'Grill Master Legend' — This Steakhouse Chain Employee Has Cooked Over One Million Steaks

You might think you're good at your job, that you're valued and appreciated for the projects you complete and the accomplishments that you earn, but have you ever been named a literal legend by the company that you work for? LongHorn Steakhouse has a reputation for honoring its employees with the title of "Grill Master Legend" when they have cooked one million steaks throughout their career. That's right — one million steaks. Whether that happens at a single LongHorn location or several doesn't matter, but a chef must cook exactly that number of steaks to earn the acclaimed title.

In 2023, long-time Ohio LongHorn Steakhouse employee Tony Behrens cooked his one millionth filet, thus earning him a spot on the exclusive Grill Master Legend list. Behrens had been a LongHorn employee for over 26 years when he received the honor. While he moved among several locations in the Ohio tri-state area throughout his career, he never lost that spark for grilling mean steaks, such as Flo's Filet, aka the best LongHorn Steakhouse steak, according to our taste test. To commemorate the massive accomplishment, his LongHorn location surprised him with a celebration that gathered his coworkers, friends, family, and even executives from the head of the LongHorn Steakhouse brand. Behrens was awarded an honorary golden chef's jacket and a giant-sized $5,000 check.

After cooking more than one million steaks, Behrens is so skilled at the job that he told ABC's WCPO 9 broadcast that he can "tell the temp of a steak just by touching it." Indeed, his employers noted that Behrens is a talented chef whom customers often ask for by name. "On my downtime, I'll go out and talk to [the customers] ... treat them as family," he told the broadcast. With seven digits' worth of grilling meat under his belt, Behrens knows the ins and outs of the restaurant like the back of his hand (such as the unlikely ingredient that makes LongHorn Steakhouse steaks so delicious, according to Reddit). Committed to his craft, he said that he plans to cook "a million more."

LongHorn Steakhouse's Grill Master Legend distinction is exceptionally rare and has only ever been awarded to 24 other people aside from Behrens — among the many things every first-time LongHorn Steakhouse diner should know. A few of the other chefs who have achieved the accomplishment include Gayle Dudley of Georgia, who earned the title in 2022, and Simeona "Simi" Tamaseu of Florida, who earned the title in 2019. Each chef receives the same distinction and prize upon reaching one million steaks, though the paths to grilling and chilling are likely different for each recipient.