Really, really saddened to hear this news. We have so few traditional butcher shops left in Salt Lake. And arguably the best one just announced that after ten years, it’s time to hang up the knives and close up shop, with their last day being December 23rd.
The best way to summarize Beltex Meats’ approach was that they care. They care about where they source their products. They care how those animals are treated. They care about their customers. And they care about the community.
To be clear, this level of care costs money. When you walk into Beltex you need to be prepared to acknowledge that responsibly sourced meats cost more, especially at Beltex’s relatively small scale. I suspect that, like so many other businesses in SLC (and across the country for that matter) they determined the maintaining prices at a reasonable level and still keep the lights on perhaps was no longer possible. But this is speculation on my part.
When I would stop by and buy a cut of beef (my favorite is, and always will be, the flatiron steak) they would take the time to educate me on how to cook it. Sometimes, it’s not complicated, with Phillip telling me one time: “get your grill as hot as it will go, three minutes each side, and you’re done.” Simple. But with good ingredients, most the time simple is the best.
And I would be remiss to not mention their sandwiches, which I regard as some of the best sandwiches I’ve ever eaten. The porchetta was gluttony-on-a-bun, and man was it worth it. And their Saturday special, the cuban, was the best cuban sandwich I have ever eaten. They have ruined me for life for cuban sandwiches. I went to Miami and tried various renditions and remember thinking “none of these holds a candle to what Beltex does in Salt Lake.”
Again, I’m speculating here again, but I always got the impression that Beltex’s owner Philip Grubisa didn’t particularly love the attention that the sandwiches got over their meat selection. The sandwiches were one of those things designed to get people in the door, yet, the sandwiches developed a fame of their own, and I have a hunch that perhaps the distraction they created away from their main mission of providing the best meats in the valley wasn’t always what he had envisioned.
Nevertheless, yet another departure of a storied food business is making the headlines and leaving a deficit in the SLC food scene that will be difficult to replicate. Starting a standalone butcher shop in this day and age was brave enough, and I’m not sure we’ll see anyone else willing to step up and do it again, and that makes me sad for what SLC will be missing out on going forward.
Best wishes to the entire Beltex crew, who were always top-notch. Keeping my greedy fingers crossed that this isn’t the last time Philip Grubisa and his crew make a dent in the SLC food scene.
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