On The Record With ... Chuck Hyatt

Chuck Hyatt of Lindenhurst has been involved in the butcher industry for 30 years.

Hyatt moved from Florida to Illinois when he was 20 years old to attend the College of Lake County and was asked to work part time in a butcher shop.

He hasn’t looked back since. The 50-year-old spent 20 years working at Jewel, but the last six years, he’s owned Tony’s Butcher Shop on Route 83 north of Center Street in Grayslake.

“I enjoy doing it,” Hyatt said. “I enjoy waiting on people; I enjoy making a nice presentation for their meals; and I love when people come back ... and say, ‘Oh, that was really good! That’s the best I ever had.’ I mean, that’s what you strive for every day.”

Hyatt recently went on the record with Lake County Journal reporter Stephanie N. Lehman to discuss what it's like being a butcher.

Lehman: Why did you decide to become a butcher?
Hyatt: You know, I got a ... summer job. I was going to school at college and was going to be a teacher ... and man, I started making all this money, and I was like, "Yeah! I don't owe nobody nothin', I don't owe no school nothin', let's do this." So, they asked me to work full time, and I went full time, and then the rest is you get married, you get comfortable.

Lehman: How did you learn the trade?
Hyatt: You know, it's really funny – my very first boss works for me right now. He's 68 years old, and he's probably the best meat-cutter I've ever seen. He's the funniest, without a doubt. He told me on my first day – actually it was my first week – if you're ever late again, I'm going to fire you. And I was never late again … . I've known him since I was 20. Ed Bock's his name. And he's retired, and I talked him into working a couple days a week for me. And it's nice, and he's really good with customers, too. People love him. I've never met anyone who didn't like him.

Lehman: What's a typical day like for you?
Hyatt: Up at 5 [a.m.]. Here by quarter to 6 ... . I like to get here in the morning; I like everything perfect ... . We don't open 'til 9, although I tell people all the time, if you see the green jeep here, you're more than welcome to come in. To me, it's 5 o'clock up in the [morning]. Usually, I try to get out a little bit before 6 [p.m.]. Since my kid [Charley] works for me now, it's been really easy to do.
If there's one thing in this business, there's not a typical day. Not even close ... . You look up at the board ... those are all different special [orders]. Every day is different, every day is a different challenge. You've got to knock off your specials first thing in the morning; you might have to make a stuffed chicken breast that day or pork tenderloins, and it's just a constant rotation of meat. Everything changes, because you never know what people are going to buy. Last week I sold 300 pounds of baby back ribs; the week before, I didn't sell any.

Lehman: What happens at Thanksgiving?
Hyatt: Thanksgiving, we'll go through 600 fresh turkeys here. They're all farm-raised, all natural, all free-range turkeys. And you've got to bag and tag every one and have them all lined up like this, because everybody … wants to pick them up Tuesday or Wednesday. So, you're just jammed in there with turkeys everywhere. And everyone will stand like little soldiers with a number and name on it.
Christmas – total nightmare ... . You can't cut ahead, because everyone wants their's super fresh. There's times I'll get in here at 2 in the morning and I won't leave til 8 o'clock at night. It's a constant battle. Everything's gotta be fresh. The filets, we'll sell 400 filets, and each filet takes about 20 minutes to do … they're perfect. And that's what everyone expects. And that's the whole key to this business, and this is where I've been really lucky – I have the best, most conscious people [working for me].

Lehman: How has this industry changed over the years?
Hyatt: When I first started, it was all swinging cattle coming in down rails – gigantic chunks of half cows. Now, it's cut into primal cut; you don't have as much waste ... .

And I have knife wounds all over. I stabbed myself here, stabbed myself here, almost cut this finger off … I was younger, everybody was in this big rush, you've got these big cows and you're carrying them and there's sawdust all over the place … . It's a lot different now. It's a lot easier.

Lehman: Do more people go to chain stores now to get meat instead of going to butcher shops?
Hyatt: Back when your dad was growing up, there was a butcher shop everywhere. Then, everybody went for this convenience of, "Hey, I'm going to the store to get groceries, I might as well pick up my meat while I'm there."

Now … there's a lot of advantages of coming to a store like this. One, everybody here knows how to cook and  [can] tell you what to cook and what kind of cuts and the weight that you're going to need, the quality of the meat. Whereas the [chain] store, you never see a butcher … it's in sloppy white packages … the quality of meat, they can't afford to pay what we pay for this because they have such a high shrink, meaning they throw a lot away … .

Lehman: What else separates a butcher shop like this from a chain store?
Hyatt: The quality and craftsmanship. They can't touch us. Most of these stores … they'll get ground meat in, and they've got seven days on the ground meat. You know why that ground meat stays red? Because they gas flush it with carbon monoxide … . You see ground meat with anything over a day on it, don't buy it.

There’s varieties and stuff people can’t get in grocery stores. You’re [not] going to go to the grocery store and say, “Hey, I need to buy rabbit.” Or, “I need pig livers.” Or, “I need ostrich ... .” We can get anything.

Hyatt lowdown

Who he is: Owner of Tony's Butcher Shop, 209 Barron Blvd., in Grayslake
Village of residence: Lindenhurst
Family: Wife, Paula; daughter, Megan, 20; son, Charley, 22
Favorite cut of meat: "Without a doubt, rib eye."
Hobbies: Golfing and running Mike's Memorial, a travel baseball league for 9- to 14-year-olds