There is absolutely nothing like slicing into a nice steak you splurged on and taking that first bite of juicy, medium-rare grilled meat, especially after a long day of work. Until recently, the best cuts of meat were typically reserved for the finest restaurants and bougie butcher shops. However, in recent years, a string of new butchers and carnicerías offering cuts of Wagyu, prime, and other premium meats have emerged in the L.A. area.
Although the most expensive steaks still retail for hundreds of dollars per pound, you can also find delicious cuts of meat for more affordable prices at Farmers’ Markets and local butchers.
Today, you’ll find spots with premium cuts in almost all corners of the county, from MacArthur Park to the westside and South L.A. Now more than ever, it's essential to support local businesses that feed us, such as these local carnicerías.
So if you do participate in any grilling this 4th of July, shop local, and we'll leave you with some wise words from L.A. TACO OG Erick Galindo, who said: "Carne asada isn’t just food. It’s a ritual. It’s resistance."
Purchasing from your local meat and corner markets instead of corporate ones, and breaking bread with family and neighbors, is a form of action.
With that, here’s a list of the top places to score excellent meat in Los Angeles. Fair warning: It is incredibly hard to go back to non-prime grade or family farm-raised meat after trying the good stuff.
Autonomy Farms
At Autonomy Farms, you can find locally raised cuts of beef that you don’t traditionally find at the grocery store, like Flat Iron and Hanger steaks. These cuts are relatively lean but have a richer beef flavor than a rib-eye or New York strip. I’ve gotten steaks from Autonomy that rival cuts of American and Australian wagyu. Another unique thing they have that’s worth trying is hamburger beef with cow heart. All of their meat comes frozen and can be thawed in cold water. They offer delivery to LA County residents.
To order online, click here.
Autonomy Farms has a booth at the Sunday Hollywood Farmers Market. Closest Metro lines and stop: Metro B Line - "Hollywood/Vine Station" or Bus Lines 180, 210, or 217- “Hollywood/Vine.”
Peads & Barnetts
Once you’ve tried Peads & Barnetts pork, it’s tough to go back to the regular pork you find at a grocery store. It’s fatty in the best of ways and anything but dry or bland. They offer everything from bacon to the coveted secreto cut. Again, everything comes frozen and can be thawed. I highly recommend their bone-in pork chops and secreto, which is almost steak-like. Their ground pork is also excellent and can be used for anything from homemade breakfast sausage patties to ground pork with minced garlic. There’s a reason why some of L.A.’s top restaurants get their pork from Peads & Barnetts.
Peads & Barnett’s has a booth at both the Sunday Hollywood Farmers Market and the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers Market.
Hollywood Farmers Market - Closest Metro lines and stop: Metro B Line - "Hollywood/Vine Station" or Bus Lines 180, 210 or 217- “Hollywood/Vine.”
Santa Monica Farmers Market - Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Line 720 - “4th/Arizona" or Metro E Line - "Downtown Santa Monica Station."
East Los Market
East Los Market is one of those staple community carnicerías that have been serving their great cuts of meat, chicken, and even produce for some time now. Las tías, aunts and uncles, shop there for their daily needs but also for special occasions like a weekend carne asada with the family. Located across the street from Salazar Park in East L.A., this carnicería specializes in selling USDA Prime ranchera, tasajo, short ribs, and more, all ideal for your summer grilling plans. They are so confident about their prime cuts that their slogan is “your mom’s favorite carnicería.”
3843 Whittier Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90023. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 18 or 665 "Whittier/Indiana.”
Marconda’s
L.A.'s oldest standing meat market is located in the Original Farmer’s Market on Fairfax. Established in 1941, Marconda’s today offers some of the most marbled steaks you’ll find in Los Angeles, as well as pork, poultry, and lamb. Their best cuts of meat cost more than $70 per pound, but they also offer more affordable (and still excellent) prime cuts, as well as grass-fed beef.
