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To hear Jason Lee tell it, none of this was supposed to happen.
Sure he’s standing in his traditional butcher shop, Lee-Bone’s Fine Meats, in the Arrowhead area at 8190 W. Union Hills Drive, Suite 115. The counter is full of everything from ground sirloin to buttery brisket burgers to house-made chicken chorizo, not to mention boneless ribeye and New York strip steak, each with their own proper flavor profiles.
The shop has been open only 15 months, and things started on a much smaller scale.
“All of this is an accident. None of this was planned even five years ago,” Lee explains.
He had been making his own meat seasoning by the bottle for years, but only informally to give to friends and bring to backyard barbecues.
There was something different, though.
Those friends kept urging him to consider taking his delectable seasonings to a retail level.
He tinkered here and there, looked into how to market his supply, and everything changed in 2018 when he took his offerings to The Roadhouse, in Cave Creek, a biker-themed restaurant and pub, for a 10-day Bike Week event replete with vendors.
“We made more money than anybody on our side of the street selling $7 bottles of seasoning that nobody even understood why we were even there,” he said.
That led to more events and even more sales, including out of state. And he added his own sauces to the repertoire. One butcher shop bought six cases.
Before too long, he and his wife Susie Ann took things to the next level by building on the success. They opened Lee-Bone’s Fine Meats as a local butcher shop.
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Q: What’s the most underrated detail about fine meat?
“It depends on what cut do you like. Do you like pork, beef, chicken? They all have their own things you would want to look for. I would say the number one thing, in any butcher shop, is you want somebody who’s going to talk to you and answer your questions. Quality is what you’re going to look for. Marbling. The meat should tell you a story just by looking at it.”
Q: From where do you source your meat products?
“Midwest. Good Midwestern beef. The Greater Omaha Packing Company is where we get most of it. Sometimes we source from other places from time to time. It’s just all good Midwestern beef, and it has to fit the Prime. We only source Prime beef here.”
Q: Best tips for cooking as we enter the summer barbecue season?
“Summertime is coming in Arizona, so my best tip for people who don’t want to stand outside and boil their asses off trying to cook — buy a Ninja air fryer. I’ve cooked New Yorks, ribeyes, fillet, chicken wings (in it). Anything you want to go throw on the grill, you can put it in one of those and not stand outside. For raw meats, (the air fryer) is really a good idea.”
Q: What do you like most about doing business in Glendale?
“Customers. I can tell you that we have some of the coolest customers that come into this shop. These people come out, they support, they’re nice, they’re friendly, they talk. We’re in a really cool area with a lot of really cool people.”
Q: Favorite local community cause, and why?
“We’re veteran-owned. We try to support veterans anytime we can. We give 10% discount every Tuesday for veterans. We even open it up if you’re a first responder.”
Steve Stockmar has been with the Independent Newsmedia team since 2017. An NAU alum and Peoria resident, Steve’s community journalism pursuits focus mostly on arts & culture, education, and profiles of neighbors making a difference. In his spare time Steve plays in a vintage baseball league using uniforms and rules from the 1860s, and also acts (badly) in community theater. In addition, he has an unhealthy obsession with baseball and the Chicago Cubs.
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