Remodeling of Happy Foods in Edgebrook almost done; fresh sausages made in-house as part of revamped meat dept.

by BRIAN NADIG

The Happy Foods grocery store in Edgebrook has been undergoing renovations and changes since last year, and one of them includes a revamped meat department, where fresh sausages are made in-house.
The department features three butchers with more than 100 years of total experience, including work at some of the Chicago area’s largest stores.

Charles Pequeno was a union meat cutter for 30-plus years, working as a head butcher at Whole Foods, and Marty Nowak, who’s semi-retired and whose resume includes Mariano’s, Tony’s and Reagan Meats.

And there’s Ben Harrison, who grew up in the business. “My dad was a butcher. I just grew up around it,” he said, recalling how on hot days he’d go to the store for some Topps baseball cards and then retreat to a refrigerated area of the shop to cool off and look at the cards.

Harrison later went to a specialized school in New York to learn more about the meat industry and has worked at cattle farms and slaughterhouses and has helped open up several butcher shops.

At Happy Foods, Harrison makes a variety of sausages, including Italian, English banger, Polish, bratwurst and blueberry breakfast. The meats are put through a hand-operated sausage grinder, and they’re ground directly into the sausage casings.

Store owner Arthur Paris said that he decided to bring in some experienced butchers in part to help lower meat costs while still maintaining the store’s reputation for high quality.

Paris said that with the help of his new team, the store is working to buy meats directly from the farmers and in essence eliminating the middleman and lowering costs, and then passing that savings on to shoppers.

“We go from farm to table.”

Renovation work is almost completed at the store, where shoppers will see a rejuvenated produce section, said Paris, who acquired the Happy Foods store in 2024.

“I like how this store is going,” Paris said of its increased volume as more shoppers are stepping inside. He also operates Carnival Foods in Lincoln Park and Carnival Grocery in Oak Park.

Happy Foods has been located at 6415 N. Central Ave. for about 50 years. Prior to that, it was one of the first Dominick’s grocery stores.

Happy Foods is open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.

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