Bud’s Custom Meats

We recently ordered some delicious jerky and I realized that I had not left a review yet! We’ve been ordering from Bud’s for years and will continue to do so even though we don’t live in state or country at times. We are a military family and have lived/​traveled all over Europe and the majority of the United States. Bud’s is our go to butcher (when we are in the states) and we order the jerky even when we aren’t. We’ve never had any problems with their service or their product. Top notch! We appreciate that they willingly ship to us whenever we need it. I recently ordered a big batch of jerky for an upcoming field problem and the jerky was at our door in two days! We also send the jerky to other family members in the military and they love it! They ask for it every time we mention we are putting in an order. We’ve sent it to Italy, Afghanistan, Germany, and a few different states.
When we are in Iowa, the meat packages you can buy (bulk) are well worth the money. The value and quantity you get are incredible. You won’t find anything even close at Hy-​Vee. The taste and quality of the meat is outstanding — the best we’ve ever had. I often would call and ask for bones for broth and soups and they’d happily oblige me. I’d have them in a day or so. The flavor of my soups was outstanding. I wish we could take bud’s with us every where we travel!

My loved and trusted local butcher retired in 2012, and I was looking for a new one. My old butcher always sold me a side of beef or a roll, cutting it so I could have a standing rib roast of about 10 lbs. He would cut the fat cap and tie it all together for me, and I have never had such flavorful and tender meat. But in 2013, I needed a new source for my standing rib for Christmas Day.
Everyone raves about Bud’s Custom Meats — good product, reasonably priced. I called in November and ordered a 10 lb. roast for pick up the week before Xmas. I was quoted a price of $ 6.40 per pound, which sounded good since everyone else was asking around $ 9. I agreed to the order and set up a date to get it.
Two days before I was supposed to pick up the meat, I called them to verify that the roast would be ready. The person I spoke to seemed to have no clue what I was asking — bad sign. I repeated my order, and set up a day to receive it.
I went out to Bud’s to get the order, and it was busy. Lots of people were there, and they were overwhelmed. When I got to the counter, they pulled up a bag with the roast in it — vacuumed packed in plastic. They gave me a total which meant they were charging me $ 9 per pound, not the lower price I had been quoted. I tried to get them to pull Bud out of the office to talk with me, but he was clearly both busy and irritable, and I had to be home. I paid, and left, hoping the roast would at least be tasty.
It wasn’t. It was tasteless and tough. It had not been tied as it should have been, and had the consistency and flavor of the plastic it had been wrapped in. Bleh.
I had hoped to shift my business to Bud’s, even to start ordering a side of beef every year or so. But the way I was overcharged, tossed off with a poor quality product, and ignored, I think I’ll keep looking for a butcher.