Mario and Sons Meat Market

Best place to buy meat in the area at very affordable prices. If I can help it, I buy neat from no one else. Many thanks to Mario and his family for preserving that old Brooklyn feel.

Asked for a ground blend of chuck, short rib, and oxtail. Apparently, they did not have short rib or oxtail, but rather than tell us that, Mario thought he could give me chicken steak instead, assuming I wouldn’t know the difference. It wasn’t until it was all packaged, and I asked which the cuts were that he had out on the block (clearly not short rib and oxtail) that he admitted that they didn’t have the cuts I requested and so he replaced them with chicken steak. Understandable that they didn’t have them, but anyone with a grain of ethics would have been honest, and asked what else I might want. It was completely unprofessional to try to scam me.

I went to Mario and Sons with a friend of mine looking for a specific blend of ground steaks (we operate a pop-​up steak restaurant in Brooklyn). We went up to the counter, and asked Mario if we could have a 4 pound blend of ground chuck, ground short rib, and ground oxtail. He brought us over to his butcher block, and started cutting up some steak.
Halfway through cutting up our order, I notice that he hasn’t brought out any oxtail, and is already starting to grind the meat. I ask him, «Where is the oxtail?» He responds, «No oxtail, oxtail frozen. This chicken steak, this better than oxtail.» We chose oxtail because of it’s flavor and fat content. Chicken steak comes from the shoulder, and is a vastly inferior cut. Plus, he never told us he was out of oxtail until this moment, so unless I spotted it, I would have likely been sold a different cut of meat than the one I requested.
Since we thought we had the other two cuts, we thought our burgers would still be okay (albeit not the level that we would like them to be). I was still pretty suspicious though, because I only saw him cut up the chicken steak.
We are led to the counter, and I ask the man who is checking us out, «What cuts are in here?» He checks with Mario, and Mario says, «Chuck and Chicken Steak.» My friend and I are dumbfounded. Not only did he not tell us he was out of oxtail, he also did not tell us he was out of short rib, and tried to sell us a vastly inferior blend. We couldn’t believe it.
Unfortunately, we were desperate for the ground beef, and reluctantly paid for this blend we did not ask for. No apologies were made, and no excuses were given, so I thought that it would be fair to leave this review. I will never go back to Mario and Sons, and will tell everyone that I know about my experience here. You have been warned.

Excellent quality and service! Popped in yesterday to pick up some steaks for the new year. We were greeted immediately and got beautiful ribeyes cut fresh right in front of us. The price and quality of the meat are unbeatable, I’ll definitely be going back. Family run store, great atmosphere nothing you get at a grocery store will compare

I always order burgers for my BBQs here. Mario makes a nice fatty grind. Call ahead and he will have them made and waiting for you. Better price than a supermarket.

Far better meat at a better price than the grocery store. Mario and his son were very gregarious and helpful.

Top meat shop in the area. Mario and his sister are the best! Prices are so close to wholesale it seems almost impossible.

This is the best butcher in New York. Although it does not display lot of meat, it has a big back space closed to the public where he keeps everything you may need. I have never been disappointed. I trust him so much that I buy raw meat for tartar. I wouldn’t buy it anywhere else but here.

Amazing! Mario and Sons is not only sells amazing products but also is a customer service experience that is so rare. I had family in town and was in need of great quality pork tenderloin. I called late on a Sunday not knowing they were closed. Mario answered the phone, and told me to come by and call him when I was there. I did, and he came down and OPENED the store for me! Not only was I so grateful for the service but the tenderloin was excellent. This is truly a rare gem that is refreshing and certainly hard to come by these days. We also just picked up our T-​Day bird and its so fresh. Mario and Sons is perfection.

This place is awesome. I used to live in the outskirts of Rome, Italy, and this butcher shop is identical to what you would find there, complete with the chest hair bearing old man covered in a white-​blood stained apron. I like the way all of the non-​meat products are just thrown all over the place with random prices written on them. I come here to buy stuff that I remember buying in Italian supermarkets. He also sells very nice olive oil at a decent price (I saw the same bottle in a local hipster supermarket for $ 7 more). Of course, the meat is top notch, and the prices are excellent, so low you think they made a mistake. I highly recommend the homemade sausages. Mario invited me to watch the Italy vs England World Cup game in his shop, but I regretfully had to decline.

i go all the time. yeah, the beef is aged for sure. But it’s GOOOD. and it supports local business. Mario could not be a sweeter guy.

