The Key to Saving Money on Meat, According to the Owner of Little Italy's Last Butcher Shop

Not only does Jennifer the "Butcheress" come from a long line of butchers, but she is the proud owner of NYC's Albanese Meats & Poultry, considered to be the "last butcher shop in Little Italy." 

Her great-grandparents opened the shop in 1923, and Jennifer took it over from her grandfather—a neighborhood treasure everybody called Mo, who sadly passed away from Covid, she says. 

(The shop is so OG that Jennifer jokes it's "half a butcher shop, half a museum." Fun fact: it's even appeared in Amazon's '60s-timed comedy, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel!")  

So TRUST, if she's got a hot tip on how we can save money on our meat—and she does!—you know we're all ears.  

"One way to save a lot of money is if you buy the whole piece [of meat] instead of getting things boneless or [in] just pieces," she says.  

For instance, Jennifer says, with pork shoulder, buy it with the bone and it'll be much cheaper than buying it boneless. Even better? "You can then use that bone for soup!" she notes.