Staying power: A valley tradition, Shaffer's keeps on growing

View larger image George Shaffer holds a sample of one his evening buffet items inside his expanded establishment, Shaffer’s Catering, Barbecue and Deli, in Woodstock. The plate includes pork loin with vidalia onion salsa, country green beans with country ham, squash casserole, stewed tomatoes and glazed baby carrots. Rich Cooley/Daily View larger image Shaffer’s buffet hosts an array of side items. Rich Cooley/Daily View larger image Angel food cake with cherry topping and chocolate cake with cream icing are two desserts featured on Shaffer’s evening buffet bar. Rich Cooley/Daily Shaffer's Catering, Barbecue and Deli For more information about Shaffer’s Catering, Barbecue and Deli, visit the website at www.shafferscatering.com.

By Josette Keelor - jkeelor@nvdaily.com

WOODSTOCK-- Shaffer's Catering, Barbecue and Deli in Woodstock has a long tradition in Shenandoah County, dating back to 1952 when the Shaffer family opened the part-time catering business. Now, 58 years later, the full-time business includes take-out service, a room for small parties and a buffet, says owner and manager George Shaffer.

"We've really expanded, we're not just barbecue anymore," he says.
Having joined the family business in 1975 when he left the Navy, Shaffer committed to the task full time beginning in 1990.

It all started as a fundraiser for the Woodstock Rotary Club to help with the Woodstock pool, Shaffer says.

The business is located at 913 S. Main Street, but the restaurant is known throughout the area -- from Hagerstown, Md., to Staunton to Charlottesville.

"The majority of our business is in the valley area," he says. "We have our own unique style and we really emphasize the full catering."

Shaffer says the business does a lot of corporate catering.

"You name it, we'll cater it. ... We basically do a hundred-mile radius. The full catering is still the bulk of the business," he says, providing food for everything from weddings to corporate parties.

The store hours are Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., but Shaffer's caters at any time -- with notice, of course.

"We do it any time of the day or night," he says. "That's part of our corporate catering."
Though the barbecue restaurant is essentially 58 years old, it is still growing and changing, Shaffer says.

"With the catering our menu is always evolving," he says.

On a recent morning his staff was preparing for a tasting event as part of wedding planning, setting up a small buffet table in the events room in preparation.
"[A tasting] gives us a chance to talk about new ideas," Shaffer says.

Events manager Jill Spackman helps him gauge what customers like about the catering business and what they would like to see change.

"She has an extensive foods background," Shaffer says of Spackman. "She comes up with some great ideas."

"We're all the time trying to meet our customers' expectations," he adds. "I think our attention to detail is one of our strong points."

When catering a vineyard, Shaffer pairs different foods with wines he believes will suit the flavors. Different marinades with pork loins or sauces with chicken make a big difference in the tone of the meal, he says. It also allows Shaffer and his staff to experiment with new dishes, "taking the basic meats and fixing them up so they're home-style."

Because chicken is so versatile, Shaffer's offers an array of options.

"Our Chicken Santa Fe is really well-known," he says.

He'll add fruit to chicken dishes like his Hawaiian-style chicken, or add it to salads.

"Things like that, they'll set a salad apart," Shaffer says.

Desserts are also offered in a range of options. The catering service often provides individual sweets on a tray, he says, "so they set a good variety of desserts."

Desserts are a lot of fun, too, offering challenges at different times of the year.

"We do a lot of cobblers, a lot of pies and cakes," Shaffer says. At Christmastime, Shaffer's bakes yule logs "and a million pumpkin pies."

"We've done some really nice tarts and fruity desserts that will go with [customers'] dessert wines," he says.

Diversity isn't everything, though. Shaffer's also sticks with what works time and time again.

"Our bread and butter are cobblers, pies and cakes," Shaffer says. "We're still really well-known for our barbecue. That's where we got our start."

The buffet is the newest addition to the building, finished last month, and other renovations will be completed throughout the summer, Shaffer says.

The buffet offers comfort food, he says, and he enjoys making foods "that people are familiar with, comfortable with."

The renovations include updating the kitchen and adding a new floor to the deli area, located between the events room and the buffet.

"We have a new look on both ends and will have a new look in the middle, too," Shaffer says of the building. "In [the] deli, we're gonna give it a face-lift and some new food offerings so by the end of July ... we'll have a fresh face for everything."

Shaffer has not rejected the idea of more additions in the future, but says he does not have any in the works.

"Right now the buffet's keeping our hands full, and the remodeling," he says.

Summer is typically a busy time for the restaurant, which also provides food and staffing to local camps. The restaurant services Shenandoah Meadows Camp and Caroline Furnace Lutheran Camp, both in Fort Valley, and Camp Strawderman in Columbia Furnace, providing three meals a day for up to 120 children at each location for a total of eight weeks.

"I hire a lot of high school and college kids," Shaffer says of his part-time summer staff. Those who want to stay during the rest of the year are put to work in other aspects of the business, he says.

Shaffer's will have a tent at the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival again this year, and the business also caters the Shenandoah County Fair.

"We've been doing barbecue at the fair for 54 years," Shaffer says. " ... It's a tradition that we've been keeping up."