Butchie’s 50,000th

At the end of the night the count was 50,029; another 42 on the books — or plates; yes, most prefer plates when it comes to Butchie’s steaks.

At the beginning of the night that count stood at 49,987, only 13 away from the magic 50,000th steak that Butchie Terwiske has hand-cut, weighed, seasoned and seared over the past 24 years.

Averaging about 2100 steaks a year is pretty good for a place that only serves steaks two days a week.

“For one person to cut 50,000 and cook every one, I think that is a feat unto itself,” he says.

So Butchie decided it was a cause for celebration.

It’s not bragging. It’s just a fact and he pulls a paper from behind the 160-year-old bar — if bars could write this solid mahogany piece would surely pen epics — that holds a tally of every steak and how it was prepared.

“People ask ‘Butch how do you know how many steaks you’ve cooked?’ I have every marker for every steak,” he holds out the small sheet.

It declares in Butchies precise handwriting: 29,007 medium, 11,020 medium rare, 5,488 medium well, 2,491 rare and 1,984 well done.

“Total 49,987 all cut, seasoned & cooked by Butchie,” is handwritten across the bottom.

But before Butchie started down the path to 50,000, he and his wife Diane were the owners of a saloon. “The Golden Horseshoe” – Butchie loves horses – opened in 1966 on the same property in Dubois the current restaurant occupies. “When I started I couldn’t go in my own bar. I was only 20, so I had to hire a guy for a few months till I turned 21,” Butchie explains. “Frank Kluesner. He was a bartender at Brosmers at the time.”

Butchie and Diane operated the bar until 1989 when they began construction on what would become Butchie’s Western Saloon & Family Restaurant. “We just got tired of being open late and seeing the drunks stumbling around,” he said. “We wanted to close earlier and be home putting our feet up by eleven.”

In October of that year Butchie’s opened with a friend and national celebrity cutting the ribbon. A photo of the 6-foot 9-inch Larry Bird towering over Butchie and Diane’s family and friends hangs above the entrance to the restaurant. “He comes in a few times a year to eat. A lot less than he used to now that he doesn’t live around here,” Butchie explains, “He usually gets a pizza or a burger.”

Butchie formed a friendship with Bird and his family when Bird’s two brothers, Mark and Mike, played for Butchie’s softball team. “He [Bird] was the bat boy in grade school. Never said two words,” Butchie says, “They was poor as whippoorwills. We fed ’em. Diane washed all their clothes and fed them a lot of meals.”

Every meal (and steak) is cooked by Butch and Diane in a small kitchen in the back of the restaurant. “We thought we had plenty of room,” Diane says about the early days of the restaurant and rolls her eyes.

She is the maestro in the whirlwind of activity in the kitchen and Friday night is busy testing Diane’s orchestrations, but the ballet is one between familiar dance partners.

As people continue to pile in the door, Lori and Keith Keller from Loogootee, who were eating dinner and will officially be joining the restaurant’s staff in September, volunteer to scrub up and help with the large crowd.

The countdown to the 50,000th steak ticks by. “I have orders for two steaks,” Dawn Terwiske — Butchie and Diane’s daughter — smiles as she whisks by.

Another two steaks, then one, then another. And people continue to pile in. Friends that have been eating at Butchie’s every weekend for years and others that are just in the area on vacation.

Then Butchie comes out and congratulates Larry Hubbs, who is dining with his wife Lorie and friends Dan and Susie Kluesner, for ordering steak number 49,999. It’s a freebie tonight. “I was gonna order all 13,” Larry jokes, “but Butchie wouldn’t let me.”

A few moments later, Butchie returns and congratulates Brett Pund for ordering number 50,001. Brett is dining with his wife Allison and her mom Lisa Matheis (who is Diane’s sister). It is also a freebie.

Then the moment comes. The 50,000th Steak is The Cowpuncher, 15 ounces of mouth-watering masterpiece sizzling on the plate carried out by Butchie and set before Kerry Hayes.

Hayes splits time between his place in Wickliffe and his hometown of Hammond, Indiana. While he is at Wickliffe he eats at Butchies at least once a week and about every day when he is down here during deer season.

Hayes, who is retired, explains his time in Wickliffe and Hammond is based on his mowing schedule over the summer. He just happened to bring his wife Dixie and grandson Charles in on Friday to order the same thing he always does, The Cowpuncher.

It only took Butchie a couple thousand steaks to get the perfect cut, season and cook but 50,000 steaks don’t lie, he’s doing it right.

“I am pretty much old school and I want everyone out here to be happy,” Butch says. “I come out and follow up with about every steak that I make. If someone says their steak was okay, I’m not happy! I don’t want to hear someone say their steak was okay. I want them to say ‘That sucker was the best I ever ate!'”

Butchie’s is located in Dubois and is open daily at 10 a.m. until about 5 p.m. Monday – Thursday, except Tuesday when they close at 1 p.m. Home cooked dinners are served Friday and Saturday nights from 5-9 p.m. They are closed on Sundays.