‘This is what we feed our families’: Oxtail Market, offering pasture-raised beef opens in Libertyville

Some contend oxtail is the tastiest part of the cow.

Agree or not the name fits nicely with what Mike Ghazal and partners are about at Oxtail Market, a premium-quality meat store tucked in the corner of a strip center on busy Peterson Road in Libertyville.

“It’s our beef, our farm,” says Ghazal, who just opened the store at 277 Peterson Road and is preparing for a public grand opening/tasting event May 17. “We have everything from nose to tail.”

That includes cuts you may not be familiar with, like Wagyu picanha, a popular cut of beef in Brazil known for juicy and flavorful taste. Or beef bacon, which is smoked and sliced short rib.

Those selections and a variety of steak, roast, and rib cuts are from pasture-raised cows with no additives or hormones on the third-generation Scholze farm in Humbird, Wisconsin, about 30 minutes south of Eau Claire.

That’s also where the meat is hand cut, flash frozen and vacuum sealed for sale at Oxtail Market. Farming brothers Theo and Will Scholze are partners with Ghazal, who oversees the retail side.

“We’re not boxed meat. We’re real beef directly from our farm,” Ghazal said. “There’s no distributor, no salespeople.”

The market also offers pork, chicken and lamb, also farm raised at other locations and a variety of locally sourced sauces, condiments, dairy, eggs and other products.

“We’re not just a store — we’re a platform for small producers,” according to the company materials.

Scholze Family Beef was established in 2017. Products have been available online and the first Oxtail Market opened Oct. 1, 2023 at 777 S. Milwaukee Ave. (Route 83) in Lake Villa.

“We bring it to the community instead of waiting for them to order,” Ghazal said. “It (Lake Villa) worked out very well. Everybody in the community loves the store.”

The market in Libertyville opened based on that success. Depending on how things go, the plan is to have five stores in Lake County over the next few years, Ghazal said.

So far, the audience in Libertyville mainly has been existing customers who want to save time rather than driving to Lake Villa. Phases 2 and 3 in the 3,200-square foot Libertyville store call for a butcher shop and catering service.

“This is what we feed our families. That’s why we’re proud of it,” Ghazal said.

A grand opening is planned from noon to 4 p.m. May 17 and will feature a food truck offering free Oxtail Market meat tasting.