UC Davis Meat Lab

I have been meaning to find the UCD Meat Lab since last year! Finally was able to make it during dead week to stock up on some protein to cook at home for finals week. I went with my friend and we were overwhelmed by all the options!
The UCD Meat Lab runs in a small facility (Cole Bldg C) on Thursdays and Fridays. I was really impressed to see how busy it was! I purchased a round steak beef, spicy Spanish style chicken breasts and chorizo. I made my beef and chicken and it was amazing! The pre-​marinated chicken breast was my favorite. I am so excited to make my chorizo and eggs some time this week.
They had some awesome looking linguicas I will be coming back for! Great cuts, high quality and very affordable! How much closer can you get to your food then meat from campus cattle? Also have an amazing selection of dairy products.
No doubt in my mind I will only be buying my meats from here on out. For the price, quality, and sustainability, you can’t go wrong.

Angels with wings made out of meat stand guard and sing hallelujah as you enter this palace of fine meatery. The organic eggs are the best as well as the pre-​marinated chicken, but the quality of the steak you buy here is waaaaaay better than any grocery store or Costco. I have never had a bad cut. I pan fried a Porterhouse in an Iron skillet over an open fire and it was like Unicorns barfing rainbows into my mouth!

I have to preface this review by saying that I appreciate this place, just as I appreciate stores like this from all schools that have food science programs.
I’m only giving it three stars because when I’ve been there, the cuts of meat were pretty much just beef. I assume the selection is limited by what folks are learning to cut, but as someone who’s allergic to beef and not allergic to pork, goat, lamb, etc… I wish there was more variety so I could shop here.
Otherwise, you should go here with reckless abandon if you want beef. Cheap prices for relatively humane meat. (Don’t expect prices lower than general everyday supermarket prices for standard meat cuts.) I’ll stick with meat CSAs for my meat purchases, but this place might be up your alley.

UCD student here. Been shopping at the Meat Lab for a few years now and have taken the 49G class and interned. It’s awesome knowing exactly where your meat comes from and learning the entire process of pastures to dinner table. I would highly recommend not only shopping here, but also, asking Caleb for a tour of the plant or taking the ANS 49G class if you’re a student!
Quality varies. Nothing is graded (it doesn’t make sense for such a small plant), but it’s probably select/​choice range. Rib/​short loins are dry-​aged at the plant, a really nice and unique added bonus. The ribeyes here are a personal favorite of mine. They also have really awesome products they make themselves: award winning sausages, delicious jerky, and bacon. I’ve seen people go bat shit crazy for the bacon (so much there’s a hard limit per customer now).
Unfortunately, the prices for most things aren’t that cheap. You’re going to see around a 10−20% increase compared to your local grocery store or Costco. This is ameliorated a bit by the fact that you aren’t forced to buy wholesale and that tax is already included (or maybe there’s no tax?). I justify the cost with knowing exactly where my meat comes from and the satisfaction that any profits go right back to the school and the meat lab.
If you’re looking for something specific, definitely call ahead to see if they can make it for you by sales on Thursday. For the past two years, I’ve gotten rib roasts for Thanksgiving (we’re an anti-​turkey family: P) and they’ve turned out great. They also do smoked turkeys then too.

As a meat-​lover and a student, this place is my sanctuary! I can afford fresh, delicious, and high-​quality meats every week and it’s exciting to do so along other students and professors among locals. It’s really worth a trip here every so often to reward your taste buds.

Top of the line meat! You get what you pay for, my favorites are the Habanero Jack Cheese & the Memphis Style Chicken, YUM!

At this place, i learned about the slaughter of livestock and the equipment involved in doing just that. I also was able to see the various steps it would take to make the beef sticks i ended up buying at the end of the tour. The process was disturbing, and educational, and i don’t regret learning about it. and BTW the food items they sell (pork, beef, etc) are fantastic! and priced very competitively. I recommend coming in on their open days and buying anything you can, you probably wont regret it. Oh, and learn a little something while you’re there.

Fresh and cheap good quality meats and cheeses. Only open on Thursday and Friday and only accept cash or check so plan ahead. Come early cause the products go fast. If your in the area, it’s worth the trip to campus.

