There’s an Omaha Steaks store near me, but I’ve never been there. I got a flier in the mail, and am tempted to use it. Here’s what you get (the smallest combo they sell):
All of this sells for $39.99 (regularly $154.00, supposedly). Obviously the portions are minuscule, but we’ve been cutting back on beef anyway. And I’ll freeze most of it and use it gradually.
Have any of you guys bought from them? Did the quality live up to the scrumptious photos?
We’ve been given a few gift boxes before.
You’ll still pay 10.00 a pound for that.
Better to go to a local butcher. The meat is fine but not at the prices they charge.
The potatoes were disappointing.
The cooler the stuff ships in is worth the price of the contents.
A pound and a half of steak, a pound of chicken and hamburger and 3/4 pound of hot dogs for $40? Ouch, they’re getting worse.
We received a few boxes of steaks as a rebate for buying a range a while back. The meat is good, and the customer service is excellent, but it’s not worth $15 a pound, unless you’re out in the middle of nowhere without any butchers or even decent grocery stores.
So true. Generally, Omaha is at the bottom of any mail-order steak taste tests, even below supermarket (the good supermarkets which care about quality). They do ship in nice, disposable coolers though. Can get a good dozen uses out of one for keeping fresh fish when I go fishing.
Another vote for “Better steaks are available at the grocery store.”
Omaha Steaks clearly makes their money from people who buy their stuff as gifts. Perfect for the people you don’t know very well but have to give something. Who’s going to be an ingrate about receiving a box of steaks? And by the time you get around to cooking them and realize they are only “meh,” you’re surely not going to say anything to the gift giver.
I’ve had some Omaha steaks and they were pretty good. Much better than you get a grocery stores around here, but not as good as I can get at the butcher shop, and it’s always looked more expensive to me. We have one of their retail outlets not too far away (if it’s still there) but I’ve seen no reason to go there. But apparently some people love them. Perhaps just the convenience, or they are just convincing themselves that they like them because they spent the money on them.
It may say something that there have been more positive comments about the Styrofoam shipping cooler than the actual food.
Going on the high end of the my estimates, I could easily get the meat (that I know would be top notch) for under $30. That leaves $10 for two potatoes.
If you can’t find two frozen stuffed potatoes for $10 in your area, then maybe you should go for it. If you can… maybe considering Googling “Butcher Shops” in your area (you are in Ohio… there should be plenty of good beef in your area).
I got the same deal you did several years ago (except I seem to recall it came with more sirloins and no potatoes) and it was just…okay. Nothing fancy. The most useful part of it was the cooler it was mailed in which I still sometimes use even years later.
Good grief, I think everyone here says the meat is “meh - okay, nothing superlative but certainly tasty” and the styrofoam cooler is da bomb. How often does the SDMB reach consensus like this?
I think the meat is sold already frozen, whether from the stores or from mail-order, but the cooler only comes if you mail-order (not buy at a brick & mortar store).
Loved the little potato gratin balls, though . . .
Well … you can get really spiffy heavy duty styrofoam shipping cooler boxes from German Deli dot com, and some really tasty German food products at the same time [and they generally toss in the little 5 or 6 piece gummi bear pack as well with each order :p]
Last thing I got was 5 or 6 different maggi fix, some instant chicken broth, and a couple more of the little washcloths. Time before that was some good mustards, and some curry catsup for my roomie.
I had a very nice experience with Omaha Steaks. I came home to find a cooler full of filet mignon on my doorstep addressed to someone who wasn’t even in the phonebook. I split it with my neighbor.
Yeah, ‘Meh.’ Mind you, I haven’t had Omaha steaks since one time in the '80s when dad bought some; but they weren’t all that. I recall being disappointed. For high-quality, expensive meat, I can go to Don & Joe’s at Pike Place Market. There’s nothing like meat from an actual butcher’s shop. If I want high-quality meat at a reasonable price, I go to Costco. I’ve never been disappointed by their offerings. The corner market in my little village sells rib eye steaks. They get them from Costco, and they’re always the best ones locally available. (There are two supermarkets here, each about four miles from the house.) The corner market sells their rib eyes for a little more than the supermarkets, but their prices are reasonable (even a bargain) for the product. Based on my limited experience and things posted by others, I think Omaha Steaks are… well, not quite a ‘scam’; but their prices are way out of line for what they deliver. ANd I don’t need a styrofoam box.
For German food, I can go to Bavarian Meats. But I usually want sausages, so I go to Uli’s Famous Sausage. Uli is a certified ‘Meister’ (Master Butcher) from Germany. I can get a variety of German sausages, as well as English and Irish bangers, merguez, Italian, French, and Louisiana sausages. My only complaint is that the merguez sausages are half as hot as they should be. Uli said he used to sell ones made to the proper recipe, but Seattleites are not known for their tolerance for spice foods so he cut the heat by half. He’ll make ‘full heat’ ones, but there’s a ten kilogram minimum for special orders.
