However unique a meat market coupled with a café may seem, one of Granby’s newest food retailers looks prepped to lure a protein-and-caffeinated crowd of customers.

Find the new Fitch Ranch Meats and Market by looking for the statue of Harold the black Angus bull outside an inauspicious log cabin near the crossroads of US Highway 40 and US Highway 34.

This latest in a series of culinary ventures was sparked by small town entrepreneurs Deborah and Cameron Fitch and son Jonah Landy. The family also owns FR Steakhouse in Grand Lake, which opened last year on a seasonal basis, and Debbie’s Drive-In nearby the meat market and café. In January, they purchased a meat-processing plant in Craig.

The market and café combo opened in January in the former home of the old Chuck Wagon Restaurant and Bar.

One recent afternoon, an old-timer exited Fitch Ranch Meats and Market gripping a vacuum-sealed steak in his left hand. Before climbing into his pickup, the elderly customer extended his right hand to Landy, 26, a proud business partner, and congratulated him.

“Good luck!” he told Landy. “And thanks.”

Landy not only helps run the operation with his parents, he also cuts steaks and delivers them to restaurants far and wide, while working with a team of staff to run such an ambitious enterprise.

As a hospitality program graduate of Colorado State University, Landy familiarizes himself with everybody who walks in the door.

“We can be super-customizing in finding the right cuts for the customer,” he said.

Those cuts include oxtails, briskets, New York strips, ribs, jerky, and whole sides of beef. Popular items are charcuterie boards with cured cheeses and sausage, jellies, special salt and wines. The Fitch family offers as many local products as they can, either produced by the Fitches or their suppliers.

The primary draw is premium beef from the Fitch ranch’s well-kept herd of black Angus cattle raised on 18,000 acres in Parshall. How delicious are these cuts?

So premier that restaurants across Colorado and Wyoming buy Fitch beef. As you’d expect, there’s more to this family-owned operation than meets the eye.

Four years ago, the Fitch family relocated from tiny Franktown to tiny Parshall. The move forced the family to change how they approached responsible grazing, which differs in a mountain climate compared to the plains. They devote their energies to being good stewards of the land.

“We’re all passionate about agriculture,” Deborah Fitch said.

“And we always wanted to have a family business,” Landy said.

In addition to beef, the meats market side of the business offers lamb, chicken and pork which the Fitch family buys from mostly local ranchers, as well as fresh fish. The goal, Fitch said, is to connect local producers with consumers.

Combining Old West values with proven ranching techniques, their down-home mission is exemplified by the traditional ambiance that made the former tenant a popular destination for locals. Wagon wheels hang from a log ceiling. Beautiful lumber tables and booths will look familiar to Chuck Wagon customers. A deer statue rests before the fireplace.

Currently, breakfast is served all day but may expand to include lunch and supper as time goes on.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to correct details about Fitch Ranch Meats and Market.