Mainz Meat Market ready to open doors downtown

Mainz Meat Market held its soft opening Saturday to enormous support from the Boerne community.

Owner Mason Mainz, thrilled to share his curated selection of meats, chicken and pork, said the inspiration for the downtown meat market came from his observation of Boerne’s love for fresh produce.

“At Black Rifle Coffee (which Mainz is part-owner), we sell fresh eggs,” Mainz said. “I thought, Boerne loves their farm-fresh produce, so why not open an organic grocery store?”

But after visiting his fatherin- law’s ranch, where he produces Wagyu meat, Mainz decided to help with his production and focus on a meat market operation in Boerne.

In addition to Wagyu meats, the market carries certified Angus beef that is sourced from around 30-40 ranchers that Mainz says are held to high standards.

Mainz carries two lines: The Heritage Line and the Legacy Line, which both produce meat that is humanely raised and regenerative farmed. The Legacy Line can even be sourced to the exact ranch and, sometimes, even the exact cow.

Mainz also received inspiration from traveling the world, particularly in Italy, where he walked into a meat market and saw meat hanging from the ceiling.

“I wanted something similar,” he said. “Bring a little bit of Europe to Boerne. Because we can’t hang meat from the ceiling here in the U.S., we bought dry agers and put ribs in them to give a similar effect.”

One method Mainz learned in Italy was the process of wet aging, where meat is kept in sparkling water for 30 days.

“It’s called wet aging,” Mainz said. “We only found one sparkling water that had the minerals we needed in the U.S. to start the process here, and we have some brisket right now in our wet ager that we will age for the 30 days.”

The focus isn’t just on meat, though — Mainz wanted a market that produced safe portions of chicken and pork.

“During our sourcing process for chicken and pork, we took a lot of time,” Mainz said. “I can say that we have some of the best and safest chicken and pork in the U.S.”

In the future, Mainz hopes to bring back ‘Steak Night,” where Main Street shuts down and the community comes together to make steaks and meet new people — an idea his wife is particularly excited about.

“We love ‘Steak Night’ in Waring, and we want to bring it back to Boerne,” Donna Joe Mainz said.

Mainz Meat Market will hold a Sept. 27 grand opening at its location at101 S. Main St., suite C.