Springfield Butcher

Groupon users beware! An unexpected trip to care for an ailing relative meant that my Groupon expired last week. I figured that the Groupon promise that the voucher was like cash or a gift card, paid in full for the face value, would buy their merchandise. Wrong. I slogged through pre-​Thanksgiving traffic, only to discover they couldn’t be bothered to honor expired Groupons until the Saturday after Thanksgiving, even though it’s just as quick to scan them as a credit card. If you have a Groupon, expired or not, I suggest you call them just before you leave to verify they’re taking them that day, and get the name of the person you talked to. Otherwise, you may find yourself with a worthless piece of paper in your hand.

We’ve been coming to Springfield Butcher for over 30 years. It has always been a top notch, first class butcher shop in every way. Regardless of whether you get fish or meat you’ll always be pleased with your choice. Their «city chickens» and «lamb patties» are unique offerings that are sure to please. The boneless babybacks are unbelievable if you cook them slowly on the grill. My wife and I find the staff to be outstanding in every way. Stop by, you won’t be disappointed.

Recently stopped here with a Groupon. The staff was friendly and helpful. We purchased stuffed porkchops, a stuffed chicken breast, and some fancy bacon. Quality was good, though a little heavy on the stuffing for my taste. Will definitely be back. (Tip: Make sure to have a few bucks in cash if you have a Groupon and go a couple bucks over. They prefer cash for purchases under $ 15.)

Great crab cakes and fresh wild salmon and seafood. Don’t go there without a groupon. Longer lines on Saturday. Great to support a family owned business.

I always use my Groupons because, why not? Staff is very friendly and it’s very clean in there. The meats are fresh. I always get the stuffed pork chop… can I just oink! So so good! I was hesitant at first but, rest assured I am a believer of the stuffed chop. The crab cakes are really good too as well as the chicken wings!

I went to Springfield Butcher to redeem a voucher on 6÷19÷15. I had been to Springfield Butcher before and really enjoyed their crab cakes. (I like to freeze them and break them up into my pasta dishes.)
The customer service is average at this location. However I don’t think you can expect anymore. I don’t know anyone who goes to a butcher shop to hang around. In fact as a pescetarian the raw meat slightly grosses me out so I prefer to be in and out.
Springfield Butcher is well organized and I can only speak to the prices regarding fish. I think they’re prices for fish are average to above average. However, with the voucher it a really great deal (and why I go out of my way to stop by).
In a nutshell, if you’d need to pick up something to grill and don’t feel like waiting in the long grocery store lines Springfield Butcher is a nice option in the area.

I want to only buy meat from HERE from now on. They are knowledgeable and the selection is amazing. I picked up some lamb kebobs, steaks, pork chops and alligator. I am excited to go back and become a regular. I highly recommend it.

Cons:
1. This store has fallen into a bit of a Groupon trap. It would seem the majority of their sales are from Groupon customers, and that they have been forced to raise prices to account for this. Prices at a butcher should be more expensive, but this level of inflation is inappropriate for the meat offered.
2. An additional part of the Groupon trap, is that the store has employed tricks to get you to spend more.
The first is that you have to spend a certain dollar value to use a debit/​credit card. So if you have a $ 30 Groupon, but get $ 37 worth of meats, you will have to spend an additional $ 8 to use your card unless you brought in cash. The store is relying on most people not having cash, and most people being unwilling to cancel parts of their order that have been wrapped and packaged. The store could just make the minimum something smaller like $ 3.00 to account for the service charge, rather than have such a high minimum transaction amount.
The second is that they will not work in dollars when placing an order, only pounds. You can’t ask for $ 30 in ground beef, you have to give them a weight. I have heard a customer ask for a dollar value in meat, only to receive a snarky, «I don’t work in dollars, only in pounds.»
3. The quality of the meat is not impressive. These cuts resemble store brand items. They may have less water weight and dyes and such, but they are not high-​end cuts by any means. If the meats were dry-​aged properly, or of higher quality than the grocery store, then the high prices would be acceptable. However, paying a high price for similar quality meat to that of the grocery store is foolish for anyone without a Groupon.
4. The staff is incredibly rude. I have seen people talked down to like they are idiots for all manner of simple things. From people not knowing that the chicken breasts don’t automatically come without bones, to people not knowing the difference in cuts of steak. If someone buys a Groupon and comes into your store for the first time, you would be wise to treat them in a manner that makes them want to come back a second time.
5. Terrible seafood.
Pros:
1. They have a variety of meats/​items that you can’t get at the chains. Venison sausage, duck fat, wild boar, etc.
Overall:
The store gets 1 star because if you play it by the rules then you can get out of the store without getting screwed over. The rules are simple.
1. Buy the Groupon.
2. Bring Cash
3. Do the math to get the total cost to come out to the same value or only slightly higher value than the Groupon.
Any method other than this is a waste of your money.

