NORTON SHORES, Mich. — After a meat butcher operating out of a parking lot in Muskegon County was shut down Tuesday morning, customers shared mixed reviews about the business with 13 ON YOUR SIDE.
Backyard Butcher was selling meat out of a truck in a parking lot without a license over the holiday weekend in Norton Shores.
While some customers seem shocked, another says there were definitely red flags about it.
"I'm a single mom of two kids," Andrea Lindsey of Muskegon County says. "I thought it would be a good deal."
In the parking lot across the street from The Lakes Mall in Muskegon, Lindsey says she bought steaks from Backyard Butchers. Their big deal is 20 rib-eyes for $40.
"I made the mistake. I will never do that again. The quality of the meat is very, very poor," she says.
She says some of the meat she bought had spoiled while thawing and it was too thin of a cut. Her complaint isn't the only one. The operation has gotten 20 customer complaints through the Better Business Bureau of Central Texas. Eighteen of those were filed within the last year.
"Now, thinking about it, looking at it and how much I paid, I could have got a lot more different groceries for my kids than what I did, so that kind of really did bite," Lindsey says. "But you make mistakes and you learn."
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development says Backyard Butchers applied for a license at the end of last month, but they never received it.
Inspectors shut it down Tuesday after the business had stayed open anyway.
"I probably won't do it again, but you live and you learn," Ed Fleese of Muskegon County says.
He stopped by the truck during Father's Day weekend, and he and his wife Michelle say the meat tasted fine.
"I didn't have any issue with any of the meat or anything," Fleese says.
"We actually just had their hamburgers last night and are actually really good. They're really juicy," Michelle says.
They were both a little shocked to hear the news, and they're relieved they had a good experience.
"We have a family of five, three boys," Michelle says. "So, you can just imagine our grocery bill. We thought it was a good deal and we thank God we didn't have any issues."
The owners of Backyard Butchers did not respond to a request for comment and they could face a fine of $400 from the state for operating without a license.
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