The Butcher Shop brings high-quality meats and more to Huntington.
By Candace Nelson
Photos by Rick Lee
HQ 121 | Spring 2023
Stepping foot inside The Butcher Shop is like walking into a hidden treasure trove, with floor-to-ceiling shelves stacked with artisanal crackers, gourmet jams and jellies and imported pastas. Once you navigate past aisles of meticulously curated goods, you’ll find the small Huntington shop’s pièce de résistance: the meat counter tucked in the back. Located along U.S. Route 60, The Butcher Shop opened in October 2020 next to sister restaurant Christopher’s Eats in an effort to supply fine, hand-cut meats to both the restaurant and the community.
“It seemed a natural progression to be able to service Christopher’s Eats, as well as Main Street on Central restaurant in Barboursville, through our own butcher shop for certain things,” said Chris Dixon, who co-owns the restaurants and The Butcher Shop with cousin Jeremy Adams.
Christopher’s Eats is a Huntington restaurant known for its coal-fired oven and artisan flatbreads. Main Street on Central in Barboursville offers a high-end menu complete with a full bar and warm ambiance. The Butcher Shop is the latest venture in the duo’s repertoire.
“It gives us the ability to control the quality of products that we supply our restaurants with,” Dixon said.
Not only does The Butcher Shop help restaurants serve a higher-quality product, but it also allows for customers to bring home those same restaurant-quality meats to cook in their own kitchens.
“It’s a great pleasure for us to provide that same quality to people in our community. They can just walk in and purchase the exact same products that we use,” Dixon said.
The Butcher Shop features a wide variety of high-quality and hand-cut meats and seafood: New York strip steaks, brisket, pork belly, ribs, bacon, pork chops, chicken breasts, tuna, salmon, prawns — and even house-made crab cakes.
The ground beef, though, is a crowd favorite because it has that je ne sais quoi.
“Jeremy and I both love our proprietary ground beef for burgers. And, the prime rib and ribeyes are hard to beat,” Dixon added. “I’m always down for the ribeye steaks!”
Other local favorites include pork wings, as well as turkeys and hams for holiday meals, which both owners enjoy being able to provide. Occasionally, the shop offers heat-and-serve items like smoked ribs and chicken wings.
Moving forward, the duo looks toward incorporating more local foods into the shop’s offerings to complement items like Japanese BBQ sauces, fine wines and specialty chocolate bars.
“We have all kinds of local products from surrounding areas,” Dixon said. “We’re always trying to find more great local products. We want to be the go-to place for fresh, high-quality meats and seafood — things you won’t see anywhere else around.”
And while the core of the business is providing quality foods to local restaurants and the community, The Butcher Shop is more than that. It’s a gathering space for local gastronomes. It’s a resource for hard-to-find kitchen items. It’s a symbol of the area’s ever-growing interest in shopping local. It’s a part of the community that contributes to a growing economy.
“It’s a great little community shop to find all kinds of things for family dinner, a party, the holidays, a gift or something new and fun,” Dixon said.
The Butcher Shop is located at 5340 U.S. Route 60, Suite 104, in Huntington. The shop is open noon-6 p.m. on Monday, closed on Tuesday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information on The Butcher Shop, visit www.butchershopwv.com or call 304-736-3588.
