"You're burning it, man! You're burning it!"

Some idiot (that's me) is yelling at Choya Phillips as he grills an 18-ounce rib-eye steak. I mean, the guy has flipped the steak, like, 50,000 times, and I'm convinced that steak — meant to be medium — is gonna be well done.

Phillips, 46, looks over, purses his lips and smiles. He's got this.

Phillips has been working at the LongHorn Steakhouse in the Rivergate area for 28 years; corporate bosses came to Nashville a couple of months ago to reward Phillips with a $2,500 check and a gold chef's jacket for cooking one million steaks.

He knows how to cook a steak. Sure enough, the ribeye is medium, pink with a hint of red, when I cut into it.

"Perfect," I say.

Phillips gives a small nod.

In today's restaurant business, it's rare for employees to work the same place for 28 weeks, let alone 28 years. What has kept Phillips there? Let's find out. Here are five questions for and about Phillips, The Man Who Grilled One Million Steaks.

1. One million steaks? Really?

Really, or so say the owners of the LongHorn Steakhouse chain. Our own math shows that means Phillips would have had to grill about 90 steaks per 8-hour shift to reach one million.

In fact, a LongHorn Steakhouse spokeswoman said, 90 steaks a shift is the company average for grill masters.

Longtime Nashville restaurateur Randy Rayburn — who never owned a LongHorn restaurant — agrees that cooks probably grill close to 100 steaks a shift.

There are only four other LongHorn grill masters nationwide who've hit the one million mark, the corporate spokeswoman said.

2. Why 28 years at the same place?

Phillips started doing back-room prep at the restaurant when he was a 17-year-old junior at Hillwood High School. His uncle was a cook at LongHorn and lured his nephew with $5.50 an hour - 75 cents an hour more than the teen was making at the Sbarros in Fountain Square.

Phillips never left, in part, because he said he feels like family at the Madison LongHorn.

3. Turning out for his mom's funeral

That family feeling was in full effect when Phillips' mother died of cancer in November.

More than 15 LongHorn colleagues showed up with trays of food for the funeral at Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church.

The restaurant's general manager, Tamara Jones, arrived with a Build-A-Bear that played Phillips' mom's voice when the bear is squeezed.

"I laugh and it makes me cry at the same time," Phillips said with tears in his eyes.

The GM also made sure Phillips had emergency money to help with the funeral and with taking care of his two children.

"Tamara has been a second mom to me this past year," he said.

4. What does Phillips like to eat?

Phillips really likes chicken and pasta, but he'll eat a steak now and then.

If he's grilling a steak at home, he puts salt, pepper and garlic on it. Or Lawry's Seasoned Salt.

5. His other favorite restaurant?

If Phillips has to eat somewhere other than LongHorn, he likes Silver Sands Cafe meat-and-three soul food restaurant, 937 Locklayer St.

Know anyone who has worked at their job for more than 30 years? Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com or 615-259-8384 or on Twitter @bradschmitt.

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