Went to town today to do a Dollar Tree run and in the parking lot was a van selling ribeye steaks 20 for $40. The sign said they take cash, credit, check, or ebt. I did not buy any. But it got me wondering who buys roadside meat and is it any good?

44 comments

  1. Yes. It will either be the best meat you’ve ever had, or give you rabies. There’s no middle ground.

  2. Maybe I just haven’t been to the right part of the states, but I’ve never seen a roadside van selling rib-eye steaks. Usually its like hotdogs and other stuff. I feel like it would be less weird if the van was like at sometype of food event or something. But I personally would not risk buying a ribeye steak from a van in some random lot of dollar tree lol. Who knows how clean their standards are.

  3. When I lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana there were guys selling shrimp and/or crawfish on the side of the road. Not being a native, I asked some folks in the restaurant biz about it. Mostly these guys had contracts to deliver a certain amount of shrimp/crawfish. If they caught more (never know how much you’ll catch), sometimes the place they sold too couldn’t take them. So instead of going to waste they’d sell on the roadside.

    I bought from a couple times after I found this out. Very fresh seafood that has been swimming earlier that day.

    But the parking lot steak guys? Everything I’ve ever heard is that it’s pretty crappy beef.

  4. Yup, like every time I can.

    Farm stands, food trucks, dirty water dogs in NYC, random vans selling random meat.

    Support your local meat sellers.

  6. I bought frozen steaks out of the back of a truck at a bar. They were delicious.

  7. Yes. Hy-vee sets up a burger stand in their parking lot sometimes in the summer. I had one once, and it was honestly one of the best burgers I have ever had. Maybe I was just very hungry that day, but that’s how I remember it.

  9. Hell yes. Usually it’s cooked food, but I’ve bought truck steaks a few times in my life. I won’t touch parking lot seafood though.

  10. The closest I’ve come to buying uncooked meat from a roadside stand is buying it from a stand at a farmers market when they were pulling it out of the back of their truck. I have bought gator jerky from a roadside stand though, which was fantastic, 10/10 no notes.

  11. When I was younger, there was two guys parked in an abandoned gas station selling raccoon out of their 1984 Caprice Classic.

  12. There’s a big difference between made in US beef and grown in Mexico. Maybe it’s from out of the country.

  13. Raw meat? As a journeyman meat cutter of 9 years i would have some questions first. Namely, temperature logs, dates, times, current temp reading of the storage device. Are they stored in the proper units. Paperwork certifying where the meat came from. If they could produce all that at a moment’s notice, I’d buy it.

  14. Never in the US but I spent a couple years in Brazil and had street meat all the time and it was fucking amazing!

  16. Seafood and farm stands are fairly common in the outer suburbs and rural areas when in season. We also see stands for various frozen, fresh and processed meats at farmers’ markets.

  18. Poke (tuna) from roadside stands in Hawaii is wonderful. In hicksville USA, you should pull over for some hayseed’s jerky.

  20. On Long Island, NY. I have bought seafood on the side of the road lol. Lobster tails and shrimp and some other stuff. it was great quality and cheap. I ask no questions!

  21. I have bought so much meat and sausage from vendors at farmer’s markets. It’s often cheaper and of better quantity than you find in supermarkets, and only cheaper than you find in dedicated delis. And usually with a bigger selection, which is why my freezer is filled with venison steaks and sausage.

  24. Roadside meat? No.

    Roadside produce or farmers market meat? Absolutely, and I will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

  25. I drive past a guy sometimes who sets up at a gas station selling “Omaha Steaks” (or something like that). As far as I can tell, they’re frozen steaks at a price that would be good if they are quality.

    I’ve never bought them though. The bulk purchase of meat of unknown quality isn’t really something I can afford.

  27. No. I probably wouldn’t either. Closest I’ve done is buying meat or eggs direct from farmers.

  29. I had a similar van rolling through my neighborhood, going door to door selling variety boxes of steak. I bought a box and my buddy bought two. They were actually really good steaks.

  30. ABSOLUTELY. Man, those ribs that are cooked in cleaned-out 55-gallon oil drums are the complete and total bomb.

  31. I’ve seen it (beef) here in Montana just this past year. It seems legit, frozen, right from their ranch. Bypassing the middleman.

  33. Jerky once. It was good.

    pre-Covid trucks used to come daily, or nearly so, from Guaymas, Mexico with fresh seafood. I never bought it – I don’t eat seafood – but those who did were pleased.

  34. Nope, not from a parking lot van guy. I’d probably assume it was shoplifted and resold if it was just in a parking lot.

    I have bought from roadside stands that are set up by the farmer though. But usually the stand is just to keep people from wandering around on the actual farm, you pay at the stand and then go pick it up at the storage area. But ‘directly from farmer who set up a booth at the end of their driveway’ is different than ‘parking lot van guy’ I think?

  37. Peaches, tomatoes, strawberries, or boiled peanuts..sure. questionable meat, naw.

  38. Yes. As often as I can but I have to know the person or get solid recomendations. first. Keep in mind, I live in a small community, not a big city. Most times I know the name of the cow, pig or chicken. I try to buy FAA and 4H kids animals and the such. It helps the kids and the community.

  39. Fuck yes. The food truck game is growing competitive in Florida. The last unlicensed roadside grill I visited sold burritos. They were Asian fusion and contained cactus. Some butthole called the health department or code enforcement and got them shut down. It sucks because his burritos were 🔥 🔥

    In Georgia, if I see roadside produce or boiled peanuts being sold from a truck bed, I pull over and buy something. I have never been disappointed by the quality or taste.

  40. I used to work at a job that required me to travel to tribal reservations all over the country. I know that it’s not meat,, but I remember buying some fresh, STILL WARM Indian fry bread from a kid in Idaho who was pushing them around in a cardboard box in a baby stroller. I also bought 20 tamales (for $20) from a lady with a card table out on one of the Reservations in New Mexico. I froze them in my hotel fridge and brought them home in my carry on luggage. SO GOOD! Another time, I stopped and bought some kind of amazing pork chile verde mixture loaded on a gigantic handmade tortilla from another lady out in the desert under a tent awning on another reservation. It was AMAZING! So yeah, i have, and no regrets.

  41. Once, I got hot dogs from a guy cooking them on his tailgate at the skate park. I’ve also bought tacos outside an edm festival. They were cooked on a tool cart.

  43. Here in Alaska we have people with enclosed trailers, filled with freezers, who park along busy roads and sell fresh crab, scallops, shrimp, and other seafood. I will always stop because he’s got the best prices anywhere and it’s always fantastic

  44. On the list of All-Time Bad Ideas, that’s definitely top 3, right after voting Republican and not obtaining a pre-nup.

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