Omaha Steaks

[baczkowski]

Obviously Omaha Steaks thinks that I should [can you predict the bad pun about to come?] BEEF up my fiction collection b/c they keep sending their junk mail to my high school library. Despite quickly surfing past their spots on QVC (I hold out for Cher's beauty creams) and passing an occassional storefront in outlet lands, I've never tasted any of their products. Is it worth $60 for a box-o'-meat?

pax,

Brian

[Seanchai]

Obviously Omaha Steaks thinks that I should [can you predict the bad pun about to come?] BEEF up my fiction collection b/c they keep sending their junk mail to my high school library. Despite quickly surfing past their spots on QVC (I hold out for Cher's beauty creams) and passing an occassional storefront in outlet lands, I've never tasted any of their products. Is it worth $60 for a box-o'-meat?

pax,

Brian

No.

The meat's not bad, but portions are small and certainly not a great value.

[bilrus]

You can get better meat at Wegman's or Whole Foods or Balducci's or a butcher.

[TimmySmith]

My sister gives me a box every Christmas. In fact I had the Filets the other night with sauteed shrooms and garlic mashed potatoes. While they were small at 6oz, they were fork tender and well flavored. While it does make an easy gift, the meat is nothing too special and is priced in the high-end category. You could do just as well in many other local places. The burgers, however, are flat out gross.

[cjsadler]

not a great value.

Even with the specials, the cost is pretty high for what you are getting. For example, the pack of 6 8oz sirloins for $49.99 works out to $21.66/lb for the meat once you factor in shipping. You can get much better stuff at Whole Foods or Wegmans for that kinda money.

[Al Dente]

I bought some strip steaks once from their store in Columbia MD. The steaks were soaking wet for some reason. I don't know if it's the cryovac packaging or what, but they were like saturated sponges. I didn't think they had much going on in the flavor department either. Not at all worth it IMHO.

Try this instead:

Lobel's

[Cooter]

The wife received a box of bacon wrapped filets and six burgers from her boss for Christmas a few years back. The filets were solidly mediocre. The burgers were just short of inedible, with a bizarre mouthfeel of chewed cardboard.

Notwithstanding the quality of the product, I just don't want to do business with a company where everything is always on special, all year round. If a box of sirloins is always on special from $89, marked down to $49, then it's not really a special at all.

[Waitman]

If you've ever worked on the Hill, you know that little gifts from lobbyists and friends tend to arrive at the office regularly. In my old office, the office manager whom I'd always irritated (hard to understand, no?) distributed them to staff based on her own autocratic principles. Finally, after months of low-level fueding, the office manager and I made our peace and, indeed, became buddies, thus earning me a box of Omaha Steaks filet mignons when they showed up on behalf of some special interest or another.

Of course, we all know that filets lack flavor and besides OmahaBeef is just tacky, but free is free and we grilled them up.

The verdict: not something at which to turn up one's nose.

[Barbara]

Try this instead:

Lobel's

On last night's show Letterman gave a box of this stuff to an audience member for playing some game.

[Hannah]

On last night's show Letterman gave a box of this stuff to an audience member for playing some game.

That would be "Know Your Cuts of Meat," a regular Thursday feature (and a brilliant piece of advertising for Lobel's.)

[Jacques Gastreaux]

Even with the specials, the cost is pretty high for what you are getting. For example, the pack of 6 8oz sirloins for $49.99 works out to $21.66/lb for the meat once you factor in shipping. You can get much better stuff at Whole Foods or Wegmans for that kinda money.

The dry aged USDA Prime strips at Whole Foods in Fair Lakes are $21/lb.

[Pat]

On last night's show Letterman gave a box of this stuff to an audience member for playing some game.

Oh, wow, this brings back memories. Back in the mid-80s, Letterman had a gag where he would just call someone out of the phone book. For days (maybe weeks), he regularly called this man named Arnie Barnes who worked at Omaha Steaks. That's the only reason I know the company . I guess Dave has moved on to another company.

[Xochitl10]

Just got around to eating the "Sole Stuffed with Scallops and Crabmeat" from the OS box we received for Christmas. More like sole stuffed with seafood-flavored, paste-textured breadcrumbs, I'd say. I suppose there's some marketing reason for the other description.

[dmaddox]

The short answer is "no". Unless you live somewhere so totally distant from a decent supermarket or butcher, Omaha steaks are way over priced.

We currently live in Omaha, although we're soon relocating the DC area. There are only one or two restaurants in the area that offer "Omaha Steaks" on their menu, although it is damn near impossible to get a bad steak dinner in Omaha.

Our first home in Omaha was just around the corner from the Omaha Steaks store (yes, they do actually have brick and mortar stores). I was so excited. Until I went in and realized that even in their storefronts everything was frozen hard as a rock and cost a bloody fortune. I went across the parking lot to the supermarket, where their case was full of local Nebraska and Iowa beef for much less. And it didn't need thawing! In the three years we lived in Omaha, we never once purchased Omaha Steaks for ourselves.

Now, we did buy some to give as a gift. My nephew is the youngest of three boys. As is often the case, he gets the hand-me-downs and leftovers. But the boy loves steak better than life itself. We gave him a box of strip steaks of HIS VERY OWN for Christmas one year. You'd have thought we'd given him the keys to Ft. Knox.

Save your money. Get thee to a butcher for fresh beef and be happy!