I’ve lived less than a mile away from this store for a year. I am a serious cook. If this business provided even a nominal level of good customer service I would probably spend some serious cash here. I gave them 3 strikes and now I’m out.
I’m not an idiot — don’t look at me like I don’t know what I am talking about. These people are not helpful, not very knowledgeable, and they don’t even have skin-​on pork parts (umm … the best part!).
A brief example of how much they suck at running a business — for Christmas I paid for a prime rib and chose to have it dry aged. I bought it a week early and they told me to come back and pick it up two days before Christmas. When I went in to pick up the roast, the line was out the door and around the corner. ANY OTHER BUSINESS would have had a line for people who paid in full for their orders and had the foresight to get their holiday shopping done in advance. Not Springfield Butcher. I had to get a number and wait in line. I left 4 times to run other errands and then came back to see if I was lucky enough to be close to the front of the line.
Never again. Bottom line — this place doesn’t stock a selection that differs much from the supermarket, the staff are rude and not well versed about meat, and their owners are clearly stupid and don’t implement the most simple of business practices that could win them lifetime customers. So, all you people who go to a butcher for crab cakes — ENJOY!

These guys are awesome. My boyfriend and I make a specialty sausage and I need the meat to fat percent ratio to be exact (secret family recipe), these guys provide exactly that. I call ahead and they either prep the meat to my specifications or I go in store and wait — usually it’s 10 – 15 min wait, depending how busy they are and what they’re grinding.
All the guys are super friendly and helpful. If someone doesn’t have an answer for you, they try to find out for you.
The quality of meat is excellent. I’ve bought steaks, ground meat, crab cakes (as a Marylander, I approve), beef kabobs, chicken and marrow bones. If I lived closer and the paycheck was a bit fatter, I’d shop for meats here all the time. I definitely recommend this place.
Parking if plentiful, however the shopping center is dreadful to get out of during rush hour traffic.

3.5 stars*
The meat selection was okay, but the fact that most groceries stores have more selection made me a little sad. The quality of the meat was pretty good though. So I can’t complain. They also have some specialty items you don’t see everywhere. You can get deer antlers… ground venison… and the list probably goes on but I didn’t venture too deep into the specialty.
The seafood selection is … BAD. Which also made me sad. I went in trying to get two things, lamb and seafood. I left with lamb shanks, ground lamb, and crab cakes. So I got what I wanted but only sort of. I actually wanted to see scallops. but of course they were weirdly tiny or wrapped in bacon. I am not a fan of bacon. There I said it. I don’t like bacon. Send the troops in.
Because of groupon, I’ll be back.

