The beef market is tighter these days, what with the renewed popularity of red meat and the surge in steakhouse openings.
Yet 167-year-old New York City butcher Lobel's (877-783-4512) is still able to cull from the best: Just 2 percent of USDA prime meets its standards.
"Their sourcing is great and the end product is fabulous," says David Burke, chef at Primehouse in Chicago.
Lobel's buttery beef - including its famed Wagyu steaks - is hand-cut, never frozen. This year the store introduced a precooked line, including a spicerubbed barbecue brisket smoked over a mesquiteapplewood fire. Mmmm.
