Is a Premium Meat Delivery Subscription Worth It? I Tried One for Two Months

I’m an indecisive person, but I haven’t waffled on my answer to the age-old dinner-party question “What would be your final meal on Earth?” in years: a medium-rare New York strip steak au poivre, cheesy potato gratin, a bright green salad, and a glass of really good red wine.

Steak is the ultimate special occasion meal to me, but I rarely cook it—or any red meat, for that matter—at home. So when I do, I want it to be good. While I can get some decent-quality meats from the butcher at my local gourmet grocery store, I can’t so easily find the kinds of specialty cuts or grades you can get from online meat delivery services. When I want giant cowboy rib-eye steaks, gorgeously marbled American Wagyu strips, or thick and juicy Kurobuta pork chops, there’s one place I now know to turn to: Snake River Farms.

The self-proclaimed “Pioneers of American Wagyu Beef,” Snake River Farms is a family owned and operated business that’s been around since the ’80s (though its parent company, Agri Beef, was founded in 1968). The brand works with family-owned ranches to source its meat and oversees the entire supply chain.

I first tried SRF while testing for a meat delivery subscription article over the summer, and it has fully converted me from a “buy a steak from the nearest grocery store the day of” kind of person to an online meat delivery evangelist.

What’s the Snake River Farms ordering experience?

You can either fill your basket à la carte by perusing the site’s categories and selecting the specific products you want, or you can build a subscription box. À la carte orders are onetime affairs, but if you opt for a subscription, you’ll be able to select between delivery frequencies, which range from every four weeks to every 12 weeks. Orders are shipped via FedEx, with no option to select a specific delivery date. Should you need to pause or cancel your subscription, you can do so from your account.

Once your box or à la carte order is finalized, you’ll head to check out. I ordered a subscription and tested two boxes of products over the course of a couple months. I shipped one box to California and the other to New York; both arrived at my delivery address in just a few business days.

Should you order a Snake River Farms subscription box?

The main benefit of the subscription box is that it can potentially save you money. Orders of six to nine items get a 5% discount, and orders of more than 10 items save 10%. On a small order, this won’t make much of a difference. But if you’re ordering hundreds of dollars worth of meat, it adds up.