Old-time butcher

Mike Sciacca, Independent

Calvin Free was dressed to the nines on Friday, an important day for

the popular businessman.

Donning a leather cowboy hat, apron and holster, which contained

several sharp weapons, Free was loaded for bear -- no, make that beef --

as he readied to take on the hind legs that hung on rails in the back of

his store.

Free was cutting the hind legs, breaking meat and grinding kidney suet

at his Beef Palace Butcher Shop in Huntington Beach, as he and his crew

were busy at work attending to customers and bracing for the inevitable

holiday rush.

This is the busiest time of the year for Beef Palace, the only butcher

shop in town and one of the last standing butcher establishments in

Orange County. Free, a very personable man who is a walking encyclopedia

when it comes to the everything that is beef, runs a very friendly,

service-oriented shop that is so clean you almost can eat off the floor.

Beef Palace was set up at the corner of Warner Avenue and Springdale

Street 31 years ago by his father, Mel, a tradesman who built a

reputation for great service and fresh, great-tasting meats.

Mel Free died in July of 1999, and Calvin Free took over the reins.

“My dad ran the business with an iron fist, but with a lot of love,”

said Calvin Free, whose holster actually held a scabbard that is used by

butchers. “He built a great clientele base and established a great

business.”

The Frees come from five generations of meat cutters, from a great

grandfather to numerous uncles. They began in Germany, moved to the U.S.

and set up shop on the East Coast, later raised cattle in the South,

moved out west to Imperial Valley and later the San Diego area. They set

up the first and only supermarket, the Free Bros. Market, on Coronado

Island. Eventually, Mel Free came to Orange County and settled in

Huntington Beach.

Mel Free’s logo was, “Master Meat Cutters,” and Beef Palace is exactly

that. The place, decorated by Free’s mother, Eilean, features old photos,

various sets of longhorns and a fiberglass cow, the store’s unnamed

mascot who, Free says, “has been to more Sadie Hawkins school dances than

anyone I’ve known. There are three or four generations of customers whose

children have sat atop that cow.” But it’s all about the beef and there’s

plenty of it: from brisket to beef back ribs and everything in between,

you can find whatever suits your taste -- and at prices that are hard to

beat.

The shop is old school. It runs no Web site, just the basics of what

makes any business successful. Free said the Beef Palace only sells meats

that are of the highest quality and that customer service is a priority.

The shop boasts open-air cases out front and a walk-in refrigerator in

back. Free also dry-ages his meats and, depending on the cut, a meat can

be dried up to four weeks.

“Next to good cattle and feed, dry-aging is the single most important

factor in terms of enhancing flavor and meat tenderness,” he said. “The

bulk of our business is orders and the customer who is prepared and

orders well in advance has a leg up on the game.”

During the holiday season, Free gets to the shop at 4 or 5 a.m., puts

on his father’s old meat coat and goes from case to case, counting the

prime rib orders. Sometimes he and his regular crew of four, which

expands to a larger number during the holidays, burn the midnight oil. He

leaves nothing to chance at this time of year and wants nothing but the

best for his customers.

“Our volume of sales is greater than the population,” he added.

“People who have been coming her for years still come here, even though

they have moved away.”

* MIKE SCIACCA is the education and sports reporter. He can be reached

at (714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at [email protected].