Are people buying steaks out of the back of trucks these days?

[tonilea]

We have had them stop by a few times and they usually look rather unsavory, so we decline.

 

[Nennie]

We have had Horizon Foods before, which is a truck with a freezer compartment. I've bought chicken, tilapia, sea bass, crab legs, and shrimp before! I liked them b/c each piece was vacuum sealed, which was nice for a family of 2 so we only defrosted what we needed for each meal. etc.

Our salesperson went back to pharmaceutical sales though, and I don't know if someone took over her territory, but if they have, I've never seen them.

 

[Ephany]

They swing by a couple of times a year. We've never bought from them though, the idea of getting meat from the back of the truck freaks me out.

There are a couple of shrimp trucks always parked at the same places on the side of the road on the weekends. We haven't tried them yet, but I've heard good things.

 

[rcraw45425]

Our street is a cul de sac with 8 houses that sit quite a bit off the street, no trucks there, but I have seen the same set up, generally a chest freezer in the back of a pickup truck in some of the larger neighborhoods with smaller tract homes.

 

[Ohiodislover]

I've bought them. The steaks have been very good, in my experiences.

 

[tzolkin]

I've had a guy with an unlabled old truck stop by my house a few times since we've lived here (6 years). I've never looked at the meat because we get our meat from my parents. I assumed it was frozen, so it shouldn't be too difficult for them to keep it safe.


It could be a legit business. My parents mainly just raise meat for our family, but they do occasionally sell some to the health food store. They have their meat processed and packaged at a USDA butcher so it can be sold.

 

[joyah]

Happens every spring while DH is sugaring, this same white truck same guy We tell him sorry we grow our own and he still comes by EVERY year. must be a few steaks short of a BBQ

 

[pandora174]

Not steak, but I'm always happy to see a shrimp truck.

Fish/shellfish is a bit simpler, though -- you know immediately if it is bad. You can do a lot of things to beef to make it look fresher than it really is.

Sure, here in So. FL we see the shrimp truck, mango truck, avocado truck etc etc. People selling cold water, flowers, rugs, paintings for your house(mostly Jesus on the cross next to the picture of a naked couple embrasing even Kristy Kreme donuts ! But no steak guy, yet.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

LOL
Too funny.
We just purchased from Best Choice meat Co LAST NIGHT (a few hours ago). They came by here about a year ago and we bought boxes of various steak, chicken and seafood and it was all delicious. They are an actual company though- they do not have "steaks" slapped on the outside of their vehicle- they were in a truck with refridgeration on the back part and it was all completely frozen in boxes (inside that individual servings in vacuum packing and they are all listed USDA (on the steaks)

I don't know about a truck with "steaks" slapped on the outside and not in fridgeration or anything- that would be weird. but for $2 a steak I might take a look and make sure it was a real business.

I do live in the south and we do have a lot of companies that go door to door to get business delivering food- Schwanns is one, this meat company is another. On the flipside we do NOT have grocery stores that you can order from and have it delivered like you can in other bigger cities.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I've never heard of that. The only company I have seen around here is Schwann's, but they do not solicit. Forget the steaks! That sounds like a set up for a burglary and he would be lucky that I was not calling the police on his behind!

 

[aprilgail2]

There are companies that have been doing this around here for years! I remember them even as a small kid.

Saem here, I don't eat meat so I dont buy it but my neighbor does and says they are always great.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

They keep knocking on the door and I keep telling them no. I prefer buying fresh.

Now growing up my mom had a deep freeze and we would buy a side of beef. It was good.

 

[powellrj]

They use to come around here all the time. This is so different than companies like Schwanns. These are old beat-up pick-up trucks with a deep freezer in the back. I buy meat from farmers markets and even that meat has been vacuum packed and labeled, which this isn't,

I haven't seen them around in awhile, so they must have moved on.

 

[dizluvah]

Eeyore's Butterfly I did consider calling the police. As other posters have mentioned I wasn't sure if permits are required to sell door to door, I wasn't sure this was a legit business, and basically I was freaked out by this person.

I have seen roadside trucks selling things before: there is always a truck parked in the Ace Hardware parking lot with a gentleman selling flowers. Mangos, oranges, avocados I would buy because I can wash the fruit before I consume and because I am pretty confident that I can tell a mango is in fact a mango. I'm not so sure I could tell meat was actually steak. Choosing to stop at a roadside stand to purchase something feels different for me than a stranger knocking on my door to offer me a deal on meat.

Basically, I tend to be a worrier and no doubt I am overly cautious when I am home alone. I would rather overact to "nothing" than be caught off guard and have something scary happen.

Thank you to all who shared that in other regions of the country this can be more common. I learn something every time I am on the dis!

 

[Chuck-PA]

A friend of ours, her mother, had a gentleman and this son come knocking on her door selling steaks. She bought the steaks and the gentlemen carried the steaks in for her. They chatted for a bit and they left.
Over the next few days she started getting phone calls from her credit card company about a bunch of purchases she never made. She called her daughter and told about calls. Her daughter asked where had she used the credit card last and she told her about the men selling steaks door to door.

Her daughter found out that her mother gave out her owm mother's maiden name and other important info which is required when you don't have the card in hand to charge.

The daughter looked up the steak company and went there to talk to the owner. He would not believe the story because the gentleman has worked for him for years and there has been no trouble.

So last we spoke with her, she was fighting the credit card company for the charges.

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

I have never bought steak, but have bought ice cream from Schwann's, snow crab meat from a guy that went around to the bars, and watermelons from trucks...and my boyfriend used to buy turtle meat from a guy but the guy is in jail now.

 

[LukenDC]

In circa 1990, my family was living in Hemet, CA and someone pulled up in a truck selling steaks. Much to my shock, my mother bought some and made them for dinner that night. I refused to eat any of the meat, but the rest of the family did and had no ill effects. They said that the meat was high quality.

I think that door to door meat sales are bizarre and potentially unhygenic. I would never eat something that perishable that came from an unknown source.

 

[gymboqueenkaylee]

They come around my neighborhood from time to time. We always decline. I am too scared to buy that meat, I don't know where it's been, kwim!

 

[ICF]

they've been doing that for years around here.......

 

[Melrosgirl]

Omaha Steaks does not sell door to door with the exception in Dallas,
Texas only through a company named Horizon Foods.

I know that because I contacted Omaha Steaks after someone from Butchers Choice Meats (pick up truck) knocked on our door. The man would not leave. Very hard sell. He said they were associated with Omaha Steaks. I contacted Omaha and they wrote back saying they are not affilated with Butchers Choice. I googled and it's a type of scam.