About Don’s Meat Shop

Don's Meat Shop was founded in 1982 by Don and Sally Rains, a husband-and-wife team who believed that Chattanooga deserved a neighborhood butcher shop that treated customers like family.

Starting near Hixson High School with little more than a shoestring budget and an unmatched commitment to quality, it didn't take long before the community took notice. Word spread from neighbor to neighbor, and Don's earned a reputation that still holds today — Hands Down the Best Meat in Town.

Cutting meat is very much a family trade for the Rains family. Donnie learned the craft from several family members over the years, a hands-on education that laid the foundation for everything that followed.

He went on to spend years working for a meat distributor, where he developed a deep, specialized knowledge of cuts that most butchers never encounter.

All the while, he never left the family business behind, working weekends at the shop alongside Don and Sally. By the time Donnie stepped into the lead role, he brought with him decades of hands-on experience from every angle of the trade.