The Standard

Photo by Jennifer May, courtesy of Lindy & Grundy

Lindy & Grundy is an old-fashioned butcher shop on LA’s west side that has instantly become a darling of the LA food scene. We spoke with Amelia and Erika, the ladies behind the counter, about moving West, returning to meat, starting a business, and the almighty power of the Tweet.

The Standard: What’s the first carnivorous item you ate after your years of vegetarianism?

Lindy & Grundy: The first item was a delicious carnitas taco on my first date with Grundy in NYC! The taco was great, but our first date is a much longer, hilarious story!

You both have been described as ‘social media giants’ and have the notable distinction of creating a major media buzz before your shop even opened. Did this play right into your business plan? Or were you surprised at the power of social media?

Social media never played an intentional role in our actual business plan. Erika and I are first time business owners and we had no previous business training or advice. We learned everything on our own. Now we can actually consult for other people! We started with two employees less than a year ago, now we have eight employees, including a general manager, and five talented cooks who work at other high profile restaurants at night. We have created a thriving business for our family. The social media aspect just came naturally. It was a free, easy, way to interact with food and meat industry, including a lot of ranchers. All we did was tweet and the press started coming. We were totally shocked at how well social media played a part in growing our business. Amelia still tweets everyday from the shop, letting our customers know specials, and what’s in the case. It’s important to directly engage with your customers.

Has it been challenging to open a butcher shop at a time where vegan and vegetarianism have become so mainstream and trendy, especially in LA?

The vegan/vegetarian aspect was never an issue with us. We have had nothing but an outpouring of support from Los Angeles and the food community. In fact, we get a lot of vegan and vegetarian customers that shop with us for their families who eat meat, or they come to buy our house made dog food or doggie treats!

Lindy & Grundy has already started to become a beloved part of the neighborhood. What are your dream future events and goals for the shop?

Our next goal is to launch our much anticipated home delivery service, and our supper club will launch very soon too!

What are your favorite items in the shop? And can we bother you for a favorite meaty recipe?

Favorite shop items? That’s hard to narrow down. We make 55 items at the shop! Our house cured pork bacon and also lamb bacon are both wildly popular. Our dry aged beef is incredible… and our grinds! Our house grind is a 70/30 lean to fat ratio, all beef…super flavorful and then of course, our popular beef ‘n bacon grind, the ultimate burger! Top it with blue cheese, carmelized onions, arugula, home made aioli and put on a toasted brioche bun…it’s perfect.