By Stephen Appezzato
MIDDLETOWN – In the waning business hours of Sabatos Prime Meats, the renowned Belford-based butcher shop, customers scrambled to purchase cuts of meat, express their gratitude and bid farewell to the butchers who have been a mainstay of the community for decades.
After 45 years of service at their Belford location, the Sabatos family retired March 18, putting to rest their three-generation-long butchering craft and closing the doors on a Middletown institution.
“It’s not that it wasn’t busy. It was plenty busy, but… I’m 70 and hopefully I have 15 or 20 years to live to go visit my grandkids and enjoy myself and retire,” said John Sabatos, co-owner of the establishment with his cousin Andy Sabatos. “It was a good run. I enjoyed waiting on people. It wasn’t like work. It was really like fun,” he added.
Since 1978, John and Andy Sabatos have helmed Sabatos Prime Meats with help from longtime friend and employee Lars Johnson, who joined the crew in the 1990s. The butcher shop was a well-known Monmouth County staple for locals and dedicated out-of-state customers alike.
However, the Sabatos family business extends much further back – over a century, in fact. In 1918, Matthew Sabatos, father of Andrew, John and Michael, opened M. Sabatos & Sons in Newark.
“It’s a family business. My grandfather started it and he had three sons – one Andy’s father, one my father and another one – we were all in the business,” said Sabatos.
Matthew’s sons learned their father’s craft and over the years the Sabatos’ relocated, operating a store in Irvington at one point. Following many summers of traveling to the Jersey Shore to man their Seaside boardwalk stand, Andrew Sr. and John Sr. established a brick-and-mortar presence in the region, opening Sabatos Prime Meats on Main Street in Belford. There, Andy Jr. and John Jr. began to learn the family business.
In 1978, Sabatos Prime Meats moved its store to the area known locally as Campbell’s Junction, located off Leonardville Road in Belford, around the corner from its former location, where Andy Jr. and John Jr. extended their family’s tradition, partnering to run the business.
“Nothing’s changed here since ’61. I mean, we do the same thing. We don’t take credit cards – it’s check or cash only. We still grind the chopped meat right in front of people, and we have sawdust on the floor. It’s an old-fashioned butcher shop, nothing’s changed in all that time – except now we’re done,” John said.
When asked if he shared any particularly special memories from his tenure, John recalled serving the many families that remained loyal over the decades.
“Oh, there’s so many… the memories are like when mothers and fathers would come in with their little kids, and now those little kids are all grown with their own kids. It’s generations,” he said. “Every one of them has a memory really – and that’s the sad part of it. We’re going to miss all of that.”
For decades, Sabatos’ loyal customers traveled from far and wide to procure the family’s coveted homemade sausages and other quality cuts and unique offerings, using the shop’s famous rooftop cow as a landmark.
Reflecting on his journey, Sabatos expressed his gratitude to many. “I would like to thank our founders – our grandfather and father. I would like to thank all our employees, past and present, especially Lars; he’s been here almost 40 years. I’d like to thank all the customers for letting us serve them and keeping their traditions alive, and I’d also like to thank my cousin, too, for working with me for 50 years and helping keep the Sabatos Prime Meats tradition alive.”
“It’s just been a great ride,” said John. “And if I was younger and had to do it all over again, I would.”
The article originally appeared in the March 23 – 29, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
