Lobel's of New York

Lobel's is a Madison Avenue butcher of long standing, and its American Wagyu page makes an unusually specific claim about marbling: using the 12-point marbling score scale, its Wagyu will score 9 points or higher, which it notes exceeds the USDA standard for prime grade. A number on a named scale is a far better disclosure than the adjectives that usually occupy that space, and it can be held to.

It is worth being clear about what kind of claim it is. This is a house standard, a promise the shop makes about what it will and will not sell, rather than a grade issued by an outside body. That is not a criticism, and a butcher's own standard is exactly what a butcher of this reputation trades on. It simply sits in a different category from a Japanese grading outcome or a third-party audit, and the difference matters when comparing this page against a seller quoting one of those.

Three things a reader comparing Wagyu sellers will want are not published here. The ranch is not named, so the animal cannot be traced to a herd. The breed status is not stated, so there is no way to tell whether a cut is fullblood, purebred or the far more common Wagyu and Angus cross, and those are genuinely different products. And no per-order documentation accompanies the beef.

This is why the record above is marked Menu claim only and carries no authenticity badge. Nothing here is contradicted by evidence; there is simply less of it than a badge requires, and this directory would rather say that plainly than round it up. If the shop publishes its ranches or its breed percentages, the record changes.