Centennial Hills butcher shop offers alternative to prepackaged meat

The first of the month is always frantic at the Butcher Block.

That’s the day Butcher Block owner Ron Lutz waits for hundreds of pounds of kurobuta pork, alligator and other less exotic meats from the Outwest Meat Company, a valley distributor that caters to casinos on the Strip and a handful of area butcher shops, including Lutz’s newest location at 6440 N. Durango Drive.

Butcher Block’s northwest Las Vegas store , which opened last month after years of popular demand from regulars at the company’s flagship Rainbow Boulevard location, held its grand opening May 4.

Longtime customer Kelly Jerlucki was happy to find the Centennial Hills store open for business three days before its planned ribbon cutting and barbecue.

“We recently moved into the Summerlin area, so it works out great,” Jerlucki said. “It’s comfortable, it’s kind, they’re very helpful. They help me if I need help with cooking directions. ... It’s great.”

Al Restvedt, one of three butchers at the shop, welcomed Jerlucki with a smile. He has known her for years and said he expects they’ll see plenty of each other at the new location.

Restvedt is still shuttling back and forth between the two Butcher Block sites as needed, though the lifelong butcher, from Montana, suspects it won’t take long for the new location to demand the lion’s share of his attention.

“I’ve been a butcher all my life,” Restvedt said. “I tried for four months to get a job as a butcher and no one would hire me. The casinos got rid of their butchers . They’re getting everything prepackaged now . But Ron (Lutz) gave me a chance, and I’m loving it.”

The shop has already turned four new faces into returning customers at its new location, the kind of loyalty that Lutz credits to Restvedt and his five other employees.

Lutz, a Pittsburgh native who served as house butcher at Treasure Island before opening his first store in 2006, said customers drive from as far away as Utah to visit the Butcher Block, something he chalks up to old-fashioned customer service and a high-quality inventory.

“We charge a little more than other places,” Lutz said. “I’m not selling Outback Steakhouse quality, I’m selling Morton’s Steakhouse quality, and if it’s wrong, I’m going to flip out. I want it right. People don’t come in here and tell me their steaks were terrible . That just doesn’t happen.”

Kobe beef, the company’s most expensive offering at $120 per pound, is one of a dozen hard-to-find meats that the Butcher Block keeps in stock.

That variety is almost as important to Lutz as customer service, with kangaroo, buffalo and wagyu beef adding to an inventory that Lutz said helps set the Butcher Block apart from its competitors.

Perhaps it doesn’t hurt that his store also makes its own sausage and offers wild game processing to hunters and others who bring in their own meats.

It’s all part of the old-school reputation that Lutz hopes to cultivate at every Butcher Block location .

“I’d do another store,” Lutz said. “It’s hard to find the staff to do them anymore . You know butchers are sort of going by the wayside, but we’ll always have one on hand at every location.

“We’re doing all right. There’s a couple other guys that do their thing, but we don’t pay a lot of attention . We’ve got our own thing going.”

Contact Centennial and North Las Vegas View reporter James DeHaven at jdehaven@viewnews.com or 702-477-3839.