Saylor's & Co. is the Butcher Around the Corner

The other day I was shopping for chicken pot pies when I spotted a friend who was foraging for dinner. After sharing a hug she said, “Isn’t this a wonderful place?” The place was .

Saylor’s is a much loved and much admired butchery and a purveyor of unbelievably great Italian specialties. It is owned by Tim and Maria Mease and staffed by Tim’s parents (Dad does the meat-smoking and Mom waits on customers), some of his uncles, and Maria’s daughters and compatible young people. They have been located for the last several years at 1105 Main Street, in Hellertown, which is the site of the old Casey Lynn's restaurant.

Tim’s great-grandfather, Robert Saylor, bought a 90-acre farm below Springfield Road more than 100 years ago. Originally he produced wheat and vegetables--notably tomatoes that were sold to Campbell's Soups. Robert Saylor also got into the business of making moonshine for which eventually he ended up in the clink. (Tim somewhat regrets that one of his uncles sold the still on eBay, as Tim has his great grandfather’s moonshine formula and would have liked to try it out for, of course, private use.)

In 1928, Sam Saylor took over the farm from his father Robert and opened Saylor’s. He got into meat when Campbell’s stopped buying tomatoes from local farmers. Much of the meat was raised on Saylor’s farm. He sold the meat both at the farm and from a store in Hellertown. In 1982 he retired and gave the farm to his son-in-law, Donald Mease, who owned the neighboring farm. Tim took over Saylor’s.

Saylor’s was then operating in the Allentown Farmers Market as a butcher. Tim, while he certainly knew meats, was not good at the business side. In the Allentown, he found Maria, a former banker, who was running her own Italian café. She not only helped Tim with his business problems, but she introduced him to some fine Italian cooking. Five years ago their relationship became a marriage made in heaven. Tim acquired two lovely stepdaughters, and, two years ago, their son Kolby was born.

After Tim and Maria married, they closed both businesses in Allentown and opened up in their present location. Maria is a wonder. She cooks (for sale) incredible chicken pot pies (her crusts are spectacular), cakes, quiche,, salads, stuffed cabbage, pasta dishes and delicacies such as Haddock Francaise and Dijon-horseradish encrusted rack of pork, prepared to be reheated. It is hard to believe that Maria is self-taught, although I suspect her mother must have had a hand in it. Catering has become a specialty. And, of course, Maria manages the business, pays the bills, and files the tax returns. Tim seems in seventh heaven.

On the butcher side, Saylor’s makes its own sausage and some of its cold cuts. What it doesn’t have on hand, it will order. It also sells ground chicken and a combination of ground pork and meat as dog foods () and bones for dogs, raw or smoked.

Both Tim and Maria are into experimenting with new products, usually based on foodstuffs available at local farms. These days, the farm does not maintain livestock. There is simply too much demand at the store to rely on home-raised meat. However, all processing is done on the farm. Saylor’s policy is still to buy locally as much as possible.

The joy of shopping at Saylor’s is much increased by the warmth of the people who run it and the pleasure they take in doing so. They know most of their customers by name and most of their customers return the favor. Typically, they have taken a stall at the  on Sundays, more for fun than anything else. However, in the last two years, Saylor’s gross increased at the market by 10 percent per year. This year, it was up 30 percent, due largely, Tim thinks, to customers .

Today, Maria and Tim and their children live on the original Saylor’s farm. The senior Meases moved back to their adjacent farm. For years I have called Tim’s mother Eleanor, although in fact her name is Elaine. I hope she’ll forgive me.