The Farmers Market, 6333 W 3rd St Stall 514, Los Angeles, CA 90036, United States. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 16, 217, or 218 - “3rd/Fairfax.”
McCall’s Meat & Fish Co.
McCall’s is another meat market that has been open for longer than some of its newer competitors. Opened in 2010, they stand out for selling wine, cheese, pastries, sandwiches, and meat. They also have a Westside location in Santa Monica. You can find popular meat brands at both locations, like Snake River Farms, Jidori Chicken, and Niman Ranch. You can pre-order prime ribs, hams, geese, ducks, squab, and guinea fowl for the holidays by phone. They will be closed on the 4th of July, so if you can get your eats the day before.
Los Feliz - 3141 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90039. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 92 - “Glendale/Glenhurst.”
Santa Monica - 1426 Montana Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90403. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 720 - “Wilshire/14th.”
Standing's
Standing’s is a relatively new butcher sourcing locally raised beef, pork, and poultry from farmers that the owner knows personally. They offer delivery across L.A. and pickup at their Melrose location, near La Brea Avenue. They also offer classes to teach you how to butcher your own meat properly.
7016 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038, United States. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 10 or 212 - “Melrose/La Brea.”
La Carnicería Meat Market
This tiny carnicería in southeast Los Angeles single-handedly changed the game for backyard carne asada in Los Angeles. While many Mexican meat markets prioritized quantity over quality, owner Jose Luis Ruíz took the opposite approach, offering densely marbled cuts of prime-grade flap meat and chuck steaks —the cuts revered for their quick and easy carne asada qualities. In addition to tomahawks, wagyu from Australia, Kobe from Japan, and many other luxury cuts of beef. His logic: working-class Latinos like nice things, too. His gamble paid off since he has grown to open four more locations in Riverside, Pico Rivera, Bellflower, and Anaheim. When you go, buy a big batch of his famed asada or tasajo to grill now and freeze for later grilling. Trust.
Multiple locations in South Gate, Riverside, Pico Rivera, Bellflower, Santa Ana, and Anaheim.
Ziggy’s
A family-owned and operated staple in San Fernando near Pioneer Park, known for its in-house-made chorizo, hand-cut meats, and seasoned asada. The owner of Ziggy’s, Sigifredo, learned the ins and outs of butchering at the ripe age of 11 years old. At 17, he fled to America and eventually landed a job at a meatpacking plant, where he worked for 10 years before starting his own business. In 1980, he started Ziggy’s at age 25.
965 N Maclay Ave, San Fernando. CA 91340, United States. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Line 234 - “7th/Maclay” or Bus Line 92 - "Glenoaks/Maclay."
La Carnicería Wagyu
The luxury carnicería boasts its hashtag “#LaWaGucci” proudly. It perfectly sums up their carne asada philosophy. Chef and owner David Fuentes says that La Carnicería Wagyu is the result of 20 years of working in Southern California’s restaurant industry and the connections he has made, hence the impressive inventory and reasonable prices of otherwise incredibly expensive meat. Fuerte is also offering shabu-shabu (paper-thin cuts) of luxury beef that is perfect for guisados and other quick-cooking applications; it’s also much more affordable. And each week, they offer weekly specials, with each day featuring either a percentage off certain meats or lower prices on higher-priced items.
105 W Lambert Rd Unit C, Brea, CA 92821. Closest transit line and stop: OC Bus Line 129 - "Brea/Lambert."
A Cut Above
2453 Santa Monica Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90404. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 4 - “Santa Monica/26th.”
“You can’t make chicken soup with chicken poop,” that’s the philosophy guiding Eddy Shin, the lead butcher at Santa Monica-based A Cut Above. The self-taught butcher also has 20 years of experience working as a chef in fine-dining restaurants and steakhouses. In addition to selling USDA prime cuts of beef and Mary’s Chicken, A Cut Above also serves a house-made pastrami sandwich, cubano with slow-cooked Kurobuta pork shoulder, and “butcher specials” include all beef hot dogs, Jidori wings, and breakfast sandwiches.
