Outlaw Meats opening in LaCrosse this fall

Gazette Staff

Outlaw Meats gave LaCrosse Farmer’s Festival attendees a preview of their new facility, along with free mugs and beverages.

A new custom meat facility and farm slaughter business, Outlaw Meats, is slated to open later this year on Main Avenue in downtown LaCrosse. Owners Daniel Broeckel and wife Kelli, along with their children Rowdie Jo, 8, and Beau, 5, plan to relocate from Farmington to LaCrosse in late summer as they continue to prepare the downtown facility for an expected opening in late October to November.

Although the building was previously a meat processing facility, the shop has been unused for many years, so Broeckel plans many updates in design, layout and equipment. He described his vision for the shop as having an “old-time butcher shop” feel and added he has “type A cleanliness” when it comes to his work.

“I meet the state requirements and then go a step further,” he said.

Broeckel plans to start with beef and a bit of wild game, while keeping the possibility open for expansion in the future.

“We will be custom, for the beef owner/household user, to start, but we are building-in the standard that will make it easier to grow in the direction of USDA for commercial and retail processing in the future, if we decide to,” he stated.

Broeckel, who has nearly a decade of experience in the business, got his start in meat processing at Walla Walla Community College where he studied feed lot nutrition, a science he still applies to his work today. He was employed for six years at Garfield Meat Shop and worked several winters with Mountain View Custom Meats in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. During this time, he won several awards at Northwest Meat Processors Association annual meetings for his personal-recipe sausage, which he plans to have, along with jerky, for sale at the shop.

Broeckel commented that he is often asked why he is returning to LaCrosse to open his business. He said that although folks poke fun at him for saying it, he is a “son of Whitman County.” He grew up cowboying and knows the area and, most importantly, the people in and around LaCrosse. It is this familiarity that he feels will help him to tailor his services to the needs of his customers.

“Based on what someone expresses that they want, we can get in the truck and I can take them out to a ranch and they can look at the animals, see where they live and choose the one that meets their needs,” he said.

But the choice to open in LaCrosse was not just about the benefits to Outlaw Meats and its customers. It’s about community. Out of high school, he was as ready as any to get out and see other places. Since that time, he has looked back and watched LaCrosse begin to re-vitalize with improvements in downtown infrastructure and businesses while at the same time maintaining the small-town charm that now pulls him and his family back.

“The town is trying to grow, and the town has always stood behind me. Why not bring something back to it now?” he said.

And community members have been quick to offer an extra pair of hands or whatever the family might need as they work toward opening day. And family is at the heart of it. Broeckel’s grandmother, mother and sister run the LaCrosse Cafe, just a few steps away from his shop.

“Our kids can walk down the road and everyone knows whose they are, and someone is always watching over them,” said Broeckel. “And having my own business lets me set a schedule where I can spend more time with my family, and that’s what is really important to me right now,” he added.

Both Rowdie Jo and Beau, who often “work” on the shop right along beside their dad during the day, obviously share this sense of family and community when they proudly proclaim “our dad was from here and we’re going to move back.”

Contact information for Outlaw Meats will be made available later this year as the opening date nears.