Finishing touches to the new The Farmer’s Rail location in Cuyahoga Falls at 2231 Front Street—the former site of the Levinson’s Uniforms company—have been completed. A soft opening was held on Wednesday, June 23rd for the public to preview the new butcher shop. Of course, my inner gastronomic carnivore had to stop by to check out the new location and purchase some cuts for “reviewing.”
The Farmer’s Rail opened for business in Bath in 2018 after owners Jeff and Melanie Brunty saw the demand for pasture-raised eggs and artisanal meats. Part of their mission statement reads: “The Farmer’s Rail is a farmer-owned butcher shop and grocery crafted with compassion and dedication to sustainably sourced and locally raised products.” The Bath location itself shows that quality is one of their hallmarks. They offer familiar cuts, such as sirloin, strip, filet, ribeye, and ground beef along with pork, chicken, lamb, and seafood. Along with their quality “standard” meats, they offer dry aged beef. Sadly, they didn’t have any available at the Falls location when I visited.
The choices I made were sirloin, strip, filet mignon, and sea scallops. While there may be a bit of sticker shock for customers unaccustomed to purchasing meat from a butcher shop, such as filet at $38 per pound, the quality of the meat far surpasses any doubt or reservations that I had. The sirloin and strip, which were prepared on the grill, had a significantly better marbling than what you can purchase from most local grocery stores. The filet, though—seared in some garlic chive butter in a hot cast iron skillet, then finished in the oven to a nice medium rare and allowed to rest for five minutes or so—was incredibly tender. In fact, it was fork tender, to the point that you didn’t even need a knife to cut it. I would even go so far as to say that this steak rivals any available in the “great steakhouses” of Cleveland or Akron.
The Farmer’s Rail does offer a selection of fine cheeses too, but I neglected to visit that counter on my visit. I will have to make a return…for research.
The Farmer’s Rail of Cuyahoga Falls is located at 2231 Front Street in Downtown Cuyahoga Falls. They are open Monday-Saturday, 10am-7pm and Sun 10am-5pm.
