timesleader.com – July 2015
by Sarah Haase (Staff Writer)
Visit Quails-R-Us Plus in Stall 6 at the Co-Op Farmer’s Market in Scranton!
Amid the fruits, vegetables and flowers at the Wilkes-Barre Farmers’ Market is some of the freshest meat and eggs one will come across in Public Square.
Chicken, quail, pork, beef and lamb are just some of the meat selections available at the Quails-R-Us booth, located behind the market’s band shell. The farm-to-table business, based in Honesdale, has been part of the Wilkes-Barre Farmers’ Market for five years.
“This was one of the first markets we got into when we decided to go full time with the farm,” said Rick Franciosa, owner of Quails-R-Us. “It was rough at first, but now it’s one of our best markets. It’s a very colorful one. It reminds me of home. It reminds me of the Bronx.”
Franciosa is a New York native who met his wife, Linda, in a New York City slaughter house.
“That’s the short of it,” he said with a smile. “But we’re still doing this 28 years later on our own farm.”
In addition to the variety of meat, Franciosa’s business offers fresh laid eggs from the 1,200 laying hens on the farm as well as quail eggs. Quail eggs are much smaller than chicken eggs and have a richer, creamier consistency, Franciosa said. Occassionally some rabbit and goat meat even make it to the market, he said.
“Everything is all natural and antibiotic free,” he said. “Our customers give us really good feedback. They say they can really taste the difference between farm fresh and store bought. I’d say the same thing, but I’m biased.”
There’s got to be something to it though, by noon on July 2, Franciosa said he had sold 80 dozen eggs and was running low on meat.
“Our chicken is fresh, never frozen. The eggs are picked by hand and the meat is all prepared on Tuesdays and Wednesdays,” he said. “You’re not going to get any fresher than that unless you’ve got your own chicken coop in your backyard.”
Franciosa said the majority of his sales are preorders. Customers can call or place an order through Facebook.
“We’re a small farm but we can accommodate,” he said. “Our chickens are usually three to four pounds but we can pull bigger or smaller.”
The chickens and the eggs are both popular sellers, but so is the pork sausage.
“We make a garlic bratwurst, chorizo and sweet Italian sausage,” he said.
Preorders for any of the products Quails-R-Us sell are recommended, Franciosa said.
“We never know when we’re going to sell out,” he said.
Reach Sarah at shaase@timesleader.com or follow her on Twitter @Tlarts
http://timesleader.com/features/372538/meats-and-eggs-are-quails-r-us-specialty