The Biz Beat: San Jose market specializes in meat skewers

A few months ago, puffs of smoke began wafting from a shopping center in North San Jose. The source: Chinese barbecue meat skewers being cooked in the parking lot.

One Step Food Market, a small specialized grocery store in Pacific Rim Plaza II, served up the skewers as a temporary advertisement for the shop’s February opening through the end of August. Owner Yaodong Guo said he sold more than 100 grilled skewers each day, though doesn’t plan to keep cooking outside to avoid disturbing other businesses in the shopping center.

“If people like the skewers outside, they’ll definitely like the skewers inside,” he told San José Spotlight.

Inside the shop, he offers a large variety of uncooked skewers with meats such as lamb kidney, squid tentacle, pork intestine, chicken hearts and beef aorta.

Prior to pivoting to a food career, Guo worked in real estate and at a mobile gaming company. He was inspired to open a shop because of challenges he faced when hosting friends.

“We would always gather for skewers and hot pot,” Guo said. “It would take us a long time to prepare all the food.”

Guo moved to the Bay Area from Hebei, a province in northern China, in 2009. He said in China there’s stores that specialize in these communal cooking foods, but in the Bay Area it often requires multiple stops. Instead of spending time cutting and skewering meat, he wanted to provide a single stop where people can stock up on everything they need, including a mini grill, charcoal and a chimney starter.

“For us, we saw another place only selling hot pot meats, but not the side dish for the hot pot,” Guo said. “After we would buy the food, we would have to wash or cut, kind of wasting time, and you get tired before you start eating.”

One Step Food Market’s walls are adorned with diagrams to show customers what cut of meat they’re getting. Those cuts include tongue, brisket, shoulder and short rib. The meat is sourced from several places including Australia and New Zealand. Guo said buying the skewers premade helps customers avoid buying larger cuts of meat, which can be pricey and time-consuming to break down.

Many of the skewers are sold unmarinated to give customers control over the flavor.

“Right now we have 16 different skewers, but in the future we’re going to add more skewers like chicken skin, beef tendon, rice cakes and small yellow fish,” Guo said.

There’s also seasoning blends, dipping sauce, snacks, soup bases and drinks available in the store.

“I think it’s really cool that they’re doing this for the neighborhood,” Norma Villarreal, a resident of North San Jose, told San José Spotlight.

Guo said he has limited staff and wants to focus on the variety and quality of the selection in-store. The fridges are sorted by category — skewers, thinly sliced meats, side dishes and hot pot toppings. Guo prepares fish balls, duck feet, tofu and more onsite in the shop’s kitchen. 

Guo plans to open a second smaller outpost in Cupertino or Sunnyvale that will be supplied by the San Jose location. He’s also working on setting up a service where he caters freshly grilled skewers for events.

Contact Octavio Peña at [email protected].

Editor’s Note: The Biz Beat is a series highlighting local small businesses and restaurants in Silicon Valley. Know a business you’d like to see featured? Let us know at [email protected].