FOOD NEWS
Is There A Distinction In Meat Quality At Grocery Stores Vs Restaurants?
By Julia Mullaney
If you've ordered a steak from a high-end steakhouse and found that it tastes nothing like homemade steak, you've probably wondered if restaurants use higher-quality beef.
The answer depends on how the beef is fed, how it's aged, and how it's cut. Most grocery stores sell beef for much less than what you'd pay at a steakhouse.
The diet and aging process for store-bought beef is more cost-effective than it is for restaurant beef. Based on these factors, it seems that store-bought beef is lower in quality.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that the highest-graded prime beef is usually served in restaurants, while choice, commercial, and standard grades are often sold in stores.
Restaurants may also partner with local farms to buy grass-fed beef instead of cheaper grain-fed beef, which directly impacts the meat's fat makeup and flavor.
Restaurants often use dry-aged meat, which allows it to spend days getting tender before it's packaged — a lengthy, expensive process that’s common in small butcher facilities.