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SantaCruzSentinel.Com February 12, 2021 | READERS CHOICE | 15 ner grocery store where everyone knows you and you can get every- thing you need. Quite a few custom- ers regularly compliment Elliana on the store's "…warm and sincere staff that go out of their way to help. They also love to see that our whole fam- ily works in the market," she adds. "We are a hands-on, family-owned- and-operated store." Elliana and AJ have three kids. Their son Luke, a local Soquel High junior, regularly works at the mar- ket. Isaac, 21, is finishing college this year, while 19-year-old Alleaha is a sophomore. Before the pandemic, they both worked at AJ's when they were home on breaks. During the last year, "…all my kids were home and had to work extra hours to help out during the unprecedented times we were dealing with," Elliana shares. "Many customers were very thankful that we were still open during the stay-at-home orders." Sentinel readers voted Freedom Meat Lockers runner-up for Best Butcher. "We take great pride in ev- ery product that we put out," says Sarah Lewis. Want some proof as to how tasty it is? "We have had quite a few customers tell us that we have converted them from being vegetar- ians," shares Sarah, who is not just the office manager for FML, but also part of the family that has owned and operated the business since 1970. Howard and Debbie Walker, Sar- ah's parents, own the shop—which was previously called Hi Grade Meats back in the 50's and 60's. "Over the years, Howard and Debbie have transformed what was once a very small butcher shop to what it is to- day," says Sarah. "We are all very proud of the shop and what they have accomplished. A destination for people to come and have lunch, take home meat to barbecue, and hopefully make great memories." Sarah has worked at FML "…of- ficially since 2000, but I have been raised here my whole life. And a lot of our team has been here for over 20 years!" This loyalty translates to staff that have a lot of knowledge and are great with customers. "We have such hard-working employees that make each customer feel like family," says Sarah. She says that being family-owned and family-op- erated improves the service people receive. "We treat your family like we would treat ours." They feel that being involved in the community is very important. For example, they regularly contrib- ute to the Santa Cruz County Fair- grounds. "We donate all the food to feed the auction buyers and kids, and donate money to support differ- ent events that occur," says Sarah. "We also do a lot of donations to local food banks, especially during these really difficult times." The shop offers several marinades for their tri-tip, steak and chicken, and the two top sellers store-wide are tri-tip and skirt steak with Wine & Spice marinade. For sausage lov- ers, FML carries more than 25 vari- eties, all made in-house. There are smoked and fresh ones, pork types (including hot or mild Cajun, South- western, and Bavarian cheese) and chicken ones (including Andouille, tomato mushroom, and pesto). They also have bacon, ham, and more. In 2003, they added a deli to Free- dom Meat Lockers. The Freedom Deli menu includes a variety of sandwiches with choices like house- made turkey or low-smoked brisket. There is also macaroni and potato salad, made on-site. Gary Bascou and Richard Joseph- son, partners at Staff of Life Natu- ral Foods, are proud to receive Best Health Food Store from Sentinel readers. "Our customers love most everything about Staff, as the read- ers' poll results suggest. We believe some of the reasons Staff is so well- continues on 16... ...continued from 14 T H A N K YO U F O R V O T I N G U S " B E S T F E N C I N G C O N T R A C T O R " 2016 2018 831.783.1500 • www.CypressCoastFence.com Lic. #904200

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