As Texans throughout the Lone Star State recover from talking turkey, carving, and gobble strategies, one of the nation’s most esteemed publications is getting to the meat of the matter, highlighting a handful of Texas butcher shops as the best in the country, including two in the San Antonio area.

Food & Wine recently released its list of the best butcher shops and meat markets in America, naming Dziuk’s Meat Market in Castroville and Wiatrek’s Meat Market in Poth among the prime picks.
The list of nearly 100 butcher shops is a true “meating” of the minds, featuring classic shops dating back a century as well as more modern meat markets that focus on sustainability and artisan offerings.

“There was one very clear standard: The more sustainable, the more rebellious against the prevailing winds in a morally corrupt industry, the better,” Food & Wine writes about its chosen butcher shops.

Noting Dziuk’s parisa, Food & Wine praised it as the busiest butcher shop in the area. Likewise, the publication applauded the Poth Wiatrek’s, which also has a location in San Antonio, for its full-service approach to meat processing and barbecue.

Other Texas butcheries singled out on Food & Wine’s list include Bellville Meat Market and Thorndale Meat Market. Dallas-based Deep Cuts and Kuby’s Sausage House also made the list.

Austin shops making the list include Dai Due Butcher Shop & Supper Club and Salt & Time, both of which have had an industrious year, despite the pandemic. Salt & Time chef Ben Runkle recently opened The Butcher’s Burger in Austin. And Dai Due chef Jesse Griffiths just announced he’d soon publish his second book, The Hog Book, a textbook of sorts for field-dressing and butchering feral hogs, complete with photos from acclaimed Texas-based photographer Jody Horton.