Ft. Wright butcher, Luis Gonzalez is a cut above the rest. After slicing off more than 500 competitors, in regional and semi-finals cut-offs, last week, Luis competed, in Nashville in the final round of the National Meat Cutting Challenge. The elite final round included only 12 butchers, one of which will cut away with a $20,000 grand prize.
“Luis takes great pride in cutting beautiful steaks and practices regularly for this competition,” says Managing Partner, Steven Youels.”
In 2010, Luis started working at the Texas Roadhouse. He’s competed in the competition nine years and made it to the final round four times. When he’s not working, Luis enjoys spending time with his wife and two children.
ABOUT THE COMPETITION
More than 500 meat-cutters compete in the first round of the National Meat Cutter Challenge, which takes place regionally, across the country. Each participant receives 30-40 pounds of beef, consisting of one sirloin, one filet and one ribeye to cut. Meat cutters are judged on quality, yield, and speed in this timed cut-off. The winner is the cutter who yields the most steaks, with the highest quality cut in the least amount of time. To assure the best, freshest quality meat, all cutting is done at a chilly 38 degrees.
Top scoring challengers advanced to the semi-finals and final competition held last week in Nashville, Tennessee. The winner of the national competition receives a grand prize of $20,000 and is crowned Meat Cutter of the Year at the Texas Roadhouse annual conference in Miami, April 19-23.
“At Texas Roadhouse, professional butchers, like Luis, hand-cut every steak in each restaurant,” says Dustin Scarberry, Texas Roadhouse Regional Product Coach. “This meat-cutting challenge recognizes the significant contributions of our talented butchers and we’re proud to reward and honor these individuals through this national competition.”
Each Meat Cutter is responsible for hand-cutting every steak served at their local Texas Roadhouse. In an average year, they cut about $1 million worth of meat and spend seven to eight hours a day cutting meat in the 35-degree walk-in cooler.
The National Meat Cutting Challenge is part of the Meat Hero program, created in 2001, to recognize daily efforts of Texas Roadhouse meat cutters. Meat cutters hand-cut each steak served at the restaurants. Their work is displayed in the lobby where guests are invited to hand pick their steak.
Based in Louisville, Kentucky, Texas Roadhouse opened its doors in 1993 and has more than 580 locations in 49 states and nine countries. The family-friendly restaurant is famous for hand-cut steaks, made-from-scratch sides, fresh-baked bread, and a lively atmosphere. In 2018, Texas Roadhouse was named one of America’s Best Large Employers by Forbes. Texas Roadhouse was recognized by Newsweek as one of America’s Best Customer Service restaurants in the Casual Dining category in 2019. For more information, visit www.texasroadhouse.com.
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