The Arby’s fast food chain insists that they have the meats. 

But a truer claim now resides inside a narrow University District strip-mall bay that was once a Subway sandwiches location.

The new Buster’s Butcher has rib-eyes, T-bones, filets, tomahawks and Kansas City strips, sure. But also whole chickens, rabbits and ducks. Osso buco-ready veal shanks, boudin-stuffed quail and individually packaged confit duck legs. Bison and elk. Cold cuts from their house-prepared roast beef, tasso and city hams, and country pâté to imported-from-elsewhere pastramis and cured porks. Any manner of in-house sausages in pork, chicken and duck varieties. Meatballs and burgers. And if you really want to get fancy about it, there’s a glass-enclosed dry-aged case with the aura of an art installation. 

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Buster’s Butcher, adjacent to but separate from its parent, Buster’s Liquors & Wines in the University Center shopping complex at Poplar Avenue and Highland Street, is a 2,200-square-foot playground for carnivorous cooks.

Yes, they have the meats: Most are cut-to-order and sourced from Home Place Pastures in nearby Como, Mississippi, and Creekstone Farms in Kansas. The dry-aged case is entirely from Home Place Pastures. But they also have pretty much whatever you’d want to pair with those meats — from sides, soups and sauces to condiments, oils, spices and rubs. 

Brad McCarley runs the shop, which had an unannounced soft opening last week and will likely hold an official grand opening next month. And he personally curates everything in it, from the meats and spices to a small collection of cookbooks for inspiration, ones you’d find in his own home.

“This is stuff I’d want to have both in my restaurant kitchen and my home kitchen,” said McCarley, surveying the shop. 

McCarley brings to Buster’s his deep experience in the Memphis food scene, having most recently been the chef at Salt | Soy on Broad Avenue and head butcher at Porcellino’s for the Enjoy A|M Restaurant Group.

In-between, McCarley launched his own craft butcher and sandwich shop, City Block Salumeria, which operated out of the Puck Food Hall on South Main Street until COVID-19 essentially shut the hall down.

At Buster’s, McCarley is flanked (pun lightly intended) by staff from some of these prior stops. Mitchell Marable is production manager, overseeing all of the meats. Lindsay Chaisson is in charge of the shop’s extensive, impressive prepared foods program. 

Some of the products at Buster’s Butcher may be familiar from those previous endeavors, as well. 

Buster’s carries spices and chili crunch from Momofuku, but also sells jars of their own in-house chili crunch, the same that was used at Salt | Soy. The Spicy Italian sub available in the grab-and-go case — where a medley of familiar cold cuts such as soppressata, mortadella and city ham get an added zing from spreadable nduja sausage — is the same sandwich that was a sure shot at City Block. 

And pre-packaged burger patties, available in a house blend, steakhouse blend or bacon-beef 50/50 blend are essentially the same as the ones that were so popular at Porcellino’s.

But McCarley has also drawn on those prior experiences in terms of narrowing the approach at Buster’s. 

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“I wanted to maintain the quality of what we did at Porcellino’s,” McCarley said. “And it’s funny, because we are doing a lot of things here, but we were doing so much in that building.”

Porcellino’s wasn’t just a craft butcher shop for walk-in customers. It was also preparing meats for all of its sibling restaurants. And it was a small-plates restaurant. And a coffee shop. And a bar. And a little bit of a bakery.

“It was a lot,” McCarley said. “I think, now, that the restaurant kind of took away from (the rest). From a business perspective, this is more manageable.”

Buster’s will have their own “core four” of house-made grab-and-go sandwiches: The Spicy Italian, a roast beef, a jambon-beurre (classic French ham and butter) and a turkey croissant. But they won’t make sandwiches to order, and there’s nowhere to eat inside. 

But if there’s no dinner, there is theater: On a recent visit, an open counter at the end of the shop was a stage for the making of one of the shop’s compound butters. Behind that, visible through large windows on two sides, another employee was making meatballs.

It’s a shopping experience, whether you’re an ambitious home cook or want most of the work done for you. 

And while I could tell you more about the meats, I got distracted by all that was going on opposite the butcher counter. 

House-made products are the core of the business.

“The idea was, come to get your meat, then we have take-and-bake classic steakhouse sides, creamed spinach, twice-baked potatoes, potatoes au gratin, etc.,” said McCarley.

But that’s not all.

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Pasta sauces (marinara, bolognaise) and soups (broccoli cheese, tomato) come in 32-ounce containers for $12-14. (I took the first of each home on a recent visit, along with a bag of the house-made meatballs, all excellent.) 

There are other classic sauces (béchamel, veloute), gravies, salad dressings and spice rubs. 

Those compound butters for also packaged for sale: Truffle, bone marrow, blue cheese and “steak” (essentially garlic). 

Outside goods are a mix of locals and specialty products from elsewhere.

You can buy hot dogs, bacon and eggs from Home Place Pastures, Tom’s Tiny Kitchen brand pimento cheese and barbecue sauces from Bain, Melissa Cookston and Ballhoggerz, among others. 

Asheville’s highly regarded Spicewalla line of spices and seasonings are available, along with any manner of mustards, mayos, hot sauces, olive oils and more.

This is a specialty shop for serious eaters and cooks. It’s not a bargain shop, and the highest-end products are pricey.

You can get elk ribeye ($42.50 a pound) and foie gras torchon ($52.99 a pound) here. The cheese counter includes Spanish manchego ($37 a pound), British Stilton ($40 a pound) and Dutch gouda ($31 a pound).

But that’s not everything. Most house-ground meats — burgers and sausages — are in the $9-12 a pound range. The pasta sauces and soups are quite reasonable considering the very high quality. 

You can go upscale or more basic. Plan to cook or just plan to eat. Or maybe catch some inspiration. 

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I asked McCarley about some personal favorites. 

“I love the city ham, brined and smoked,” he said. “The barese sausage: pork and lamb, parmesan cheese, tomato paste, basil, parsley, some garlic. It originates in the town of Bari, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It’s just really awesome. Grill it and put it on a bun, but it goes great in sauces, too.

“The boudin-stuffed quail. And we just started doing the carne asada. One of our young butchers had worked in his family’s carniceria in California, and he just brought that up yesterday, and I said put it out. It’s really great. I really like the things my team has made. We give them license to do cool stuff.” 

They have the meats, and pretty much any related cool stuff you can imagine. 

Buster’s Butcher, 199 S. Highland St., is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays; and noon to 6 p.m., Sundays.