The city of Laurel has garnered lots of attention over the last couple years with it being where the HGTV show "Hometown" takes place. Not only is Laurel home to beautiful homes and wonderful people, it's also home to The Knight Butcher, the town's only gourmet butcher shop.
The Knight Butcher is owned and operated by Chad and Terri Knight. Chad is a native of Laurel, and Terri is from Florence, Mississippi. While Terri was attending college at the University of Southern Mississippi, Chad was working for a local grocery store in Laurel and playing music on the weekends. They eventually met, got married and moved to Seattle in 2011.
After three and a half years in Seattle, they decided that they missed living in Mississippi and being close to their family and friends. During the time they lived in Seattle, Chad worked for several small butcher shops, and his passion grew to own his own butcher shop one day. Terri worked in sales, and the desire was placed in her heart to help her husband's dream come true. After a lot of planning, they were ready to move back to Laurel in January of 2015 and start the biggest endeavor of their life: The Knight Butcher.
Chad has been in the meat industry for over 18 years, with a wide range of experience, from grocery store management to lead Journeyman. Right after high school, Chad took Meat Processing and Merchandising at Jones County Junior College and then started his career in various grocery markets. While in Seattle, Chad worked for several small butcher shops and developed many new skills to add to his repertoire such as charcuterie (sausage making, curing meats, etc.), business management, class tutorials on different animal breakdowns and much more. Terri has worked in sales her entire life, so with her business knowledge, she took over as the public relations and business marketing manager for the shop. Terri has a passion for people and helping them to better understand the food that they are buying for their families. Together, she and Chad hope to give back to the city they love and give the people of Laurel a fresh and local product that they cannot get at any other store in town.
Located at 520 Central Avenue in Laurel, this butcher shop truly does it all. Currently, The Knight Butcher sells cuts of beef, pork, chicken and lamb, along with other specialty products. They buy the whole cow so that they get every bit of the animal - even the tongue. You can find pretty much any cut of meat you can think of at The Knight Butcher - ribeye, flat iron, rib cap steak, oxtail, beef shank, beef heart and literally everything in between.
Pork cuts range from bone-in chops, tenderloin, shoulder, butt, spare ribs and all of your other favorite cuts of pork. If you prefer chicken, try a whole chicken, kabobs, tenders, party wings, BBQ smoked halves or their pizza-stuffed chicken breasts.
Also lining the shelves at The Knight Butcher is bacon, fresh link and breakfast sausage, jalapeno cheddar sausage, hot dogs, meatloaf, meatballs, corned beef, roast beef, pastrami and smoked ham and turkey, along with other specialty and gourmet items.
A local favorite is the Knight Jerky - their house-made beef jerky. Mild, spicy and teriyaki beef jerky is a crowd favorite, and it is made fresh, in-house every day.
Along with all the meat inside The Knight Butcher, you can also find lots of local products like Jones Toffee, Grumpy Man Salsa and Pepper Jelly, Pure Honey by Dale and Lynn Holifield, Loblollie Pops, and Chittlins BBQ Sauce, rubs, chips and sodas.
To top off your visit to The Knight Butcher, be sure to also snag some Knight Sugar Fudge, which Terri makes fresh daily, too. Fudge flavors range anywhere between classic, white chocolate with pecans, banana pudding, king cake, cookie monster, red velvet, cinnamon roll and several others in between.
The Knight Butcher also serves lunch. Stop in Monday through Friday from 11 am to 1 pm, and till 2 pm on Saturdays, for a delicious brown bag lunch. You can check out their Facebook page for daily lunch specials, or you can give them a call. They can also put together deli trays for any gathering, party or corporate event.
If you're ever in Laurel and need any cut of meat you can think of, The Knight Butcher is the place to go. They quite literally have it all, and they have lots of other fun things to shop around for.
The Knight Butcher is located at 520 Central Avenue in Laurel. They're open 10 am to 6 pm, Tuesday through Saturday; closed on Sundays and Mondays. Visit their website to learn more, or check out their Facebook page to keep up with them daily.