Where would you buy wagyu?

[RonB]

Title sez it all. We were in Austin visiting our Son last week, and went to a fairly high end restaurant one night. I had my first wagyu steak, (small portion mixed in with other "stuff"). It may have been the best tasting steak steak I have had. So, I am considering spending the $$ for a couple. The only place in this area that I have found wagyu sells what must be a higher grade than what I had 'cause it has more fat than meat.

I know there are lots of online sellers, but I'm lookin' your favorite place to buy it.

My problem is that, even though I can afford to splurge once in a while, I "think" there goes another $10 with every bite, and that reduces the enjoyment... But what I had at that restaurant sure was good.

BTW - more on that restaurant when I get a chance...

[WayneT]

I’ve always had excellent experiences with this place. They are not cheap and you have to pay for shipping but everything I’ve gotten from there has been outstanding. Great customer service too.

https://www.dartagnan.com/buy/wagyu-beef-steaks-sale/

[WillTravelForFood]

Question is whether you want American Wagyu or Japanese Wagyu. There's significant difference in both, with American being much less expensive. Costco occasionally has Japanese Wagyu in their freezer section

It's possible one of your local butchers or higher-end meat shoppes may carry Wagyu or can obtain it for you if you don't want to risk mail-order not being the cut you'd like

If you're willing to try something slightly off the beaten path in terms of Waygu, Sam's has packs of ground Waygu in their meat case (and Waygu burgers in frozen). Other than grinding your own short rib blend, these make some pretty darn tasty burgers. (don't use the meat for a sauce or meatloaf -- almost too much of a fat blend for those to be worthwhile adventures). There's a thread around here somewhere praising this option

[bbqLuv]

Not me, I'm too cheap. Prime and Angus are perfect in my opinion.

We have tried ground wagyu for burgers we bought at Costco. Once was enough.

[Spinaker]

I always find the Snake River Farms has great stuff. I have never had an issue with them and their steaks are always killer.

[RonB]

Great lookin' steak John!

[shify]

One hidden gem for finding high quality but relatively reasonably priced wagyu is if you have any Japanese grocery stores near you they may sell some. There are a few near me that sell super high quality wagyu beef like A5 wagyu

You aren't going to find 16 oz ribeyes but frankly with wagyu you wouldn't want a whole big steak. They sell thinner cuts of boneless short rib, strip steak, ribeyes which only require a quick sear.

[Donw]

While I use to be a proponent of Crowd Cow their business relations with the farmers and ranchers turned me away. However they do sell great quality Japanese wagyu and I still use them for this one product. https://www.crowdcow.com/wagyu/japanese

[FireMan]

Try a wagyu store.

I just had to. 🙃

[JoeSousa]

If you are looking for some unique Japanese A5 Wagyu I am a big fan of Pursuit Farms. Great selection and they have cuts I haven't seen anywhere else.

Crowd Cow and The Meatery are also some good places to look. I have had steaks from all three and they are all different. Tasting the differences in some steaks from different regions is very interesting.

Japanese Wagyu is a great experience. I don't know if I would choose a Japanese Wagyu steak over a nice, thick American ribeye but it is definitely something I would recommend everyone try at least once.

[STEbbq]

I’d start with Wild Forks and if that doesn’t work out, try Snake River Farms.

https://wildforkfoods.com/search?q=wagyu+beef

There is a discount available at this place but I don’t know if SheilaAnn is super excited about them as her reviews seem more meh.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/announcements/special-deals-limited-time-offers/members-only-specials/1281269-members-only-get-10-off-at-hassell-cattle-company-texas-wagyu-plus-get-free-shipping-on-orders-200

One place I think needs more attention is Feller’s Ranch. I think we had a few really strong reviews here. Fellers Ranch . If you are unhappy with Wild Fork’s business practices, this could be a good place to start as well.

https://fellersranch.com/

[SheilaAnn]

Actually, I have been pretty happy with Hassell. The tri-tip the other day was from them.

[LA Pork Butt]

RonB My answer is no. I think we are of the same generation of being reared by depression era parents. My son gave me a birthday gift of a steak tasting event. We sampled various cuts of steaks with some comparing prime to wagyu. The wagyu was excellent, and I throughly enjoyed the event. But, I probably wouldn’t spring for the cost of the event. My children know me very well, so for Christmas they gave me meat money. I still haven’t spent it yet. If you will feel guilty with every bite of wagyu steak you probably shouldn’t spring for it until you have some therapy to overcome your guilt. LOL

[RonB]

What I'm hoping is that the taste will assuage my guilt.

[Panhead John]

Here in Texas the Wagyu just roam the streets wild. WARNING: Some viewers may find this video disturbing…..

[bbqLuv]

Only in Texas, Thank you Sir PanHead

[SheilaAnn]

So not staged…..

[bardsleyque]

thanks for sharing that!!!

[das85]

My favorite is Vermont Wagyu: https://vermontwagyu.com/

This is meat you can eat like a normal steak, as opposed to A5 which is so rich most people can only handle a few bites...but the flavor is just incredible. IMHO some great prices (esp if you stick with cuts like tri-tip rather than ribeye or strip) for full blood Wagyu, better than many others' Wagyu/Angus cross.

[Mosca]

Question is whether you want American Wagyu or Japanese Wagyu. There's significant difference in both, with American being much less expensive. Costco occasionally has Japanese Wagyu in their freezer section

It's possible one of your local butchers or higher-end meat shoppes may carry Wagyu or can obtain it for you if you don't want to risk mail-order not being the cut you'd like

If you're willing to try something slightly off the beaten path in terms of Waygu, Sam's has packs of ground Waygu in their meat case (and Waygu burgers in frozen). Other than grinding your own short rib blend, these make some pretty darn tasty burgers. (don't use the meat for a sauce or meatloaf -- almost too much of a fat blend for those to be worthwhile adventures). There's a thread around here somewhere praising this option

This right here.

Authentic Wagyu looks like it’s more than 50% fat.




American cross Wagyu looks like high-prime.




They are different, but honestly one isn’t better than the other. Japanese Wagyu is rarer, and has to be imported, and therefore it is way more expensive than American Wagyu. And you will never, ever taste anything else like it. Ever.

American Wagyu is more like the greatest steak you ever had. IMO it hits the sweet spot between the unctuousness of Japanese Wagyu and the mineral, iron-y, downright toothy flavor of a great American steak.

Folks say you can’t eat a whole Japanese Wagyu steak. Those folks are wrong. It’s easy, just keep those teeth moving. What you can’t do is eat one every night for a week. Even if you can afford to. But you could eat an American Wagyu steak every night for a week, as long as you can pay for them.

So, neither is better. Both are great. But the Japanese Wagyu is a completely different experience. It’s like a new food that has all the sensory input that you’re used to from beef, but tastes different from beef, while still being beefy. American Wagyu tastes like an incredible steak. There’s nothing there that will make your brain go sideways, like Japanese Wagyu does.


ETA: There is a lot more to the story, including Australian Wagyu, and South American (Argentinan and Chilean) Wagyu. But you’ll have to really look for that. A good place to see all the variations in one place is Meat Artisan.

[Old Glory]

I can be spendy, but I am to cheap to pay for Wagyu.