Where’s the Beef?
200 varieties at Beef Jerky Outlet, sampling helps decide, Miromar’s new shop
If your only exposure to beef jerky has been those sticks in plastic wrap stashed by the cash register at a convenience store, you don’t know jerky. However, you can experience true jerky in all of its glory and flavor in Estero at the new Beef Jerky Outlet at Miromar Outlets.
Inspired by the success of the franchise in their home state of Tennessee, co-owners Jeff Greene and Mark Dartley opened the store in November. Greene says of the yummy snack: “Being from the Smoky Mountains area in east Tennessee, we’ve eaten jerky our entire lives.”
Jerky is meat that has been seasoned and dried, a process dating to caveman days, according to Greene, for preserving meat for the winter. And while today’s society has more sophisticated methods of preservation (freezers), this traditional drying practice is still widely embraced.
Walking into the Beef Jerky Outlet, you’re flanked by seven “Flavor Walls” containing more than 200 varieties of jerky, most of which are available for sampling. While there are dozens of flavors, the two main categories are smoked and dried. Dried is what most of us know, according to Greene, describing the smoked selections as more “moist and softer to chew.”
Tasting stations offer a natural progression of flavors, beginning with the classics, then sweet, savory and last but not least, spicy. Look for items such as prime rib, honey barbeque and moonshine. Two of Dartley’s favorites are the Cajun brisket and cherry maple turkey. The beef comes from top-choice eye round, but you’ll also find turkey and salmon, along with exotic meats like wild boar, venison, elk, buffalo and ’gator.
Crawfish Slap Your Mama Beef is a favorite selection of general manager Dianne Giardina, in retail for some 20 years, saying she has never worked in a store where customers respond so well to the product. She explains: “They are so relaxed, they’re having fun and are walking away with something they really want. It’s a fun store.”
It’s not just the jerky that engages customers―the store is full of complementary eatables. Take, for instance, dried bugs: real, freezedried bugs in bags, covered in chocolate and encased in lollipops. Giardina says while many customers buy them as jokes, others genuinely want to discover what the creepy crawlies taste like.
If hot sauce is more in your discovery zone, this outlet has
shelves of it. Not just sauces but also extracts; raw and potent, they are at the top of the “hot” food chain. Some are so hot that they are kept in a locked case. Giardina points to a sauce called The Reaper and warns, “I’ve seen big men get teary-eyed over this one.”
The store is a snacker’s paradise, with a popcorn station full of both sweet and savory selections, a large variety of smoked and candied nuts, and glass jars brimming with chocolatecovered espresso beans and candies. And it doesn’t seem right to have a country-themed store without some pickled items, another traditional way to preserve items for the long winter months. Here you’ll find everything from pickled eggs to green beans and asparagus.
Greene and Dartley have vacation homes in Southwest Florida and often found themselves in Estero at Miromar Outlets. So when the health-care administrators decided to venture into the retail world to bring a taste of the Smoky Mountains to their second home, the popular outlet mall was a perfect fit. The buzz around their store began way before it opened, according to Dartley, who says, “Mall workers, even the FedEx people, were excited that we were coming. I was stunned.”
Greene and Dartley are men of faith with a strong commitment to community. One way of their showing gratitude to local and national public servants is through the Wall of Honor, collecting patches from law enforcement, EMS and our troops, adding them to the space near the store entrance. They also give back by supporting the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and plan to have college and professional members on site for their official grand opening in late winter.
Appropriately located by the Play Land, the Beef Jerky Outlet is a playground for your taste buds and one of the more unique stores you’ll find at Miromar Outlets.
IT’S NOT JUST THE JERKY THAT ENGAGES CUSTOMERS— THE STORE IS FULL OF COMPLEMENTARY EATABLES.