I'd been passing its pale-brick exterior for some time, making note of the small lot usually crowded with cars, when I finally stopped in for a Polish sausage sub with mustard and sauerkraut, and was hooked. But they persisted, and today, their enterprise produces anywhere from 2,500 to 5,000 pounds of sausages and other pork goods a week, most of which is sold right out the front of the McDowell store, or the other location they have up on Bell Road.īeing that I'm still somewhat new to town, I'm a recent and enthusiastic fan of Stanley's. For the first three years, Vukadin and Emilia were barely able to keep it afloat. Vukadin's father decided to retire 16 years ago, and as a result, the entire clan moved to Phoenix, where Vukadin bought the then-struggling Stanley's, becoming the deli's third owner. Vukadin's pop was in the sausage biz in Serbia, so when he brought his parents over from the former Yugoslavia, they all went into business together, buying a deli in Chi-town, which they ran for several years. Not long after, he immigrated to the U.S., and settled in Chicago, where he met his Polish wife, Emilia. Vukadin 'Vule' Stevanovic, 60, is from Serbia originally, having fled the Iron Curtain when he was only 18 by walking all the way to Italy. The meat is soft and sweet, ready to be eaten as soon as the Polish lady keeping shop hands it over to you.Īs mentioned above, Stanley's is far more than pork butt. (A swine's rear end is ham, of course, so we've all eaten pig keister, unless you happen to be an especially devout Muslim or Jew.) Stanley's 'butt' or 'shoulder' is about the size of a beefy man's two fists laid side-by-side. After all, pork butt is just a colorful way of saying pork shoulder, commonly used for North Carolina-style, pulled-pork barbecue. Okay, enough with the butt jokes, already. Needless to say, I haven't seen so many smoked butts since visiting the local pool hall a while back for a spot of snooker with the boys. There these marbled hunks of pig flesh share space with a selection of the 46 meats and sausages made on the premises by the Stevanovic family - 31-year-old Marko, and his mom and dad, Emilia and Vukadin. Stanley's, which has been in business since 1963, displays its butts with pride, on hooks behind the counter in this small but ever-popular Eastern European deli.

on McDowell Road, just east of 22nd Street. The butt in question? Smoked pork butt, silly! From Stanley's Home Made Sausage Co. For this food critic, there's nothing quite as satisfying as gnawing on a hunk of butt while perusing the Scottsdale-based Serbian Times and occasionally wondering how many pierogi a grown man can ingest before he explodes.

Dallas sausage fest