Yes, there is still something called customer service. At K & K Portage Market, Lisa Langley and owner Jerry Kolar greet regular customer, Joyce Barnes of Cleveland, who ordered a roast and a city chicken. (Photos by Larry Bennet)

K & K Portage Market is based on 50-year family tradition
By Cynthia Schuster-Eakin
Insignts
Published Sept. 27, 2006

In the 1950s, Yaro Kolar began a 50-year family tradition. He opened a retail meat shop in the old Hungarian neighborhood at 103rd and Union in Cleveland. His sons Jerry and Dennis grew up working in the family business.

Jerry and Dennis Kolar eventually opened their own K & K Portage Market on Warren Road. Dennis then branched out in 1979 and established K & K Meat Shoppe in Maple Heights. In 2001, Dennis Sr. and his son Dennis Jr. opened a branch in Mantua, Ohio.

Jerry Kolar and his son Rick continue to run K & K Portage Market, Inc., 3364 Warren Road, as an old-fashioned retail meat shop with a full-service deli. They sell chicken, beef, veal and seafood, with an in-store bakery, and beer and wine. The Kolars celebrate their 35th year in the Warren Road location next May.

The store reflects the Kolar's Bohemian and Hungarian heritage, stocking homemade sausage prepared according to Yaro's family recipes. They offer Sekanice, a sausage made with veal, ham, pork and chives, and Hurka, a pork and rice ring. Fresh sausages include Polish kielbasa, Hungarian kolbaz and Italian sausages. There is a full counter of prepared foods suited to today's busy lifestyle. Working mothers can still provide a hot meal for their family, with selections from K & K Market. Stuffed cabbage, kielbasa and sauerkraut, rigatoni, stuffed peppers, fried chicken, barbecued ribs and meatloaf are all homemade, according to Rick Kolar.

"We have tried to adapt to lifestyle changes over the years," he said. "We still sell sides of beef for families. When I was growing up, that was my father's main business. Men would work at the Ford plant and their wives would stay home and raise the children. Today, we stay open later for mothers who work, and we are open on Sundays."

The Mantua location has a wood-burning smokehouse where the family prepares smoked goods that include baby back ribs, beef sticks, jerky and ham. These products are carried at the Warren Road location, along with specialties like beef rib roasts, crown pork roasts and party trays.

Glazed spiral-sliced ham ($4.99 a pound), is boneless, fully cooked and 96 percent fat-free. It is baked with a special glaze of honey, brown sugar and spices followed with a topping of pineapple and maraschino cherries. The store also offers sheet pizzas, and has an extensive bake shop, with homemade breads, pies, assorted bakery, kolachy and poppy seed rolls. Cakes are available by the quarter, half or full sheet for any occasion. Specialty cakes are their new double-layered chocolate cake with chocolate fudge icing, and casada cake filled with fresh strawberries and cream. K & K Portage Market offers a variety of sugar ornaments for baptisms, showers and birthdays.

You can purchase all of the food and beverages for your next party at K & K Market. Their expert staff will help with selections and arrangements of items necessary for a successful occasion. Start with hors d'oeuvres like Swedish meatballs, Buffalo wings or pumpernickel bread filled with spinach dip. Party trays are prepared with deli meats, vegetables, fruit and cheese. They even have beautifully carved melon baskets filled with seasonal fruits and berries. Customers can order trays of mini croissant sandwiches, mini Kaiser roll sandwiches, or party submarine sandwiches. Their subs were voted "Best in Cleveland" by the readers of Cleveland Magazine. Shrimp platters are garnished with cocktail sauce, or accompanied by crab and cheese dip and seafood salad.

Party packs of fried chicken range in size from 25 to 100 pieces. Side dishes like garlic mashed redskin potatoes, macaroni and cheese and green beans with mushrooms can be ordered by the half or full pan.

Rick Kolar noted that, after so many years in the Warren Road neighborhood, they know their customers by name and share in the local gossip. He said people often stop in with recipes for old-fashioned sausages and ask them to custom-make them. They sell whole goats, pigs and lambs for ethnic celebrations. He said some people keep exotic animals and request large bones, or even beef hearts for snapping turtles.

A major lottery ticket provider, K & K Portage Market had a $7 million winner three years ago. "The man worked at the Ford plant and was two years from getting his full pension. So, he continued to work for two more years, then he and his wife bought a farm in Grafton and retired," Kolar said.

K & K Portage Market, Inc. is open seven days a week. Hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. All major credit cards are honored. Phone (216) 941-MEAT (6328).