The Shiner Smokehouse Story

Joe Patek’s entrepreneurial vision began in 1937 when he bought the Southside Filling Station across the street from the Catholic Church on St. Ludmila Street. He began to carry staples and fine groceries which quickly expanded his business. In May 0f 1939 he then bought the Pannewitz home at the end of Ave E. He moved that home to the back of the lot and moved the South End Filling Station from across the street to this location.

After a tragic fire in 1947 Joe rebuilt a much larger stucco building and named his new business Patek’s Grocery – Market & Café. During the 50s and 60s the café provided home-cooked lunches for the locals. On Sunday’s Joe’s wife Emily would join the cooking crew to make fried chicken, homemade dressing, vegetables and desserts. During the week the aroma of donuts, strudels, apple rolls, hamburgers, stews, chilies, and smoked sausage filled the store and café. After 5 o’clock when the end of work whistles blew, scooners of Shiner Beer were served and the café became a gathering spot for the locals. To this day, you can still buy Emily’s homemade dressing in the frozen food department at Patek’s Grocery & Market.

All of Joe and Emily’s 7 children pitched in and worked hard with their dad to keep building and carrying on the family business. Although Joe was becoming a successful businessman, Emily worked behind the scenes and was instrumental in supporting the children to make their dreams come true. This tradition carries on throughout the history of Patek’s business. Generations of family members have worked and are still serving the great people of Shiner, TX today. You could call it a family affair!

As business was booming, the need for expansion became evident. The old café was moved to the back of the store, in a much smaller fashion. This created the much needed space to make way for new lines of groceries. Throughout the next few decades the store underwent many more renovations to make room for more products and an expanded meat market. Joe had high customer service standards and made sure to pass this down to all of his kids and grandkids.

During the late 60’s early 70’s Joe bought and operated a downtown meat market to facilitate the rapid growth of in the meat market. Beef was processed and broken down at this location to sell custom cut calf quarters or halves. All sausage was now produced at this location and a full showcase was always filled with cheeses, lunch meats, beef cuts, and pork cuts.

On April 1, 1975 Joe and his four sons, who were still involved in the family business, expanded again with the production of the most modern meat processing plant in South Texas. The largest state inspected facility in the area offered custom meat processing as well as a large sausage production. Custom slaughtering became a large part of revenue obtained from this facility.

Later in 1975, Joe semi-retires and gives the business to his four sons Joe Jr., Robert, Paul and David, all of which worked with their dad through every business endeavor. Joe left big shoes to fill but was certain his boys would continue his legacy. The brothers thrived in business and continued to adapt to the changing needs of their customers. In 1986 the city of Shiner, and many followers of his polka orchestra, mourned the passing of Joe Sr. Shiner lost a city icon but his legacy continued through his sons. In 1988 David’s unexpected death shocked the family but the family pressed on as their father had taught them to. Then in 1989 Joe Jr left the business to pursue another dream.

At this point Bob and Paul were the last two brothers continuing the business. The two brothers were faced with many challenges for the next couple of decades competing with larger chain grocers moving to the area and the need for further renovation and expansion. The current building that is home to Patek’s Grocery and Market has stood since 1947 so in following of Joe’s motto, the brothers made massive changes to the store’s appearance to remain competitive in a tightening market. Along with the structural changes, Bob created a larger product line variety within the grocery arena and Paul concentrated on creating a larger variety of sausage recipes to expand meat market offerings. Both improvements proved instrumental in the success of the business at that time.

Shiner lost another great businessman and friend with the passing of Bob Patek Sr. after a battle with pulmonary fibrosis. His ever cheerful attitude and glowing big smile is still missed today by family and patrons alike. After his passing, Bob Patek Jr (Bob’s son) and Connie Mraz (Bob’s daughter) became owner operators with Paul and are currently running day-to-day operations at the grocery store.

Since 1937 the only place to find Patek’s famous smoked sausage was at Patek’s Grocery & Market in Shiner. In response to numerous requests from patrons around the state, Patek’s Grocery & Market expanded once again to form Patek’s Shiner Smokehouse in order to distribute their sausage and smoked meats to the masses. Paul’s sons, Brian, Paul Jr. and Keith have embarked on this endeavor to offer the fine quality of smoked sausage and smoked meats based the Patek family recipes. Today the production is still done the old fashion way, and you will never find short cuts taken like so many sausages on the market today. Real smoke, time and quality meats & spices are what our products are made of. There are no fillers!

Today, Shiner Smokehouse can be found in HEB and Central Markets across the state. It became quickly evident that folks were looking for a real, quality Czeck smoked sausage because production has reached an all time high and is growing by the day! In addition to entering the retail sector, Shiner Smokehouse is now available via mail order through the internet. Folks from all over the nation have been enjoying the great products offered by our family. Regardless if you stop by Patek’s Grocery in Shiner, pick up your favorite sausage in HEB or buy our products online, we assure that you will find that best quality of products and the best flavor on the market.

Through the 72 years Joe Patek’s children, grandchildren, & cousins have all come to work at the store continuing the pride of providing great products with second to none customer service. Still today, fourth generation family members work at Patek’s and Shiner Smokehouse. Hard work, long hours, dedication to perfection and the love of the business have provided rich lessons in family history and following the American dream. The Patek family has been blessed by community support and the generations of patrons and who still do business with us today. The Czech culture lives on with great food, drink and cheer!