peer reviewed ; Steak tartare is a popular meat dish in Belgium. It is prepared with raw ground minced beef and eaten with sauce, vegetables, and spiced. Since it contains raw meat, steak tartare is highly prone to bacterial spoilage. The objective of this study was to explore the bacterial flora diversity in steak tartare in Belgium according to the source and to determine which bacteria are able to grow during the shelf life. A total of 58 samples from butchers’ shops, restaurants, sandwich shops and supermarkets were collected. These samples were analyzed using 16S rDNA metagenetics, a classical microbiological technique, and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) targeting the Lactobacillus genus. Samples were analyzed at the beginning and at the end of their shelf life, except for those from restaurants and sandwich shops analyzed only at the purchase date. Metagenetic analysis identified up to 180 bacterial species and 90 genera in some samples. But only seven bacterial species were predominant in the samples, depending on the source: Brochothrix thermosphacta, Lactobacillus algidus, Lactococcus piscium, Leuconostoc gelidum, Photobacterium kishitani, Pseudomonas spp. and Xanthomonas oryzae. With this work, an alternative method is proposed to evaluate the total flora in food samples based on the number of reads from metagenetic analysis and the results of qPCR. The degree of underestimation of aerobic plate counts (APCs) at 30°C estimated with the classical microbiology method was demonstrated in comparison with the proposed culture independent method. Compared to culture-based methods, metagenetic analysis combined with qPCR targeting Lactobacillus provides valuable information for characterizing the bacterial flora of raw meat.