Costco Ribeye WTF

[PullinPork]

Went to Costco this morning looking for prime ribeyes. As seems to be the case recently, they had eye and cap separately, but no whole steaks.
Went back to the meat counter and asked if they could cut me a 2” prime ribeye.
Much to my amazement, the guy told me that they were not allowed to sell whole prime ribeyes. Of course, they had choice ribeyes in the case.
Anyone have any idea why they do this?

[SmokeRingsMatter]

I would have bought all the caps they had.

[sudsandswine]

The caps here are $21.99/lb hard pass

[PullinPork]

Originally Posted by sudsandswine

The caps here are $21.99/lb hard pass

I bought the caps. They were $15.99 - the same price as the eye!

[SmokeRingsMatter]

Originally Posted by sudsandswine

The caps here are $21.99/lb hard pass

Ouch!. I remember when i lived in the "boonies" Local grocery would have Ribeye's that had caps larger then the eye, and marbled so much it should have been labeled as prime. They were choice and i think $4.98/lb. I think the locals preferred lean meat.



Now i want to try and dig up a picture i took. Its was a good 7 years ago.

[Smoke on Badger Mountain]

Visalia Costco sells prime whole. Not sure why they would be any different in your market.

[sudsandswine]

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a whole cut Prime ribeye steak at Costco before...if I have its been long enough that I don’t remember it. Here, the options are whole subprimal prime, separate prime cap and eye, or cut choice ribeye steaks...maybe choice whole subprimal from time to time. Actually, VERY occasionally I’d see bone in tomahawk prime ribeye steaks there. Definitely don’t recall seeing a boneless prime ribeye there though.

It definitely varies by region and I’m often jealous seeing what you California peeps manage to find at the Costco’s out there.

[Kracken]

Once upon a time, I worked for costco. I would just call the warehouse and ask for the meat dept manager, they are happy to answer questions. Call around opening time, they start early and tend to go home in the early afternoon.

[Gore]

We have 4 Costcos within 25 minutes of us. They all carry different items. What they stock depends on what the manager orders. They know their clientele and are supposed to act accordingly. The meats are very confusing because they come from different suppliers. For instance, the whole ribeye roasts may be a different supplier than the ribeye steaks. They also may stock ribeye roast in cryovac and on Styrofoam (you may see this around Christmas), again two different suppliers! They are not allowed to sell these things differently. I had this explained to me by one of our managers. Yes, it is confusing.

[Ron_L]

Originally Posted by PullinPork

I bought the caps. They were $15.99 - the same price as the eye!

I haven't bought any rib caps for a while, but I think they are over $30/pound here! I would have filled my freezer

Did they have whole prime rib roasts? I would just buy those and cut the steaks myself.

[blackdogbbq21]

I complained to Costco about this exact thing about a month ago. I live in your area too. I got a pretty lame response with no good reason why they do this. I think it has something to do with making higher profits for sure. I feel like it's a dishonest practice and a lot of folks don't realize what they are buying. I told them between the prime ribeyes and blade tenderizing that I wont buy their steaks anymore. Maybe if they hear from enough of us something might change.

[PullinPork]

Originally Posted by Kracken

Once upon a time, I worked for costco. I would just call the warehouse and ask for the meat dept manager, they are happy to answer questions. Call around opening time, they start early and tend to go home in the early afternoon.

I called Costco this morning and spoke to the meat manager. He told me the only way to get a complete ribeye is to buy the whole rib. He didn’t know why, but that is the store policy...

[shares]

Originally Posted by PullinPork

I called Costco this morning and spoke to the meat manager. He told me the only way to get a complete ribeye is to buy the whole rib. He didn’t know why, but that is the store policy...

Costco jaccards them too, and then advises you to cook them to 160 internal - right there on the label. No thanks! They really don't know what they're doing there.

[AWilliams]

First world problems....