Mario was sent from meat heaven! This place is the greatest meat place I have ever found. For years I would go to the Meat Hook, though I always found their prices to be incredibly too much.
Mario has a huge selection of locally raised meat. Just ask him he will tell you where its from. I regularly get pork chops and the most amazing slab bacon that can ever touch ones lips.
Mario is great to talk too. Sometimes his accent can get in the way. But if you say the word «bacon», youll be fine. His cute tiny wife, is always on a step stool making ground meat and sausage.
Its cash only!!! But $ 20 can get you enough meat for a week.
If this place had a bar, I would never leave
Dont waste your BBQ money anyplace else!

Mario may have just sold me the best filet I’ve ever cooked at home, and possibly among the best filets I’ve had ever. And his son runs the fish market across the street. I will be back over and over again — this I promise.

I’ve gone here twice and am planning to be a regular customer here. Partly because of the customer service, mainly because of the cuts of meat. This place is a very intimate little butcher shop. There’s no reason to be intimidated to come in here as Mario is very friendly and helpful.
Mario helped us both times, was very friendly, and gave us great deals. We’ve gotten the filet mignon, rib eye and porterhouse steaks. It ranges about $ 10-​$ 14 a pound, which I think is decent for prime meat. My boyfriend considers himself a steak connoisseur so he didn’t want to get his meat from the grocery stores. We were on the search for prime meat and we ended up finding this little gem. Every time we’ve gotten steak from here the steaks were very good cuts with good marbling. I’d highly recommend this place.

I came here looking for the type of ham one could use to make a honey baked ham. Having no experience or knowledge of what this should look like uncooked, they sold me what I now believe was a pig, but definitely not the part one cooks to make a honey baked ham. It was too tough. While the counter staff was nice, I wish I would have been sold what I asked for or told they didn’t have it. When all is said and done the meat was good. I was just a bit disappointed that our Easter ham wasn’t exactly what we wanted. If you go to Mario and Sons, do your homework and know exactly what you want so you don’t get sold a piece of meat you don’t really want.

I get my steaks, olives, and fresh mozz from these guys, and anytime I need some unusual cut, Mario has it.
Meat prices are near wholesale.
Around Easter they get in whole lambs and imported Italian cakes.

Being a NYC native, it’s nice to see traces of old school Brooklyn still left in areas that are gentrifying so fast that our heads are spinning. I live right around the corner (on Leonard Street) from Mario & Sons and I’ve walked by it many times. There’s no confusion whatsoever that this is an old school, no-​nonsense Italian family-​run butchery. They list every single meat they carry in bold font on colorful paper taped in the window.
I’m so used to just picking up meat out of the freezer aisle at Key Food and Associated that it was kind of intimidating to visit a meat market. But I finally built up the nerve one day after my girlfriend and I saw the sun out on beautiful summer Saturday and decided we wanted to grill burgers.
I’m not really familiar when it comes to ordering meat in ounces. So I asked the stern, older gentleman behind the counter to give me enough beef for four patties. He went to the counter and cut off some nice, fresh sirloin (great red hue) and ground it fresh right before my eyes. I wish I could remember what the weight was but we later discovered that it perfectly made four equal patties. Thick patties, too. The price was very good as well. I plan on going back for steaks when the mood hits me.
And for all of you complaining about the terse customer service, I kindly request that you grow a pair. Ladies too. I know it’s located in pretty East Williamsburg, but it’s still Brooklyn. God forbid you get a little taste of what old Brooklyn is like. Go in with some confidence whether you know what you want or not (but I suggest you have somewhat of a game plan). This is intermediate to expert level meat purchasing.

My new go-​to for meat in the neighborhood. I grill frequently & love that Mario cuts the meat to-​order. I’ll have to try the rabbit to see how it compares to the rabbit I usually buy in Flushing @ the Chinese markets.

This place is a great, family-​run shop!!! It’s sad that fewer and fewer of these places exist anymore. I am soooo happy to have found it and have been a regular for 6 months or so now.
Great cuts of meat… much better than you’ll get at any of the grocery stores in the neighborhood and at a competitive price (if not cheaper, in some cases).
Don’t forget to grab some fresh mozzarella for caprese on the way out!!!

So… I had to update. My romantic notions of the great «local Italian» butcher are gone…
I went in with my nephew to get another filet to BBQ. This time it wasnt «old school» it was just old. It was near closing and he had to come out of the back to help me. He went into the meat locker to see if he had an open tenderloin. He did. When he brought it out both my nephew and I could smell it… But we were thinking, «this guy is a pro. He wouldn’t sell us bad meat». How wrong we were. Got home and it smelled a little off, but being dumb guys and hungry we decided that it must be okay. After being grilled it still tasted like it smelled… No good. So… No steaks for the boys that night.
Too bad… I love to support local businesses, but not at the risk of food poisoning!