After finishing my four-​year degree at UC Davis, I finally found this unknown place that no one has heard about! Yes! I finally found where I can find some cheap, fresh, and delicious meat!
Here are some QUICK BITS:
(1) Cash and check only.
(2) Come early — they run out of items very fast.
(3) Know what you want before coming here because it’s kind of hectic with lots of customers cramped in a small room.
(4) Opens on Thursdays and Fridays only.
(5) Check out the menu:
(6) Place is hard to find, the website and a map if you scroll down:
(7) Meat are fresh and some are frozen.
(8) Location: Meat Laboratory Cole Facility Building «C»
Here’s what I had so far:
(1) Filet Mignon, $ 13.50 per lbs: I thought it was a-​okay when I cooked it. Soft, yet a little rough to eat. I pan-​friend it to give it a brown-​ish grilled look, then stuck it in the oven for awhile, and took it out to leave it to stand for awhile with foil wrapped. 3.5 stars. Here’s what I did:
(2) Top Sirloin Steak, $ 6.35 per lbs: from my experience this runs out a lot faster. Better than the filet mignon. Marinated with some red wine, pepper, salt, etc. and grilled it. Very simple. 4 stars.
(3) Bone-​in Ribeye, $ 9.00 per lbs: I set this cut in the BBQ and marinated with some cracked pepper and sea salt. 5 stars. Delicious!
(4) Pepper Jack Cheese: Cheap! It lasted me for a whole month, although it was moldy after awhile.
(5) Eggs: cheap organic eggs!
**OVERALL: Stay at home and cook! It’s cheaper and better quality if you want to get meat. 5 stars!

A little bit cheaper than market pricing, but very fresh quality. Frozen ground beef and fresh never frozen assorted cuts including my favorite Rib-​eyes and Tri-​tip. Open on Thursdays & Friday’s ONLY!
CASH ONLY!!!

It always amazes me that this place isn’t more popular; how many chances do you get to actually meet your meat? While I’ve heard it dismissed offhand as ‘Very conventional agriculture’ (I suppose that shows the type of people I hang around), I honestly think it’s a great, and quite possibly unique opportunity. You are in a position to see the animals being raised, being fed, lounging about. and (if you want) slaughtered. You can judge for yourself if you approve of the process and want to take part. Even the nicest and most ‘Alternative’ of farms rarely give you that option as a real possibility.

I just had one of their rib-​eye steaks. Holy cow! Seriously, that cow must have been holy to taste that good. I can’t remember when I had steak that delicious: moist, tender, with plenty of beefy flavor. This isn’t cheap stuff, however. Expect to pay more per pound than Costco for the same cuts of USDA choice beef. An interesting quality is that each steak comes individually vacuum sealed – sous vide anyone?
The eggs are great too, although a little small. $ 4 for 30 makes them a good deal. Next time I’ll bring my own empty cartons because theirs is so flimsy I feel like I’m going to have a messy accident with each step.

This is literally a needle in a haystack. This is the best place to get organic beef. Students taking butchery class cut the meat and run the meat shop. The meat you get from the meat lab is better than and grocery store and that includes meat from the Nugget Market. They have countless different cuts of meat. (Filet mignon, rib eye, top sirloin, chuck roast, N.Y. Strip and etc.) The filet mignon and the rib eye usually run out quick. The quality of the meat can be seen in the great marbling. The lab is open Thursdays and Fridays. The only problem is, it is a hard place to find.
What I recommend:
MEAT
Eggs (also the cheapest place to get organic eggs)

I love this place. Before I started looking up things on Unilocal,I was using Davis wiki! This is a small hidden gem that many people do not know about. It’s only open on Thursdays and Fridays, for a couple hours but during these hours the starving student can really buy a lot!
Last time I was there I got two pounds of fresh made sausage links for 5 bucks, and 30 eggs for $ 2.50. I’ve purchased lamb, pork and beef here before and it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than Safeway and much better quality. You can even buy meat in bulk, which is perfect for those summer bbqs. It’s hard to find but directions are located on the site
. Their menu changes throughout the year.
Bring cash or checkbooks!

Cheapest place to get high quality meat in Davis. Why is it cheap? It’s because students cut the meat and run the meat shop. Why is it quality? Have you seen the cows and pigs at Davis!!! You can be sure that they’re well fed and taken care of.
Famous for: cheapest place to get high quality meat in Davis