There was a time when neighborhood butcher shops were plentiful. However, supermarkets eventually took over the lion’s share of meat sales with their prepackaged cuts ready to grab out of refrigerated cases.
Convenience and ease of purchase replaced the chance to consult with a local butcher over just the right cut and how to prepare it.
However, there are a few old-time butcher shops in the metro area, including Shield’s Meat Market, tucked into the CVS Pharmacy building in Emory Village.
Shield’s Meat Market originally opened in 1947 in downtown Decatur and the shop’s owners added a second location in Emory Village in 1999. The site had been a Kroger, and when area residents learned that CVS was taking over the location, they wanted to be sure the neighborhood still had a place where they could get meat, vegetables and some prepared food. So, Shield’s filled that need, adding produce, beverages and sandwiches to its mix of raw meats and house-made sausages.
The Decatur shop closed in 2000, but the Emory Village location remains.
Credit: CHRIS HUNT
Credit: CHRIS HUNT
Diamond Mardell now owns the butcher shop. In 1987, he was sent by his mother to Shield’s to buy meat for family meals. Looking around, Mardell thought it would be an interesting place to work. Soon, the 15-year-old was working there, earning $3 an hour and learning the trade.
“It was great training,” he said. “I started off trimming meat off the bone and working with chicken; small items. If the customer wanted a pound of something, I learned how to cut exactly a pound. I learned to ‘country cut’ a whole chicken, so in addition to the eight traditional pieces, you get a pulley bone piece, perfect for frying and something you won’t find at a grocery store.”
Mardell said he remembers the original location as a very special place. “It had sawdust on the floor and beef hind quarters hanging on a trolley in a dry-age room. During the holidays, we might have as many as five cows hanging in there. Before I came to work at Shield’s, they even had live chickens.”
Credit: CHRIS HUNT
Credit: CHRIS HUNT
At 19, he moved on, working as a meat cutter at places like Buckhead Beef, Winn-Dixie and SaveRite. But he always came back to Shield’s, and in 2016, he made a down payment on purchasing the business.
These days, he said, people come to his market because they appreciate the quality of the meat he carries and because he knows how to cut it correctly. He carries elk, venison, rabbit, boar, bison, rabbit and even turtle — meats that are hard to find in other places. Customers also come for prime beef, a perfectly trimmed eye of round roast, veal shanks or cuts like teres major, which isn’t available in supermarkets.
Credit: CHRIS HUNT
Credit: CHRIS HUNT
You might walk in and find a brisket on the big commercial rotisserie. Mardell sells the meat by the pound, or uses some in his well-known brisket chili. Or, there might be rotisserie chicken or other cuts of beef roasted, for those who want dinner without having to do the cooking.
And many longtime customers consider him the go-to for special occasions. “People order our tenderloin and ask me to trim it for their beef Wellington,” he said. “They know I can properly trim their rack of lamb. We have veal breasts we can bone, stuff and tie for roasting. I’ve been known to bone a turkey for a good customer, or trim 50 pounds of skirt steak for someone having a party.”
Credit: CHRIS HUNT
Credit: CHRIS HUNT
Shield’s may be an old-time butcher shop, but it is right on trend in a time when there is a growing appreciation for food artisans and a desire to shop locally.
“I’m always thinking about what I learned from my predecessors, Geoff K. Irwin, Gene Swan and Charlie Hazelrigs,” Mardell said. “For some people, coming to my shop is a chance to learn a little more about meat. I enjoy sharing my passion with them and helping them get the best out of what they buy.”
Shield’s Meat Market. 1554 N. Decatur Road, Decatur. 404-377-0204.
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