BUSINESS FEATURE Cherry Block Craft Butcher & Texas Market Longtime business owner brings specialty meats to Katy butcher shop F elix Florez brings his 30 years of experience in the restau- rant industry to specialty
BY RENEE FARMER
Texas poultry, Texas Brangus beef, various wagyu beef, Gulf seafood and wild game, which the shop can also process and pack for patrons. The market also makes its own char- cuterie and sausage; has a dry-aging room on-site; and hangs its own guanciale, an Italian cured meat, and coppa, an Italian pork cold cut. “Authenticity is a big thing for us,” Felix said. “The level of authentic- ity here is like no other that I can think of.” Cherry Block gets its products from Falcon Lake Farms, headquar- tered in the same building as Cherry Block. Falcon Lake Farms, Felix’s wholesale business, combines meat raised by him with meat from a group of farmers and ranchers from all over Texas. The farm, which takes its name from his family’s home in South Texas, supplies products to restaurants in Houston and Austin. Customers can nd items at Cherry Block that they would not be able to nd at a grocery store, Felix said. Teres major, a small cut that rivals the tenderness of let mignon for half the price, sells well, along with popular cuts such as ribeye and strip steaks. Felix is also a sommelier, so the market o ers a hand-selected assortment of small-production, high-quality wines. “The people that know about us love us,” Felix said.
Felix Florez brings 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry to Katy.
Texas-raised meats with Cherry Block Craft Butcher & Texas Market in Katy. “I like to do things right. I like to do things the best way that I possibly can,” Felix said. “It’s a passion for me.” Felix opened the market in April 2021 with his wife, Jeanette Florez. He has worked in the restaurant industry for 30 years alongside some of the best in the culinary indus- try, he said. Felix previously founded Houston’s Black Hill Meats in 2009, which sold products he raised to restaurants wholesale. However, when the pandemic led restaurants to close their doors, he found himself with no one to sell to. “With three kids at home, that’s a scary thing,” Felix said. Felix split from the company and began the search for a location to start another meat company, this time one with retail capabilities. He found a location in Old Katy with the stability and space he was looking for, and Cherry Block Craft Butcher & Texas Market was born. “It was me nally scratching an itch of wanting restaurants in Hous- ton and in Texas to serve products from Texas,” Felix said. The market sells pastured pork,
COURTESY EMILY JASCHKE CHERRY BLOCK
MEET THE CHERRY BLOCK MEATS These are a handful of the types of meats sold at Cherry Block.
Beef bacon ($12.99/pound)
Strip steak ($20.99/pound)
Porterhouse steak ($20.99/pound)
Ribeye pin roll ($14.99/pound)
Bacon slider ($9.99/pound)
Gator sausage ($15.99/pound)
Jalapeno popper patty ($13.99/pound)
RENEE FARMER COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Cherry Block Craft Butcher & Texas Market 5305 Highway Blvd., Katy 346-257-4566 www.cherryblockmarket.com Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
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