A good friend, Jim Kellogg, turned me on to the Edgewood Locker just west of Edgewood, IA., and his recommendation was seconded by members of my wife's family who are from - and still live in - the area.
I've been to the Edgewood Locker on a few occasions and have never been disappointed. They have good pork chops (not as good as Golick's, but still damn good) and their steaks are good. But they're probably more well known for their specialty items, such as seasoned brats, hams, sausage products, and their award winning beef jerky.
The Edgewood Locker has a large freezer area full of pre-packaged meat and the thawed meat has always tasted as good as fresh to me. And if you like venison, they have a selection of deer meat, usually in the winter and spring. They do a lot of venison processing in the fall and winter for deer hunters throughout NE and Eastern Iowa.
About the only thing they don't do is veal, which seems to be a growing trend with some butcher shops these days. I understand their stance, but, God! Veal is so good!
The Edgewood Locker opens very early - 6 a.m. Monday thru Saturday, but are closed on Sunday's. They just opened a satellite location in Arlington, IA. I haven't been there, but it appears to be much smaller than the one in Edgewood.
The Edgewood Locker is truly off the beaten path, it's truly in the boonies, but if you're out for a drive in NE Iowa sometime, you need to stop at the Edgewood Locker. Oh, and bring a cooler...