Let’s just get this out of the way… This is not your old fashioned town center neighborhood butcher shop. Do not expect smiling happy helpful service providers eager to answer questions and wanting your repeat business! (They have Groupon newbies!)
So why switch from a grocer? Less fat and waste choices for healthier eating. No meat spoiling before date or that have dyes. Very large selection of meats. Onsite cut and ground meats as well as deboning and skinning if asked. Fresh, so buy only what you eat weekly. Elk, boar, and other game meats. Go to a seafood shop if you want seafood since SB’s is practically nonexistent and it is not what they do best. DO NOT go on weekends as it is very crowded. DO know what you want beforehand because questions obviously annoy the counter staff. (Only smile I’ve ever seen from behind the counter is from the young lady.) DO NOT expect grocer prices because sizing is larger and different. DO NOT ask for selections by the price (i.e. $ 6 worth), but by the pound; the indignant sneer or snarky remarks are not worth it. DO NOT ask questions about cooking or serving size, a cookbook is kinder.
It would be helpful if SB noted the standard size of items like roasts or steaks beside the price per pound tag. This could possibly eliminate all extraneous questions and unnecessary conversation with counter staff from people switching from a grocer. A sign about where the meats come from would be extra nice for religious shoppers and the everyday curious. Increasing the organic/​grass fed meat selection would also be nice.
No, just go into SB because you want more selections of meat. This is not a supermarket, which they may tell you. Do what I do and just hand them a list of items and pounds needed. No conversation required. Reduces upset.

I’ve been wanting to snag one of these Groupons for a while, and was finally able to grab it AND use it. Luckily I was able to visit the store around noon on a weekday so I didn’t have to fight through crowds.
The prices of the Italian sausage and bacon were comparable to high end stores, but the beef (in particular the steaks) was high. 19.99 for NY strips. 2 common NYStrips ran 31.00. Without a Groupon I would not have paid that. The gentleman helping me told me that all steaks were dry aged in house and. sausage ground in house.
I think places like this may have thrived during the age of super walmarts and cheap meat cuts, but as Whole Foods, farmer markets, and other healthier alternatives gain traction they will eventually (if not already) become relics of the past.
As far as the meat went, the steaks were flavorful and thick. I had no complaints about the cut. The bacon was also thick cut, and I have not tried the Italian sweet sausage yet.
They also had wild game.

This place is what I call trendy. No real substance outside of it being «cool» to go to a butcher versus buying your meat from a regular grocery store. When I came in (due to my GroupOn of course), the selection was similar to what you would find at a grocery store. They had a few ‘grass-​fed options’ but I was disappointed because 1) their grass-​fed options were limited and 2) for this to be a small butcher shop, I would think they would list were the meat came from. Is this locally raised meat or the same stuff they are selling at Safeway? There was nothing that explained to me why I should buy my meat there versus the grocery store.
The seafood section was underwhelming. They have very limited options of fresh filleted fish and surprisingly they did not have any whole fish (with head and tail).
What really annoyed me with this place is the crab meat stuffed mushrooms. I asked the worker how should I prepare them and he couldn’t answer. So he went to another worker and came back to me and said «put them in the oven at 325 for 13 – 15 minutes». So the next day I did exactly what he told me to do and the mushrooms looked uncooked. So I left them in the oven for another 15 minutes. Biting into the crab meat stuffed mushroom after 30+ minutes in the oven, all I could taste is fishiness. It had no flavor and was a bit concerning because of how fishy it smelled. We ended up throwing them away.
For the price, this place is not worth it.
Here is my advice, if you come with a GroupOn (or not), bring cash so that you are not forced to spend an additional $ 15 due to their $ 15 credit card limit if you go over your $ 30 GroupOn limit.

We have been there a couple of times, usually due to the Groupons. But they have gotten so crazy about the actual use of them that I not likely to use them. We brought in two, from two different accounts and we wanted to use them by the rules. They said that as long as there were separate transactions, we’d be fine. We were upfront about it. We each spent more than double the face value of the Groupon. The guy who handle us was polite for the most part. I asked my husband a question as we were told that we couldn’t talk to each other for the duration of the transaction. Then after I was rung up and my husband was rung up and I was turning to leave, another employee ran up and said «do you know him?» as if me saying «let’s go» to the car was in violation of their policy.
I understand that people want to promote their business using Groupon, but all too often their approaches to handle abuse alienate customers. I saw it with Papa Petrone’s who got adversarial with people regarding their use of the Groupon. I got so tired of seeing him arguing with people that I quit going. He has since closed his business. I am sad to say I can see it happening here too. They have great meat and, though pricey, the Groupon was enough of an incentive to drive over and stock up. Not after today, however. I doubt I will be back.
Small business, unless you are certain that your use of Groupon or Living Social isn’t going to result in a slew of negative reviews over the approaches you feel you need to take to make it successful, you shouldn’t do it.

