Kosher Butcher

Hello yal,

I am in need of some kosher chicken for this weekend and wanted to get some source info. If anyone has a great kosher butcher (preferably wholesale or caterer friendly) please let me know. I have found a few, but am more confident with a referral. Thanks ahead of time.

Romanian Kosher Sausage Co
7200 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60626
(773) 761-4141

Don't get there often, but never had a bad experience. So long as you don't expect warm fuzzies from the butchers, you won't be disappointed. Good luck!

In a pinch, you'll find many of the Trader Joe's carry a small stock of Kosher meats. I've seen bone-in-skin-on chicken breasts pretty regularly, and the occasional steak.

Hungarian Kosher on Oakton in Skokie, and Shaevitz in Highland Park (which Steve Z pointed out to me on the Smoke Meat Every Day thread) are other options in the 'burbs. The Jewel in HP also carries Kosher meats.

Gypsy Boy -- LOL and seconds on the no warm fuzzies from Romanian (except the cashier, the sweetest lady in the world).

That said, as I'm, guessing you'd agree, the quality of their meat/poultry is excellent (mmmmm gaaaarlic dogs) and they do tons of catering and supplying. However, they can sometimes be beat on price for some items by the Jewel on Howard (2485 Howard St), which is not too far away from Romanian and has a whole kosher section of the store. Costco also sells 2lb bags of boneless, skinless chicken breast (Empire) for less per lb than Romanian.

Costco's chicken products are frozen and usually small-ish. The chicken at Jewel is generally fresh (well, not frozen) but the price varies. It's also not processed/packaged at the store (comes from a variety of sources - like a Kosher Tyson's). Romanian, Hungarian (Oakton/Crawford in Skokie) and Shaevitz at least break the chickens down in-store (ritually slaughtered elsewhere).

The stuff at Trader Joe's is usually Empire (an East coast based processor). Never a huge selection or more than a few packages available at a time.

Not all that many years ago the last of the fresh-killed Kosher poultry shops operated on Western near Chicago. It's the only chicken my mother bought, until they stopped their Kosher operation.

Garden Fresh in Northbrook also has a kosher meat market.
Paulette

I would second Romanian Kosher Sausage - best IMHO - other places would be Hungarian Kosher Super Market just west of Crawford on Oakton and the Jewel on Howard in Evanston also has a karge selction of kosher meats and chickens -

BTW if you do go to Romanian's I would also suggest their corned beef/pastrami/salami and hot dogs

A few words of note. All good suggestions.

You should be aware that some people do not consider the reliability of Shaevitz kosher supervision to be sufficient, so won't shop there. This is true of most Orthodox. Most Conservative Jews find it acceptable. I'm not taking a stance or casting aspersions, just letting you know in case that's an issue for your use.

Romanian is a great source for "smoked meats" but I don't think they sell their own chickens. I'm pretty sure you'll only find frozen chicken there. If you are a caterer, you may get a good price from Hungarian or Garden Fresh (Highland Park). Both have busy, fresh meat departments. Along Devon, maybe Kol Tuv will work with you.

Is distance a factor for you, Justin? Almost all of these places are a haul from Pilsen - does it matter, or does anybody know of anywhere further south? (I'd have made the same suggestions as above)

FWIW, it seems that many kosher chickens come from a few suppliers: Empire and Aarons being two. Aarons (I think this is the right website) is under fire for their labor and processing practices, but they've got a good product (their website lists kosher Terduckhen, whoda thunk?.) Empire I don't know about, other than I don't like the chicken as much.

Wrong Aaron's. You're linking to Aaron's Gourmet, a stand-alone meat market in NY. Aaron's Best is one of the brand names for AgriProcessors from Postville, Iowa. They ran into some trouble with respect to labor practices, filed for bankruptcy and were restructured last year. In any case, since the closing of Best Kosher/Sinai on Halsted and Pershing there is no source for Kosher meat in volume South of the places listed in the other posts.

ah wrote:....Romanian is a great source for "smoked meats" but I don't think they sell their own chickens. I'm pretty sure you'll only find frozen chicken there.

Romanians does sell fresh chickens - I do not think anyone slaughters their own chickens in chicago - they all get their fresh chickens form the same suppliers -

figjustin wrote:Hello yal,

I am in need of some kosher chicken for this weekend and wanted to get some source info. If anyone has a great kosher butcher (preferably wholesale or caterer friendly) please let me know. I have found a few, but am more confident with a referral. Thanks ahead of time.

Are you looking for kosher chickens because you need pre-brined poultry or is there a kashruth issue? Because even if you start with glatt kosher birds, if you cook them in your kitchen they will no longer be acceptable for kosher diners.