Hank Vaughn
Audio By Carbonatix
Hirsch’s Meats in Plano is a throwback to an era of dedicated food shops, before the big box supermarkets took over the landscape. It’s an old-school butcher shop, but without the sawdust on the floor. The only butcher many people may be familiar with is Sam the Butcher from old Brady Brunch show, and while we have nothing against Alice’s beau and occasional bowling partner, a good butcher and meat market deserve to be more a part of consumers’ lives than simply a nostalgic memory from saccharine sitcoms.
Enter Hirsch’s meat market, which opened 30 years ago right about the time that chain grocery stores, in an effort to offer lower prices, started focusing on lower grades of meat such as select and choice instead of prime, which was more expensive and began to be found only at restaurants. (See beef quality grades explained for more info.)
The exterior of Hirsch’s Meats promises an experience you won’t get at the supermarket.
Hank Vaughn
Entering Hirsch’s, customers are greeted with a neon sign asking them to grab a number. A dizzying array of fresh-cut meat and hand-prepared sausages are in the glass cases, and behind the counter, in an anteroom, you can see butchers slicing and preparing various cuts of meats.
A plethora of house-made sausages as well as hot dogs are available, including the elusive Vienna beef hot dog.
Hank Vaughn
There are at least a dozen varieties of sausages and links including Iowa hot dogs, Thumann’s natural casing, brats, kielbasa, several types of Italian sausage, jalapeno cheese, andouille and smoked Texas sausage, to name a few. And, most importantly for Chicago hot dog fans, Hirsch’s sells Vienna beef hot dogs. That alone is the raison d’être for this place. Perhaps the holy grail, however, is the Vienna Italian beef that is sold by the pound. You can also pick up a container of au jus to use as the base for the beef sandwich gravy.
Freshly ground sirloin, as well as various cuts such as tri-tip and flank that are sometimes harder to find at chain grocery stores.
Hank Vaughn
They grind the beef on site, of course, including sirloin and chuck, as well as a sirloin/bacon combo at a very reasonable $7.99 per pound. Some hard-to-find cuts such as four-week dry-aged prime steaks as well as A5 wagyu beef are also available for really special occasions, but you’ll pay for the pleasure: $139 per pound (wagyu) or $45 per pound (ribeye dry-aged) the day we visited. It’s nice that the option is available in North Texas, and assuming you’re not saving for your children’s college education, why not? On the other hand, the non-aged non-waygu prime beef here is much more reasonable and easier to justify, especially if you’re OK with your kids going to a state university.
Dry-aged as well as wagyu are some of the higher-end meat options available at Hirsch’s.
Hank Vaughn
Hirsch’s also sells stuff to go with your meat such as condiments, buns, sauces and, most importantly, some really good and spicy homemade giardiniera. While we were browsing all the selections another Chicago ex-pat showed us where the poppy seed hot dog buns were, clued us in on asking for au jus for the Italian beef and pointed out the wonderful giardiniera.
When you miss Chicago but find a butcher who carries the elusive ingredients you need to sate your Vienna beef fix.
Hank Vaughn
He lives a couple of hours away but makes the trek monthly for his Chicago meats fix, and who can blame him? As the sign behind the meat counter says, “Real People Eat Meat.” Don’t be fake; visit a real butcher and see what you’ve been missing. Now we just need to find a good baker and candlestick maker.
1301 W. Parker Road, No. 100, Plano; 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Tuesday – Friday; 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday and Monday
