On the butcher's block

Some butchers can be found inside a grocery store and others have businesses more centered around offering meat.

Pape Meat Company, Los Primos Meat Market and Draeger’s Market are just a few of these places where customers can find a variety of meat products for any budget or taste.

"We have an entire draw around the Bay Area, and we’ve got a great reputation,” said Michael Pape, co-owner of Pape Meat Company. "Our customers can pre-order their product also ... it’s the service of having your order put aside.”

Pape Meat Company has been in Millbrae since 1958, and 53-year-old Michael Pape has owned the business for eight years with his uncle and cousin.

The tradition began with his father and uncle who owned a butcher shop in San Francisco before deciding to expand their operation and open Pape Meat Company. The shop in San Francisco has since closed, but Pape Meat Company is still going strong.

Offering a variety of beef, pork, veal and other meat products, Pape Meat Company is also known for featuring more specialty products like marinated racks of lamb — the shop’s most popular item. Much of their business is regular customers and the base comes from word of mouth. Pape said their prices are highly competitive with meat products at grocery stores. As in any business, it’s the little things that make a difference. The reputation has grown thanks to offering more service and the highest quality of meat available, Pape said.

They also make their own seasonings and marinades, and will marinate meat for customers at no extra charge.

For around 30 years, the company has offered catering services. It started out more old-fashioned but has evolved over the years, he said. They will also bring in unusual items for customers’ special orders, like suckling pig and goat. The business’ success hasn’t gone unnoticed — they were awarded the Millbrae "Business of the Year” award for 2010.

Another source of meat products is Los Primos Meat Market, with locations in Menlo Park and San Bruno. Elisia Guzman, 22, said her parents started the first store 10 years ago which has today grown to include four locations.

Guzman’s father was a butcher in Mexico who had a dream of owning his own shop. Today, many family members work in the business and Guzman said they want customers to feel like family too.

"You get to experience the family, but [also] all the cultures,” said Guzman, who started working in the business at 14. "It’s pretty much old school ... If we don’t know how to do it you can tell us how you want it and we’ll figure it out.”

Los Primos Meat Market is a grocery store, but the meat department takes front and center. They have items that are more distinctly Latino like chuletas ahumadas (smoked pork chops) and chorizo — but Guzman said in a weird way all their products are Latino in how they’re cut or prepared. The most popular item the market sells is arracheras, or skirt steak, but they offer more unique products as well like beef feet and pork neck bone. They’ve also had unusual orders — like a request from a local high school for eyeballs to dissect in a class. The Menlo Park store also makes ready-to-eat items like tamales and carnitas.

Los Primos Meat Market is known for having lower prices than other places, Guzman said, but also for good quality. She compared the store to a person — it will tell them what they need to do and change to please customers. The economy has made it harder for people to buy as much as they used to, Guzman said, and so they work with customers and hear what they need. They’ll take food stamps and even IOUs if they know the customer.

A third option for buying meat in San Mateo County is one that may sound more familiar to customers: Draeger’s Market, first begun in 1903, with two locations in Menlo Park and San Mateo.

Vice President John Draeger said the philosophy he learned from his father was "give customers what they want and give them the best.” Draeger’s meat department is unique because of how much they can do for customers, Draeger said. Some of the Draeger’s most popular products are loin cuts like beef tenderloin. Locations lend themselves to a more affluent clientele, which means Draeger’s can search out quality products.

This year Draeger’s won a survey for best quality meats in the Bay Area Consumer Checkbook magazine, and the Menlo Park store has won the Almanac Reader’s Choice award for Meat Store several times.

"I want customers to feel they’re welcome,” Draeger said. "I want them to feel like if they have questions about the products there are people there that are knowledgeable and happy to answer questions.”

Draeger’s offers a variety of meat products and also some more unusual items like buffalo and venison. Stores have been making sausages on site for about 20 years. They can also get products for special customer orders, like duck eggs or alligator but those kinds of items aren’t mainstays of the department. The meat department is very responsive to changing times and tastes. When there’s excitement for a new product they’ll respond, Draeger said, but since meat is perishable they have to eliminate products that don’t sell.