Mountain Valley Farm, Ellijay

I just don't get the positive reviews....Frozen Beef for $20-$30 a pound. WTF?? I came here with great expectations, but was very disappointed. First, I was surprised to see what looked like a city morgue... a wall of stainless freezer doors (this is NO BUTCHER SHOP!)...There is NO FRESH CUT meat here - everything is frozen. Although the meat may be flash-frozen, you have no idea how long ago it was, and where it really came from - (this meat could come from China for all I know). They were also out of two cuts I asked for (flank and skirt). Then, there's the high prices... if you buy a few rib-eyes steaks and some sausages, you're easily in the plus $100 range. In saying all of that, once defrosted, I had to trim about an inch of outer rim fat (not the marbling fat), which was probably $5 worth of weight. After cooking them on a charcoal grill to 145 degrees (med. rare) and letting the meat rest, the steaks still bled-out, and I found the meat to be tender, but with a dry texture and not terribly tasty. This leaves me to believe that some of the 5 star reviews may be based on the placebo effect. Of course, taste is a personal thing... but other than my opinion on taste, the rest of what I've written is FACT. Go to Ingles and buy some FRESH CUT Angus steaks for $12 a pound.

Always love stopping in here. Tons of animals outside to be loved on. Goats, cows, rabbits and sheep. Inside you'll find some of the best products. We love getting cheese and icecream here. Other things you can get here are frozen fresh meat, honey, hand lotion and soap, amish butter, jellies and jams, and just so much more.