The Healthy Butcher

Reviews

• Guinivere S.

  star star star star star_border 11 June 2026

  Organic meat is costly, so the prices in here are definitely understood.  The guy we spoke with behind the meat counter seemed quite knowledgeable about the meat that they have.  I like the transparency in that you see the meat being butchered right there in the location.  There is a lot of variety and different kinds of meat if you want to try something different.  We picked up a whole chicken and some ground beef.  It was $32 for the chicken and $10 for the ground beef which is costly compared to what we would pay if it was not organic.    Many of the other items in the store I would say are definitely higher then if you were to buy them elsewhere.

• Carla F.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 8 June 2026

  After today's experience at the Eglinton Ave W location, I will never shop at The Healthy Butcher again, nor will I recommend it to others.
  
  Anyone who reads my reviews on Yelp knows I use Yelp to support amazing local businesses or to become aware of them so I can enjoy the very best they have to offer. I love the Yelp community!
  
  I don't enjoy writing about - or having - negative and stressful experiences, which is what I received today - and from the owner no less!
  
  It is far too important to me to support local businesses that treat their customers properly. If you read through their reviews on other popular sites, you will see others have experienced poor customer relations.
  
  So what happened?
  
  I called in an order for some chicken and 3 bone-in ribeye steaks. Google "bone-in ribeye steaks" and you'll immediately see images of what I expected to receive!
  
  The butcher taking the order - who was female -confirmed that I wanted 3 prime ribs. I  took that moment to clarify 3 bone-in ribeye steaks. She said it was the same thing.
  
  Now I am no butcher, so maybe I got the terminology wrong. Granted I'd been ordering from their butcher Dave on the phone and this never happened before. I trusted her and that was that.
  
  $122 later for the steaks, and when my over 70 year old father brought the order home, I realized it wasn't in the form I wanted. It was prime rib roast.
  
  I called and had the misfortune to speak with the owner Tara (she identified herself as such toward the end of our conversation).
  
  She told me these things happen given different terminology, which I totally understand, and that she could help me cut it, that that was all that needed to be done. That I got what I ordered.
  
  She said she sided with her butcher and it wasn't their error. She also told me what I should have ordered were rib chops.
  
  I maintained I just ordered ribeye steaks a few days earlier at an awesome butcher when in Texas (check out that review!), and that was what I wanted so I asked for it.
  
  To me, the error should not fall on a customer who has come back time and again for over 7 years to this location for my meat and poultry needs. I would have expected them to treat a long-standing customer right.
  
  Her offer to help me cut it over the phone wasn't going to work. For various reasons I cannot do this and I advised her of that. She suggested my 70+ year old father who doesn't and hasn't ever cooked in his life do it. I don't even have a proper knife for him to handle it. And for $122 before taxes, it's not what I expect.
  
  When she asked what they could do I suggested a gift card for next time for a customer like me who is loyal. (I would have had to find a recipe for the prime rib roast and it wasn't what I wanted to serve anyway. They are also an hour away so getting them to cut it for me doesn't make sense.) She said no. I asked if I could freeze it and return it jn a week when I will be back around that location. She said no.
  
  The final resolution was having my father drive an hour back for a refund, which I took. I feel terrible for my father and disappointed with the store.
  
  It is clear that the owner here doesn't care about me as a customer. I will never be back.
  
  I will try Sanagan's meat locker, which was highly recommended to me before, but which I never thought I needed to try since I was used to The Healthy Butcher.
  
  Here's to my search for an awesome Toronto butcher!

• Jane C.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 2 June 2026

  I've experienced rudeness from two of the male staff behind the meat counter at the Eglington location a few times. Simply because I wanted to pick my meat products as opposed to taking whatever they chose for me.
  
  The products/ meats are good, however. And the female cash register staff are always polite and friendly, but if i'm paying a premium price for a meats, I don't believe it's too much to ask for politeness.
  
  Will be looking for a new butcher as it's very uncomfortable encountering rudeness as a customer at a place where you frequent a few times a week.

• Cherie F.

  star star star star_border star_border 21 May 2026

  The Healthy Butcher gets 3.5/5 stars for our cooking class experience. My boyfriend signed us up for the sausage making class where you are taught how to make a sausage! It was a lot of fun. The session started at 8 pm and was supposed to end at 11 pm but we went over the time slot and ended at approximately 11:45 pm. The instructor spent one and a half hours explaining meat-knowledge to us, which I thought was a little long. There were no seats available at the butcher shop, the thing that kept us going for another 3 hours was the wine and drinks haha. There were a lot of alcohol provided the night that we attended the cooking class! There was also charcutiere and olives to munch on throughout the night.
  
  COOKING CLASS RUN-DOWN:
  
  * CHOOSING YOUR MEAT
  Most of the people who attended the class were coupled up. Each of us were placed in different teams. Each teams' task was to figure out which type of sausage we would make. We were given a choice of pork or beef for the meats and we chose beef. We also chose the type of grind for the meat.
  
  * AUCTION FOR FRESH INGREDIENTS
  We were given "monopoly money" ($100) to auction for fresh ingredients. After discussing with our group members, we were determined to spend our auction money on getting fresh minced garlic! We ended up getting more than just fresh garlic :D
  
  Our team's combo includes: minced garlic, mint, maple syrup and onions!
  
  * PICK YOUR DRY INGREDIENTS
  Dry ingredients were free-for-all! This includes oregano, paprika, salt, pepper, rosemary...etc.
  
  * MAKING THE SAUSAGE
  After mixing all the ingredients together, each team gets a try at the sausage-making machine. This was the part of the night where everyone had the most fun! There is enough time and meat for each member of the team to get a try at making the sausage.
  
  * TASTE-TESTING
  After all the teams were done making their final products, the instructor will cook one sausage from each teams' batch. Everyone will get to try each other's creations and judge which one they liked the most. There was a "competition" for the best tasting sausage but the instructor didn't pick a winner for our session because apparently "everybody is a winner" haha.
  
  * FINAL PRODUCT
  Each of us were given a bag with our final product. Some couples decided to switch with others to get variety. The instructor also taught us the different ways we can cook them at home.
  
  Overall, this was a fun experience and I'd recommend this to my friends! :)

• David S.

  star star star star star 13 May 2026

  We've started using the Healthy Butcher's home delivery service for almost all our food-shopping needs. As senior citizens, we really appreciate the convenience, as well as the terrific choice of organic foods, the quality, and the professionalism, friendliness and reliability of the service. We're steady customers from now on!