LongHorn Steakhouse Holds An Annual Grill Master Contest With A Hefty Prize

A great steak is always waiting at LongHorn Steakhouse, served alongside seasonal sides. It's the ultimate date night and family dinner spot, with a striking menu, big portions, and an ambiance modeled after the movie "Urban Cowboy." But the most impressive thing about the restaurant is that you could have your steak cooked by a master who bested 3,000 of their coworkers in an annual employee grill competition known as the Steak Master Series. The winner gets the title of Steak Master Champion and a $15,000 prize. LongHorn employees who enter test their skills in four rounds of head-to-head grilling competitions as well as written tests. They only get a study guide to help with each round and don't know what they'll be grilling ahead of the competitions.

The Steak Master Series is year-long subject of employee conversation, according to Robbie Rutherford, Vice President of Culinary & Beverage Operations for LongHorn Steakhouse. It's an event that brings the staff together and underlines the restaurant's dedication to grilling up a fantastic steak.

The 2025 Steak Master Champion is Kansas City resident Tim Crain, from the LongHorn Steakhouse in Independence, MO. He's worked for the chain for over two decades and won the title after eight years of entering the competition. "Each year he got a little better and understood more about the unwritten portion of the contest, which is the intense pressure competing against really good people. He had the ability to block out everyone and everything around him and just do his job really well," Rutherford said.

LongHorn Steakhouse launched the Steak Master Series in 2016 to fine-tune quality of the steaks being served to customers. It was also a way to sharpen employee skills and recognize those who were going above and beyond, or "consistently putting in the time and effort to be experts at their jobs," as Rutherford put it. The first year of competition didn't have a high turn-out, but that changed once word about the $15,000 prize got out.

"After that first year, our team members saw there was money to be made, and there was a huge sense of pride in bringing the title of Steak Master Series Champion back to their restaurant," Rutherford said. "Fast forward to today, Steak Master Series is such a big part of the LongHorn culture that we typically see every grill cook in every restaurant enter the competition."

You're getting the best-ranked steaks at LongHorn Steakhouse cooked perfectly thanks to this competition, no matter what you order – the ribeye is a customer favorite – and employees benefit as well. Multiple champions or finalists in the contest have gone further in their careers afterward, like becoming managers.

"Managers want someone from their restaurant to win the competition," Rutherford said. "It's a great sense of pride for not only the Grill Master, but their entire team. What started as a competition to increase our ability to grill steaks correctly has become a huge culture driver that encourages long-term retention and enables career growth for our heart of house team members."