Dine and Dish: The Meat Up in Northwest Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Sometimes it's okay to have beef with someone - as long as it's cooked right.

My friend Warren Armstrong had the perfect spot for that - the Meat Up in northwest Fresno.

The Maxey family has long been known for producing high-quality meat.

"My grandfather started in the business in 1954 with a company called King O Meat here in Fresno," Owner Steven Maxey says. "My dad spent his entire career in the meat business."

When Steven and his wife Cassi opened up shop, they wanted people to try high-quality meat in a sandwich.

"We thought maybe we'll do a sandwich each day and we'll highlight a different meat each day," Owner Cassi Maxey says.

"This is their neighborhood. This is my neighborhood. It's great to have a local shop like this in our neighborhood. This is our go-to place," Warren says.

First up, the Philly cheesesteak.

"We slice prime ribeye really thin and then grill it on our flat top with swiss cheese and peppers and onion," Cassi says.

Like warriors preparing for battle, Warren and I loaded up on protein.

"I gotta tell ya Dale, that Philly cheesesteak is the best outside of Philly," Warren says.

"This is so good. I mean it melts in your mouth. I've never had a Philly cheesesteak that melts in your mouth like this," Dale says.

The company makes all of its own deli meats.

"We have a USDA production facility here in town that we actually cook those items," Steve says.

"We make our own pastrami so again we slice it thin, put it on the flat top and we go swiss cheese and dijon mustard," Cassi says.

"When you want something that is hearty and is quality, you can't get better than this," Warren says.

The pastrami is Warren's favorite.

"I get one of these for work Dale. Put it in the fridge, heat it up in the microwave and it tastes like it was just made. Be careful, I might see that sandwich in the fridge. Yeah, I should mark it 'mine,' and put a lock and key on it," Warren says.

The tri-tip is also popular.

"We cut our tri-tip a little thicker than most tri-tip sandwiches because it's super tender," Cassi says.

Tri-tip is also ground up and mixed into the burgers they make.

"I'm stuffed. I'm not eating til tomorrow," Warren says.

The homemade chips and especially the fries kept us coming back for more.

"And we try those in beef tallow, like everybody used to do it. Like McDonald's did it in the 80's. Super good flavor," Cassie says.

"Having grown up in the midwest, meat and potatoes are in my DNA. This is comfort food," Warren says.

Many people drive by the Meat Up at Marks and Herndon not realizing this is much more than a butcher shop.

You can have meat dry-aged here. You can get tomahawk steaks here. You can even get premium meats like Wagyu here.

"There's lots of marbling in it so it's super tender. Super flavorful," Cassi says.

And if you just want to grab a sandwich and go, they can do that too.