Mert's Specialty Meats - Okemos, Michigan

Tim D.

I stopped in yesterday looking for scrapple. They not only had that but also white and black pudding.

The meat counter was fantastic. They have a great selection of meats, as well as their own smoked meats and jerky.

The owner was very helpful. I wanted black pudding but it came in a frozen tube larger than I'd eat in one sitting. He offered to cut it into thirds and then vacuum sealed each piece.

Great meats, great customer service. You've earned a new regular customer.

Mike S.

I bought bone-in pork chops. I put them in the refrigerator for four days. I did not know that you see eat or freeze bone-in pork within a few days. After four days, the chop went bad. I called and was told about eating them quicker. And then they said I could bring them in and get fresh chops, even though it was my fault.

Kate C.

I bought a few center cut ny strip as a gift and the recipients were impressed with the thickness and tenderness of the steaks, a locally made steak seasoning was also bought and used. The counter guy was helpful and pleasant, store is cute with lots of interesting meats, will be returning for any steak needs!

Mr. G.

It’s Christmas Eve I figured the place would be a zoo and all picked over. Instead I found what I needed as well as a store that was very well staffed, stocked and clean. The staff was all so extremely friendly and helpful, which stands out even more in a time where good customer service is increasingly rare. Whoever runs this place must be doing a great job to have staff that seem so happy. Thank you, and Merry Christmas!

Matt W.

A wonderful find for a Londoner/New Yorker with deep family ties in Okemos. All the best of Mid West service and local quality combined with international goodies that make it the ideal place to shop for high end holiday food without the crazy prices.

Shelby D.

Knowledgeable staff, fantastic selection of everything you'd need, and even things you didn't know you needed! Definitely our go to for anything meat.

Bill O.

Called this place multiple times to inquire about the availability of bacon ends to grind with my venison. I talked to a few staff who advised me that they did not have the quantity I was looking for. When I asked them about making a reservation in the future to secure a larger quantity of this item, they couldn't seem to answer this simple question without running back and forth to their manager multiple times. When I finally got to speak to the manager, Brandon, directly, he gave me answers to questions I wasn't even asking:

Me: "Brandon, I understand you don't have bacon ends in at the moment, can you take a reservation for these or call me when you do have some inventory?"

Brandon: "You see, we don't actually grind our our bacon so I don't know when we'll have more."

Me: "I understand that, but can you take a reservation or call me when you do? Can that be done?"

Brandon: "As I told you before on your last call to us, we don't grind our own bacon so so I have no idea or guarantee of when we will have this in stock."

Brandon, if you can't accomodate this, then TELL people. You may as well have recited the pledge of allegiance over the phone to me because that would've at least been patriotic. I don't think I'm being unreasonable or asking a whole lot here. The fact that I had to call multiple times to not only NOT receive a sensible answer to my question (e.g. "Sorry, we don't take reservations for bacon ends here. Call back later." or "Sorry, we don't have that quantity in stock but if you give me your information, we can call you as soon as we get some more in.) but to have the company be so unhelpful to even see if that's a possibility will only ensure that this place never sees my business. Don't ask this place about bacon, apparently it will make their head explode. Two thumbs down.

Response to reply on 12-1-2024: Brandon. I appreciate your attentiveness to the events as you recalled them and for your explanation to the proper useage and definition of what quotation marks mean. Very helpful. Trust me, if you didn't say the things you did (actually) say to essentially discourage me from spending money at your business, I wouldn't have taken time out of my Thansgiving weekend to write this review in the first place.

I wish you would've applied a fraction of your effort in your lengthy response to this review and think to say something like, oh I don't know: "I'm sorry for your frustrating customer experience, Bill. It seems as though we have had a misunderstanding here. I would love the opportunity to make this right and earn your business. Give me a call and maybe we can work something out." While I would've appreciated that, I can assure you, going forward, I will allow other butcher businesses to "make my head explode" in the best way possible. Good luck with your current business model of "helping customers". ✌️

Brendan W.

Six month edit: It has been great that I have found superior alternatives to Mert's meats. Monticello's Market has been amazing!! They don't get as many custom requests beyond what is in their case, but their expert butchers seem to have that much more joy in filling those requests as a result. And their meat is a bit more affordable and doesn't smell rancid. A win, win.

Came in to treat ourselves to nice steaks for Memorial Day. Spent a lot for prime rib eyes. They were in my fridge within 10 minutes of leaving store. When I opened package three hours later to prepare them to dry brine, they had a very off putting spoiled odor. What a disappointment when you pay $28/lb. For prime meat on a holiday weekend when you’re looking forward to a special meal with family and now your plans are ruined. I wonder how much spoiled meat they sold this weekend? I hope Mert’s makes this right when I catch up with them post-holiday.

Update: Mert's reluctantly gave me a cash re-fund. Thank you! But the owner Shirley was more interested in arguing with me, including in front of other customers, than simply doing the right thing for a loyal customer who has been buying high-end steaks (and other products) from them for years. She still wants to have the last word and be a pit bull and attack her customer. Was the meat spoiled to the point that it would have made my family sick? I don't know and wasn't going to find out. It was clearly not the quality product I am use to purchasing from butchers who take their product seriously. And clearly given her attack of me and other customers who have feedback for the business, Shirley becomes unhinged when you simply want her and the business to stand by their product, even when you're a loyal customer. Given the headache that it was to get Mert's to simply standby their product and the way Shirley treats loyal customers, I don't know if/when I will be back.