- Texas Roadhouse's meat cutters are truly 'the backbone of the company.'
- Meat Hero and Texas Roadhouse are hosting the National Meat Cutters Challenge, giving their butchers a shot at a national title and $25,000
- 2x national champion Daniel Rivera talks about how this competition and company has impacted his life.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
THE REGION'S TOP MEAT CUTTERS ARE COMPETING ON ICE FOR A SHOT AT $25,000, BUT THEY DON'T NEED HOCKEY SKATES OR STICKS TO SCORE.
TEXAS ROADHOUSE'S NATIONAL MEAT CUTTING CHALLENGE HIGHLIGHTS SKILLED BUTCHERS WHO WORK BEHIND THE SCENES AT THEIR RESTAURANTS.
"I started in the restaurant as a bus boy. Cleaning the tables and all of a sudden, [the] manager said 'I think you have what it takes to be a meat cutter, and maybe to be a champion."
DANIEL RIVERA IS A 2X NATIONAL MEAT CUTTING CHAMPION. EVEN AFTER WINNING $50,000 FROM THIS COMPETITION, HE SAYS HE'S REALLY NOT IN IT FOR THE MONEY.
"It's more about being in there in the final with the rest of the cutters, and I think the money is extra. We do this every day, and the more you do it, you get passionate about it and--once you compete with the rest of the cutters you can see the passion that they have."
"Each market across the country--there's like 68 of them--have a qualifier round."
FAUSTO MENDOZA IS A PRODUCT COACH FOR TEXAS ROADHOUSE. HE SAYS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE COMPETITION WERE THE MEAT CUTTERS THEMSELVES.
"These guys are in there, in a cold room, 34 degrees, every single day cutting hundreds and hundreds of pounds of meat. You know, hand-cut steaks every day it's like, how can we praise 'em? And they thought 'you know what, let's see who's the best of the best.'"
RIVERA HOPES TO ACHIEVE HIS NEW GOAL OF MAKING IT TO HIS THIRD 'MEAT CUTTING' FINALS.
"Every year you want to come back; if you don't make it to the next round, then you wanna come back, and that's what it feels like. And that's how I got into doing it every year, every year, every year, every year."
THE SEMI-FINALS AND FINAL COMPETITION WILL TAKE PLACE IN MARCH. FOR QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NATIONAL MEAT CUTTERS CHALLENGE, CONTACT TIFFANY VAN PELT AT 985-710-6515.
