Butcher Shop Near Me in Cobble Hill: Paisanos on Smith Street

Paisanos Butcher Shop opens at 8am Monday through Saturday at 162 Smith Street, a short walk from the Bergen Street F and G station, and its case runs from $11.99-a-pound Berkshire pork chops to Japanese A5 Miyazaki ribeye. The Affronti family has owned it since the early 1960s, and on Sundays it keeps shorter hours, 9am to 5pm. For anyone in Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill or Carroll Gardens searching butcher shop near me, this is the neighborhood's long-running Italian-American counter.

The founder was Antonio Affronti, called Poppa Tony by his grandchildren, who came from Italy with his family at nineteen in the late 1940s. In the early 1960s he and his brothers opened a small Italian-style butcher shop on Smith Street called Los Paisanos Meat Market. His grandson wrote in a 2015 essay for AlleyWatch that in those first years the brothers kept sawdust on the floor to absorb blood and drippings from the cutting blocks.

In the early 1990s Tony's son Mike took over and has run the business since. In 2015 his son described Poppa Tony, then 85, still driving to the shop on Sundays to stand behind the counter. The shop's own site dates the family business to 1960 and calls it family owned and operated for generations, while the AlleyWatch account says the early 1960s; either way, the same family has stood behind this counter for more than six decades.

Paisanos says it is certified by the Japanese Kobe Beef Association, and it stocks Japanese, Australian and American wagyu. The headline item is a USDA Prime dry-aged porterhouse at $39.99 for a 16-ounce steak, $59.99 for 24 ounces, or $79.98 for 36 ounces, enough for two hungry people. Japanese A5 Miyazaki ribeye costs $280.99 for two 10-ounce steaks, and an 8-ounce A5 Miyazaki tenderloin is $99.99.

Be honest with yourself about the A5. It is so rich that a few thin slices seared in a hot pan are plenty, and most home cooks will be happier with the dry-aged porterhouse at a fraction of the cost. The shop also carries less common meats: two 6-ounce kangaroo medallions cost $22.99. The online store notes that listed prices are per pound and change to the exact weight once a piece is cut to order.

For weeknight cooking, the Berkshire boneless pork chops are good value at $11.99 a pound, roughly two chops, and they stay juicy in a cast-iron pan. American lamb rib chops run $29.25 for a single chop of about three-quarters of a pound, and the shop sells only American-raised, grain-finished lamb, which it argues is fresher than lamb imported from New Zealand or Australia. House turkey meatballs with fresh peppers sell for $7.99 a pound and go straight into a pot of sauce.

The everyday beef counter leans on organic, grass-fed beef. The shop's About page says it chose cattle that were not fattened on corn and argues the result is leaner and higher in omega fatty acids than feedlot beef. Its house motto, printed on that same page, is that the staff treat you the way they want to be treated, and the family has added its own Paisanos Oven & Grill Sauce, announced on the shop's news page, for anyone who wants a finished dish without a recipe.

Paisanos is as well known in the neighborhood for its sandwiches as for its steaks. Heroes are sold by the foot: The Paisano, layered with prosciutto, salami, mortadella, pepperoni, provolone, lettuce and marinated roasted red peppers on Italian bread, costs $36.95 a foot, or $73.90 for two feet. Most other two-foot party heroes, from Chicken Parm to the Smith Street, are $69.95. Every party hero needs 24 hours' notice.

Custom antipasto platters are made for birthdays, tailgates and office lunches, sized to the event; the shop asks you to call to order those rather than buying them online. If you are feeding a group on game day, a hero and a platter ordered the day before are easier than standing in line at noon on a Saturday.

The counter is busy, and recent reviewers agree on one thing: a September 2026 Yelp review says to call ahead because the shop is always busy. Call (718) 855-2641 with your order and it will be cut and waiting. You can also order online at butchershopdirect.com for local pickup or delivery. The complaints are about portioning: one 2026 reviewer wanted exactly 1.5 pounds of steak and was sold 2 pounds, and another felt $28 for two organic chicken breasts was high.

The fix for both is the phone. Say the exact weight or thickness you want when you call, ask for bones removed if you are paying by the pound, and ask for a price before the butcher wraps it. For Thanksgiving, Mary's organic whole turkeys of 10 to 12 pounds are listed online at $119.88 and Murray's bone-in turkey breasts at $59.94, both reserved through the site.

Smith Street is lined with restaurants and small shops, and two neighbors make an easy loop. Walk north to Bar Tabac at 128 Smith Street, a French bistro, for a coffee or an early dinner. Then head south to Books Are Magic at 225 Smith Street, the independent bookstore owned by novelist Emma Straub, before carrying your groceries home.

Paisanos Butcher Shop is at 162 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Hours are 8am to 7pm Monday through Saturday and 9am to 5pm Sunday; call (718) 855-2641. The nearest subway is Bergen Street on the F and G. Order party heroes a day ahead, call before big holidays, and bring a cooler bag if you are buying aged beef to carry across the borough. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for wine shops nearby to finish the dinner plan.