First Look: The Hungarian Butcher

Rows and rows of homemade sausages, prime cuts of meat and other Hungarian delicacies await you at the official opening of the Hungarian Butcher this Friday, November 12.

Based at 2177 W. Dublin-Granville Rd. in Linworth, owner and chef Dan Varga saw the busy intersection near Powell, Dublin, Worthington and Clintonville as an ideal location.

With a 25-year career at various well-known restaurants across the city, the past two and a half decades have seen Varga become his own boss.

As its name suggests, the butcher shop offers an impressive range of Hungarian products. Starting with the non-meat aisle, there’s Eros Pista, a homemade chilli paste with lightly spiced and salty fresh paprika chillies, and meant to replace salt and pepper on the table top, as well as a variety of homemade peppers – pickles and lecsó, a stew of tomatoes and peppers.

There is pastrami, pastrami bacon, pates and a variety of traditional Hungarian sausages, each from a different region of the country. Porketta takes a Hungarian twist, stuffed with a traditional liver sausage and Eros Pista.

Shoppers will also find a wider variety of sausages from around the world, like chorizo, hot or sweet Italian and bratwurst, all made in-store with Varga guaranteeing they’ll be the best customers ever. Additional cuts of beef and pork, as well as a small selection of cheeses, including a túró, a traditional Hungarian farmhouse cheese, round it all out.

Not only can customers expect variety, but also something new every time they enter the store. Varga says they will keep a rotating selection of meats in the case and are already working on the approval process for curing meats in-house to make deli meats.

The Hungarian Butcher will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Tuesday to Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

For more information, visit butcherhungarian.com.

All photos by Susan Post