Wilsons Butchers

The Green brothers seem to be growing, they're everywhere I go lately. Well everywhere around Leeds. I'm talking about John and Andrew Green, the proprietors of Wilson's Butchers, Wilson's Pies and Pasties in both Crossgates, Morley, Armley and Garforth.

The first thing you notice when you step into Wilson's is all the awards these guys have won, championship pork pies seems to be a regular, membership of the Q Guild, trophies in the shop window, even by butcher's standards these guys are good.

You don't have to step inside to get this impression, it's hard to get through the front door, there's always a queue, a testament to how popular the place is, people queue out the door, to me that's insane. So naturally curiosity gets the better of you and you join the queue, as any Brit does, we like our queues. When through the shop archway there's always a smiley face in the form of a butcher or deli staff to say hello and take your order, and there's never a rush to get you out of the way, if you're pondering too long friendly banter is a must, and it's all in good fun.

I've been sent her to buy pork pies for my friends in Huddersfield and Bradford because they profess they are the best they've ever tasted, and these blokes know their pies. I'm not a pie bod personally, I prefer their cooked meats, I have a particular weakness for the delicately coated spicy chicken which is moist and tasty and gorgeous. yum.

With an excellent selection of good quality cuts of meat, pork pies, PORK PIE WEDDING CAKES people, yes, I kid you not, deli meats, salads, sandwiches, potato salads, coleslaws, and the odd sweet pastrie, Wilson's is much more than a butchers. Brilliant. Can't fault it.

In my humble opinion (and those of everyone else I know) Wilsons make the best Pork Pies I have ever had the privilege to eat.

Nice crust, meaty filling with great flavour; especially if they have just come out of the oven.

They are also great for BBQ packs in summer.

Wilson's is a large butchers in Crossgates. Having travelled miles to get there, other than an unfortunate parking ticket given to my mate, I was very impressed!
The staff are very helpful and offer all sorts of advice including which cuts of meat are best for the style of cooking you want to do.

They have a massive selection of joints and types of meat as well as doubling up as a bakery, offering a variety of baked pasties and even well made beef wellingtons. The quality is good, and if you happen to be around the area, stop by, I'd recommend it to anyone.

Used to be the best pork pies in Leeds but I've found the quality over the last couple of years has declined and only a couple of days ago I bought two pork pies and found grizzle in both of them. Needless to say it has put me off their pork pies and I will not be buying them again.

Great shop for pies and meat, they're making access for the disabled soon.

I am amazed this place hasn't already been reviewed. It is by far the busiest butchers I have ever seen. This includes during the week which is good to see some small businesses are still getting support. Well done the people of crossgates.


The thing with this place is when they get it right, it is absolutely stunning. I had a couple of rib eye steaks and although they were £11, the very best I have ever had. The pies are good too, award winners in fact and they apparently sell 10,000 a week. This doesn't surprise me as there's always 10 people or more in front of me in the que and 10 behind by the time I leave.


The bacon has good flavour and doesn't shrink much, the sausages have a great flavour and a decent range, the lamb shanks were stunning and the mince full of flavour.


To be honest I love everything I have had from Wilsons barring a breakfast sausage which had black pudding, tomato, mushroom etc in it. I found it surprisingly bland which just didn't make sense as their regular sausage is great. An off day for one of us.


The prices are a little up and down, some things cheaper than the supermarket, others much more expensive. What really matters is it's all better quality and they know where it comes from. I would much prefer to eat less meat of this quality than fill my plate with the tasteless junk the supermarkets sell.


I would recommend you check out the website to help decide what you want. Because it is so busy, it can sometimes be hard to spend time looking at things. At least you know it is fresh!