Houghton's Butchers, Warrington, UK (Houghtons Wholesale Butchers)

Member Name: stephbond89

Product:	Houghtons Wholesale Butchers
Date:	10/10/09 (86 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Value for money, wonderful range of products.

Disadvantages: Hard to find! Don't take cards so you have to pay by cheque or cash!

Houghton's Review
What is it?
Not many people will have heard of Houghton's butchers, but they are a small family run butchers which sell whole sale to restaurants and shops in the Warrington areas, but also they sell to the public. You can simply go to the shop and they will sell you as much or as little as you like.

We first heard of the butchers when we were driving along a small road leading into a small industrial estate by accident and saw a sign for the place. It took us a couple of journeys to finally find the shop, but when we did it was well worth it.

We had always gone to the farm in Manchester called Nixon's which was a good 40 minutes drive from us, where we would buy our meat for two months and fill up our freezer so we had enough food to last us a couple of months. But we were spending lots in petrol to get there and back, so when we found this place we were made up. And we now use it all the time, whether we're buying bug amounts of food, or just need some small things!


Where is it?

The address of Houghton's is 9d Bankhall Park, Wharf Street, Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 2DG, and their phone number is 0192541409.
If you know Warrington at all, you need to come off the roundabout near Halo nightclub (Mr Smith's as it used to be called), and onto the business estate where there is a McDonalds, Pets at Home, BnMs, Next, Laura Ashley, Homebase, Borders, Harveys' and Bath Store. On the left hand side of McDonalds there is a road which leads out of the business park, turn left out of this road, and you will go down into an industrial estate which you will probably start thinking you have got lost in Beirut in, past a big Children's playbarn called JellyBeans. It is signposted but very very small signs. You turn left into the second road, and then right at the end park up, you'll probably have no clue where you are, but in front of you will be a door, it is through this door that the shop is situated, it's very very small, but they stock a huge amount of food in the back. As the shop is used mainly by shops and wholesalers, the shop itself is only small, but anything you ask for they will very happily get for you!

It is hard to find, and this is the only downside to the shop, maybe when it gets more and more popular with the public they will open up a bigger shop and will advertise it more, but at present there is no email address of website, and it is difficult to find if you don't know where you are going, but well worth it when you find it!


What do they sell?

EVERYTHING! Houghton's sell all main meats: Lamb, Beef, Pork, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Venison (if you ask them for it in advance) as well as sauces, marinated meats, roast joints etc. Every cut of meat imaginable is sold in Houghton's, and they will give you the most advice imaginable, if you can eat it, they'll sell it. As I said some things, like Venison, you will have to phone up in advance and ask them to get it in for you, and you may have to spend a little more for these items.

We have bought a huge range of items from the shop, they sell expensive cuts, as well as cheap cuts for stocks and stews which is excellent really. It would be difficult for me to tell you everything the shop sells as they have such a huge range. But it's simple to say, you will get all of your meat needs from Chicken Breasts through Sausages and Bacon right up to T Bone Steaks.

Prices

The prices are absolutely fantastic. And much less than anything you would pay in the Supermarkets or other butchers. And the food is all fresh and not frozen once! A kilo of Chicken Breasts which would normally cost around £8, here cost just £4-£5 (this is for around 6 chicken breasts). As they sell everything wholesale, it is all much cheaper than you would pay anywhere else. If you take the price you would spend in the Supermarket for good quality meat, half it, and you have around the right price you would pay in Houghton's. There is no official price list for Houghton's, so again it is difficult to put one on here, but they are extremely cheap, and we have filled out chest freezer with a mix of meats from Chicken breasts, steaks, pork chops and other bits and pieces for £40, in the Supermarket this would have cost us double this!

You cannot pay by card in the shop, so you have to have cash, but they will let you go in and get your things, then leave them while you go to the cash point (just 5 minutes away on the business estate) and then come back and pick it up all packaged up for you.

You can also pay by cheque, but they only cash the cheques once a month, so you can never be sure when they are going to go out of your account, but it's very handy if you have no cash on you!

Hospitality

The company is a family run business, and they are always very very helpful whenever we go, always giving us advice when we ask which meats are best for what, and also what will be cheaper to buy.

One day when we went, we asked about buying some Chicken Livers and mentioned we'd look for a chicken liver pate recipe, when the lady told us to wait a second and went off and photocopied a recipe for us out of a book she had. They are always more than friendly and kind whenever you go, and on your first trip, you get a free packet of your delicious sausages!!!

Overall:

We love Houghton's and we use it all the time, it's excellent value for money and they have a huge range. The shop is open 9-5 weekdays, and is a much better way to get your meat than buying it from the supermarket! So if you're ever in the area, nip in! It's amazing! They also do Turkeys at Christmas, which you can order in November!!! :)

Summary: We use the place every couple of months to fill; our freezers and you should too! :)