unheard of at meat markets today. With more than 30 years of experience in Sparks and Reno, I think these guys know what they are doing.

The Mother’s Day party went over perfectly, and everybody commented on how they were the best pork chops they ever had. It’s exciting to see new spots like Butcher Boy Prime in Reno raising the level of quality food to a new par.