A Rare Butcher Shop Lands in Metairie, With Lenten Seafood Specials Aplenty

In recent years, the New Orleans area has lost a number of key butcher shops, starting with Cleaver and Co. in 2017, followed by Shank Charcuterie, and most recently, with the acclaimed Piece of Meat evolving into, primarily, a dinnertime steakhouse. Now a new butcher shop has landed in Jefferson Parish, and along with its selection of beef, veal, lamb, wild game, and poultry, the shop is debuting with a wide range of seafood, just in time for the Lenten season.

Called McCord Butchery, it’s a family-run operation from Sam McCord, whose long career has included working as chef de cuisine at New Orleans’s Royal Sonesta Hotel and at restaurants like the Rainbow Room in New York and the three-star Michelin restaurant L’Arpège in Paris. He runs it with his wife Jackie, a former educator and hotel manager, and butcher Robert Holmes, who’s worked in New Orleans kitchens like Grand Isle, Borgne, Red Fish Grill, and Mr. B’s Bistro. McCord Butchery is located at 210 Veterans Boulevard in Metairie — not far from Dorignac’s grocery store, which has become a go-to for cuts of meat as butcher shops have dwindled. As for what sets the shop’s meats apart from grocery store options, McCord says all of its beef is wet-aged for 30 days, and that its pork, poultry, and game products never include additives and are sourced from smaller farms.

McCord Butchery

So far, daily products have included Australian wagyu ribeyes with a BMS of 7/8 (BMS stands for beef marbling scale, a measurement used to grade quality in which higher is better), tenderloin brochettes, Angus three-bone short ribs, Joyce Farms whole chickens, Chilean sea bass, sheepshead, scallops, ahi tuna, swordfish, and more. McCord’s seafood offerings are equally notable to the meat, given a dearth of area fish markets — there’s the Westwego shrimp lot, of course, and plenty of spots to pick up crawfish, but little else in the way of fish, made more notable with the closure of Big Fisherman Seafood in 2021 after 32 years on Magazine Street. The shop plans to carry specialty meats like foie gras, pork belly, and sweetbreads, among others, and sells wine, beer, liquor, side dishes, charcuterie meats, cheeses, and other accompaniments. Customers can also special order cuts and food products directly from McCord — they’re not limited to in-store inventory.

McCord Butchery

McCord Butchery is currently open at 210 Veterans Boulevard Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and until 5 p.m. on Saturday; closed Sunday and Monday. A grand opening ribbon-cutting celebration is set for March 9.

McCord Butchery