THE MEAT SHED

A celebration of heritage.

 No pigs in the house.

That was his wife’s only rule once he decided to try this.

“So we built the first shop out in the garage,” said Matt DeMoss, owner of The Meat Shed. “We’ve kind of just built up from there.”

The Meat Shed, located at 2401 S. Rouse, is a meat market and deli with a mission of carrying “forward the food traditions of our proud southeast Kansas heritage.” Like many businesses in Pittsburg, it’s the manifestation of its owner’s passion to provide high quality products to the Pittsburg community.

“Honestly the goal is provide people with a better meal than they can get elsewhere,” Matt said. “I also want to urge more people to cook food on their own, enjoy the process of cooking a meal.”

Matt has always loved food, particularly meat. He remembers being a youngster in Girard and hanging out with a group of guys who would gather over sausage, bacon, salami. 

“It was always a fun gathering, a fun activity,” he said. “I was always intrigued by what brought folks together to have a good time. And of course I really enjoyed the sausage.”

As he got older, he started dabbling in his own meat-making. Bought some cookbooks, watched some videos. It was pretty good stuff, and a friend encouraged him to try selling it at the Farmers Market. 

“That first year, a good day was maybe $250 in sales,” he said. “By year 2, we’re probably looking at around $800 a day. We started really thinking that we could make a go of this.”

With its growth in popularity, The Meat Shed quickly outgrew the garage. It was time to start looking at a new, bigger home. Matt said he had some leads on a place, but then Covid hit. The property search kinda hit a snag. 

“We weren’t quite sure what we were going to do,” Matt said, “but I knew there were some SPARK grants out there from the state for meat and poultry production. I thought I’d give it a shot and wrote a grant for $60,000. The state wrote back and said they were going to give me the max of $100,000.”

That money is what led to The Meat Shed’s current location in south Pittsburg, right next to Chatters. 

“That’s really what helped us get going, and I was happy to be able to spend those funds right here in Crawford County,” he said.

The Meat Shed is the only shop in Kansas licensed to fully produce dry-cured salami. The Meat Shed also has a deli, with indoor seating, and daily lunch specials. 

“We are a full-scale butcher shop that purchases the lion’s share of our premium meats and produce from area small farms,” Matt said. “We hand-make every meat and pickled product we sell, including cold cuts, sausages, bacon, and charcuterie.”

Matt said his business has grown over the years in part because of the increased excitement and energy in Pittsburg.

“I can remember when Pittsburg felt like a little town just waiting to die,” he said. “Now there are so many people trying things and opening new places, so many more things to do. And everyone here is willing to help each other and pick each other up.

“As Midwesterners, it’s not in our culture to brag about ourselves or puff our own chests,” he said. “But if you make a quality product, make things people like, you can be proud of that. You should be proud of that.”

Check out The Meat Shed online at https://meatshedks.square.site/