4. Albanese Meats & Poultry is the Last Remaining Spot on Butcher’s Row

Albanese Meats & Poultry

Along Elizabeth Street, which about a century ago was lined with butcher shops, sits the last remaining old-school butcher in the neighborhood, Albanese Meats & Poultry. Celebrating its 100-year anniversary this year, the butcher shop is essentially frozen in time. The shop has retained much of its original form, from the exterior signage to the equipment inside and its lime green walls; its faded signage was actually put up by Francis Ford Coppola for The Godfather Part III. The shop is now owned by Jennifer Prezioso, who is the shop’s fourth-ever employee. Its historic appearance has brought it much attention, including from the director of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” who used the shop as a Jewish butcher shop in the Amazon series.

The block was a popular destination for butchers since nearby Canal Street used to be where cattle were sold. There were at least half a dozen butcher shops predominantly owned by Sicilian immigrants. For decades, the shop was owned by Moe Albanese, who passed away in 2020 just shy of age 96. Prezioso took over the shop after leaving the theater world and learning the ropes at the shop starting in 2017. The shop still retains books of orders from nearly a century ago, as well as other antiques and a prayer to San Gandolfo, the patron saint of the Albaneses’ hometown in Sicily.