The meat we got was pretty good, but some of their prices are a little much, you can get a better deal sometimes elsewhere. The staff was nice and helpful and the service was pretty fast. The good news is they have groupons going on so you can use those to cut some of the costs!

Came here to use a LivingSocial and will definitely be on the lookout for more; I was pleased to find a pretty well-​stocked meat shop. Fair amount of shared parking in the busy plaza lot. Really friendly staff members. The take-​a-​number is on your left as you walk in. Boar bacon, venison sausage, ground buffalo, pheasant, duck, duck fat, oxtails, lamb neck, chicken gizzards. Pricing is a little higher than average but quality looks decent so far– a few beef items on sale, the advertised pulled pork, and hefty pork chops tempted me. $ 15 credit card minimum.

I came here on a sunny Saturday afternoon in October. I would typically get stressed out walking into a crowded butcher with no distinct lines but they have a number system for ordering (comparable to delis) so it made the wait seamless. They have a large variety of grass fed beef but I didn’t see anything organic. I ended up getting two bone in rib-​eyes ($ 45) and some crab cakes. I don’t remember the price on the crab cakes but they were full of lump crab and not a lot of filler. The rib-​eyes were delicious but I could probably get grass-​fed and organic at Whole Foods for the same price. FYI — they’ve been doing living social deals for a while now so be sure to get one of those before you go in to buy anything. I will be back again.

So we were enticed by the Groupon deal, but as soon as we got there, were impressed by the selection. This place has everything from alligator, to duck, quail, chicken livers, dry aged beef, stuffed/​prepared meats, fresh oysters and other seafoods… elk jerky… you name it. For its size, it sure packs in the variety!
Customer service was very good – also a lot of football paraphernalia (pins…) for sale too (haha random, but quirky). They also have turducken for ordering. That… might be something I come back for.
BUT. YOU MUST. you must. come here and get some crab cakes. They are the most legitimate crabcakes I’ve had yet in the DMV area. Of course, you gotta take ‘em home and make them yourself, but they are flavored amazingly and there is no skimp in the crabmeat whatsoever.
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**Reading some others’ reviews, though – I want to confirm they ARE sticklers about the Groupons. Make sure you read the fine print – if you bought more than one $ 15 Groupon (for $ 30), you CAN use them on the same day, but you then have to make a minimum purchase of $ 100. Staff was slightly flustered because we went to redeem the second to last day and «of COURSE there would be no dry-​aged steaks left when a Groupon is about to expire.» **
Totally understandable – I’m sure they get stormed near the expirations. Maybe they’ll be in a better mood the next time I visit without a Groupon to get more crabcakes… mmm can’t wait.

I’ve wanted to stop in here for a long time. I’m really not a foodie — but, all my foodie friends buy here. I came here because … Dietary issues.
Guess who rocks the house? Yeah. Grass fed! Not just the expected beef and pork, but … Venison, bison, pheasant. i almost fell over. Seriously. Getting high grade venison in DC is so underground it’s like you gotta have a friend with a password slip you a pound at a club.
The place is classic butcher shop, run by real men. None of that foolish grocery store nonsense. They know their stuff, too. Complete freezer deals.
So, first purchase with a groupon was a couple of filets. Mine was so tender i barely had to touch it, and it was falling apart. Best steak I’ve had in years, seriously. Husband wasn’t as enthusiastic: more gristle on his. None on mine. No fat on mine.