Ryan Coulter wraps up a burger for a customer at Main Street Meats.If you ask Ryan Coulter to cook your hamburger medium-well or well-done, he won’t do it.
He’s not trying to be difficult, but he refuses to serve meat that’s been – in his opinion – overcooked.
“The beef needs to speak for itself,” said Coulter, who is the burger artist and kitchen manager at Main Street Meats located at 217 E. Main St. “If you cook out all the flavor properties out of the beef, it’s a waste of money. We don’t want to put out an inferior product that you won’t like, because if you don’t like it, you won’t want to come back and try other products.”
And getting people to try other products is the purpose behind serving lunchtime options at Main Street Meats. Formerly Link 41, the shop recently expanded to include a butcher shop and full-service meat counter featuring grass-fed beef, forested pork and pastured chicken.
“It’s hard for the lunch crowd to come in and buy meat,” said Coulter. “But we’re hoping they’ll have a really positive experience at lunch and then on the way home hopefully those folks will swing back by. It gives us the opportunity to showcase the products we’re trying to sell.”