Casablanca Meat Market
by Alejandro Ponce

When we walked inside the meat market I was surprised that there was so many people there buying meat. You feel crowded and have to shout to be heard, but the workers are very friendly and treat everyone with courtesy and respect. My uncle works at Casablanca Meat Market and he told me that the workers are always so busy they hardly have time to eat lunch. I askied myself how could they work so hard under those conditions ? My uncle told me that every day it's just as busy. The clients I spoke to said this is the best meat market in El Barrio.

Luis Pérez, the owner of Casablanca Meat Market started working when he was 14 years old and has worked in a meat market for 40 years. According to don Luis he grew up all his life in the meat business working with his father in Argentina. Although he has had many accidents the one that really got him worried was when he cut the tendon on his pinky. He said that his salary is not great, but not bad either and he is happy the way he is working at Casablanca. Don Luis is proud of his business because people choose to buy at his meat market. He used to live in el Barrio, but now he travels every day to work.

They don't make deliveries. The smallest orders are for about $50.00 and they sell retail only. About 100 people are served daily at Casablanca and 99% of the customers are Hispanic. Many people come to buy at this meat market and it has always been very popular in the neighborhood. Everyone comes to buy here because they sell the best meat.   Casablanca sells all kinds of meat, but steak, chicken, and pork chops are the most popular cuts. It is located on East 110th Street between Park and Lexington Avenue.