Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Your Butcher, Frank

When I first moved to this town, I was pleased to see that a real butcher shop existed. And I love the quirky name: Your Butcher, Frank. While I often lament the unavailability of many items that were availble to me in Chicago, places like Your Butcher, Frank help make up for those lost items.

When I started writing my "Vicinity and Beyond" column in the Left Hand Valley Courier, Your Butcher, Frank was the first place I visited. This is that first column, published in June, 2004. Today, Your Butcher, Frank is still going strong, and I still shop there. So even though the article is beyond old, the message is the same.

To Vicinity and Beyond

As much as you like your neighborhood, there are times when you must venture beyond to visit friends, buy things that aren't available locally, or just stretch your horizons. While you're out, why not take a look around with the Courier, and see what's in the vicinity.

Meet Me At Your Butcher
After nearly a quarter-century in Longmont, Your Butcher, Frank is nearly a Longmont landmark. Frank is no longer the butcher, but meat is still being expertly cut to order by current owners Lee Westcott and Ron Lamb and their helpful crew.

Before buying the butcher shop from Frank's son in 1998, Westcott was one of the crew, working there for eight years. But that wasn't Westcott's first foray into the meat business. After high school, he worked for a local grocer as a sausage maker.

Over the years, Westcott has seen food fads come and go, each affecting the business, but none marked major changes. While deftly cutting lamb into stew-sized chunks, Westcott said that besides the low-carb trend, he's seen an increase in demand for natural or organic foods.

Overall, beef has always been the biggest seller, although sales of chicken and pork have been increasing. The biggest season and seller? Rib roasts at Christmas, by far.

Meat isn't the everything, though, and Westcott said that his favorite part of the business is interacting with the customers and his employees. "I have a lot of good guys working for me and that makes the day go faster," he said.

Westcott understands what customers want. "A big part of our success is customer service," he said. "If you don't have that, you don't have anything."

Besides butcher cuts of meat, Your Butcher, Frank sells deli items, milk products from the Longmont Dairy, and a variety of condiments, canned goods, and spices, including Frank's Special Seasoning, available nowhere else.

Not what you need? Check the freezer section, buy a freezer bundle or ask for a special order. You're likely to get just what you need, and get served with a smile.
Yum