Shields Meat Market

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OPEN NOW - Closes at 7:00pm

OK Shields, I am finally done with you. During prior transactions, both hubby and I have endured condescending behavior and a general lack of customer service from the owner.But to be told to my face - while asking questions about cuts of brisket and balking at buying a 12 lb. one for my family of 1.5 meat eaters - "You're not a meat connoisseur - why am I even wasting my time" (and there is not another person in the store), well that's the last straw. I promise he doesn't have to worry about wasting his time with me anymore!

Old fashioned meat markets are a rare gem to find these days and this little meat market can be even harder to find. It is tucked inside the Emory Village CVS, hidden in plain sight. And while while this meat market does produce some of the best tasting meats money can buy, customers need to be wary when shopping here to make sure they are getting what they pay for.



Owner Geoff Irwin is a highly skilled butcher who cuts some of the best tasting steaks in Atlanta. Why do they taste better? Because the beef is dry aged. And while dry aging makes beef taste fantastic, it is a very inefficient system that produces a lot of waste. To make up for the wastes Geoff charges a steep price, but that is often not enough to bring in the profit margins he wants. ALWAYS make sure you ask to see the meats you order on the scale at the quoted price, if you do not, you may be charged a higher price, be given more meat than you asked for, or both. You will get great steaks at Shields Meat Market but you are going to have to pay high for them, often higher than you bargain for.



Also be vary wary of non beef items such as chicken. The chicken at Shields is a very tasty, all natural, local chicken, that comes at a steep price. The chicken is highly marked up from cost even though there is no little to no waste produced and like the beef an extra trick may be added to up the price again. All the whole chickens, or cut up fryers sold are weighted and priced with a bag of giblets inside the chicken. Then the customer is asked if they want to keep the giblets. If they say no, then giblets are set aside and later sold to restaurants or customers wanting all natural meats to feed their pets. But the original customer always pays for the giblets wether they want them or not.



The vast majority of customers who place orders for turkeys request all natural, free range, organic, and/or fresh never frozen turkeys. Geoff Irwin, the owner, will tell the customers that the turkeys meet that criteria if he feels he needs to do so to make the sale, however the turkeys sold at Shields do no meet all, or sometimes any of the criteria requested for, and paid for by the customers. ALL OF THE TURKEYS AT SHIELDS MEAT MARKET ARE PREVIOUSLY FROZEN. Period. No matter what you are told by the owner or clerk. The turkeys sold at Shields Meat Market are mostly Butterball or Carolina brand turkeys. The turkeys are thawed, weighted and priced in the original packaging, and often padded by at least one pound, removed from the original packaging, and repackaged in a plain plastic bag so the customer cannot tell if it is organic, all natural, free range, fresh never frozen, or etc. Turkeys are currently going for $3.29 a pound at Shields, a price a person would expect to pay for all natural, fresh turkeys, but are in fact the same turkeys that are sold at Walmart for a fraction of the price.