ST. GEORGE –Dixie Meats opened its doors at 929 West Sunset Blvd. in St. George in November of 2011. It is unique as a stand-alone retail butcher shop in Washington County. “I designed a spot where you can come and get some great cuts of meat at a respectable price and cut to your liking – and buy what you want, not what is pre-cut like what you get at the grocery store,” said Owner Adam Christensen.
Christensen has been a resident of St. George for 22 years. He has had six years of experience as a butcher and was a cook before that. He said he has seen the meat system while working in the industry and wanted to provide a fresher choice of meat to the community.
After finding himself out of a job last March he decided to use his experience in the meat industry to help support his family of a wife and two children and live out his dream.
Dixie Meats offers a variety of fresh meats, including beef, (Angus beef), pork, chicken and homemade sausages (12-15 types on any given day, including his own bratwurst and linguisa).
Most of Dixie Meats’ meat is processed in Utah, although it may come from a variety of places. Christensen purchases it unfrozen and it remains so until sold.
He said that to keep the meat at its best, it should be eaten within a week of purchase. He also said purchasing meat one week at a time will save the customer money rather than purchasing large amounts with plans to freeze the remnants. Christensen explained: “You have a lot of customers that are grandma and grandpa, elderly, people without kids, who go to the grocery store and buy a 3 lb. roast; they have plans for the leftovers but don’t use it all – this way you can get just the quantity you need,” eliminating waste.
“There’s nothing worse than throwing away food, you buy a little more accurate. A lot of people take home the meat and throw it into the freezer. To come in weekly and eat fresh meat [is better]. The difference in frozen and never frozen meat is definitely noticeable.”
“I plan to offer seafood in the near future, lobster tails, crab legs, a variety of shrimp, sea bass, salmon and halibut.” He said that seafood will arrive and be sold fresh frozen.
One of the things frequenters of a neighborhood butcher often appreciate is receiving tips and recipes on how to prepare their purchase, and Dixie Meats is at the ready to offer these.
“We got prime rib from there for Christmas and it was delicious,” St. George resident Andrea Ross said, “the butcher … gave us a lot of helpful information on how to season and cook the meat as well.”
Christensen also shares his proprietary recipes of jams, jellies, ketchup, mustard, horseradish and dressings to garnish the meat purchased by his customers.
“They are the best,” Washington resident Marty Lane said. “Their ranch [dressing] is to-die-for, and I love their meatloaf recipe.”
“The community has been absolutely wonderful,” Christensen said. “I have a bunch of my soldiers out there telling everybody about us and we appreciate it.
Dixie Meats is on facebook and can be reached by telephone at 435-703-9900. Its hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Joyce Kuzmanic contributed to this article.
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Copyright 2012 St. George News.
Oh my gosh!! I had no idea we finally had a real butcher here in town! I will be visiting them very soon for sure.
Good Lord, can we get away from the common, played out name of Dixie?! It just kills me how uncreative people are when naming their businesses…it’s either Dixie or Red Rock or Southern Utah…Anyway, welcome Dixie Meat!
…Why not Meaty Meats, Mighty Meats, High Desert meats, Sunset Blvd Meats??? DIXIE??? WHY?????
How about Rebel Meats?
Congratulations, Adam, for the success on your endeavor! I think that instead of criticizing the name of the business, people should focus on the quality of service and meats offered there.
I don’t see anyone on here critiquing the name BigBob (assuming you are trying to compensate for something?).
I highly recommend Dixie Meats to anyone looking for amazing deals and awesome meats!
The name was not designed to upset anyone. It was designed to be for the community. I didnt want it to be Christensens Meat, nor Adams Meat. I was thinking at one point The Steak Center but i didnt know how that would take to the community. I wanted it to reflect to the Great community that we live in. Ive been here for over 20 years now and I like our little Southern Utah Dixie. We do have some great poeple here.
The Steak Center would have been awesome! I understand you point that some people wouldn’t get it. Your brats are great!
Good Lord almighty, how hilarious it would have been being name Adam’s Meat!!! …I won’t say no more lmao! Anyway, welcome to the area sir, goodluck to ya’ll!
got seafood yet?
Hoping you’ll be getting in your seafood soon! Coming from NY and Florida I really miss alot of the different variety’s offered. Pop’s Fish Market in Deerfield Beach just may help you with the delivery!!!
Good Luck. And CU soon!!
Wow – we just finished dinner – we had the meatloaf we bought from you earlier today and may I just say, “sorry Mom but this was way better than yours”! We can’t wait to have the tenderloin tomorrow. So very happy to have such an awesome butcher shop in town. We are very happy to be customers of “Dixie Meats”!
Dixie Meats is one of those little treasures that make our town such an outstanding place to live. With Dixie Meats, Frei’s fruit and vegetable market and Veyo Pies I eat like a King all summer long and enjoy the freshest, tastiest meat, produce and Pastries in the state while spending less money per week than I ever did eating out of supermarkets. Do yourselves a favor and eat local, shop local and enjoy the blessings of living in Utah’s Dixie.