Dorfler's Meats a Lake Co. tradition

It doesn't take long to sense Dorfler's Meat Market in Buffalo Grove hasn't joined an era of shortcuts and impersonal service.

Dorfler's customers walk through the door practically rubbing elbows with a vintage Toledo scale, as the sound of saws puncture the air and meat cutters ply their trade in full view behind the counter.

Only modern health department regulations keep Dorfler's from spreading sawdust on the floor, says owner Keith Walger, 39, of Buffalo Grove.

"That's what keeps us in business, sticking to the old-fashioned way of doing business," Walger says. "It's still going by the old-school way, getting in your own cattle, cutting it up, still having bone-in pot roast, bone-in sirloins. You won't find those in the grocery stores, unless they're centrally cut and prepacked."

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Walger bought Dorfler's about seven years ago. Ron Dorfler started the business in 1978.

Dorfler's moved to larger quarters in a strip mall in 2006, but has been in the same general location on the Lake County side of Buffalo Grove at Arlington Heights Road and Route 83 since its founding.

One member of Dorfler's veteran meat-cutting crew is Don Weyrick. The 23-year Dorfler's employee says he enjoys the clientele as much as his work.

"A lot of the customers that come in are repeat customers," says Weyrick. "They know us by name, we know them by name."

Stewart Strizak, 68, of Buffalo Grove, is one of Dorfler's longtime customers whose name is known by the employees.

Dorfler's service is what sets it apart, says Strizak. For example, he says, Walger doesn't hesitate to take care of a problem, such as the odd time a customer gets a bad piece of meat.

"It's the return to what retail sales used to be, which is knowing your customers, personalized service and going that extra mile. Supermarkets try to do it, and to a great extent they will do it. But it just isn't the same," Strizak says.