Why this Louisville steak flight is unlike any others in the city

Before the dinner bell rings and Louisville's hottest new steakhouse fills up, open the silver hinge of the backyard meat locker to find a smiling, apron-wearing Dustin Olsen.

He's happy alone and in the cold of this little fridge box, surrounded by a cleaver and handsaw and hanging chunks of beef carcasses and just steps away from his cowboy-meets-posh restaurant. Olsen opened Mill Iron 4, 1758 Frankfort Ave., in early February and it's already a top hit on the list of 2026 newbies to Louisville's restaurant scene. The butcher and pitmaster "got obsessed" with beef butchery during his time learning the cuts at Red Hog, regarded as the area's first craft butcher shop.

Now, Olsen could lead a steak school. To prepare staff for talking to patrons about Mill Iron 4's long menu of meats, he wrote a 32-page paper on beef.

And when Olsen and his friend of 10 years, James Beard Award semifinalist Noam Bilitzer, the chef behind MeeshMeesh Mediterranean, decided to open this Clifton neighborhood place together, they got to talking about how they love the idea of a steakhouse.

Mill Iron 4, 1758 Frankfort Ave., offers a spin on the food flight trend in the form of a steak trio. Pitmaster Dustin Olsen opened Mill Iron 4 in early February.

“But, we don't necessarily like going to a lot of steakhouses," Olsen told the Courier Journal. "So, we just made one that we wanted to go to.”

Part of Mill Iron 4's early success is a play on the rising trend of culinary flights. Searches for food flights were on the rise by up to 400%, in 2025, according to Yelp and local examples include a build-your-own deviled egg tray at The House of Marigold and the Souper Fecta flight at Crave Cafe.

Mill Iron 4 has its own upscale spin in the form a $129.99 steak flight, which features three 6-ounce samples of rare steak cuts, presented as a beautiful feast in a silver tray.

“I’ve personally never seen it on another menu,” Olsen said. “That's definitely interesting to go to a steakhouse and see something you've never seen.”

Mill Iron 4, 1758 Frankfort Ave., offers a spin on the food flight trend in the form of a steak trio. Pitmaster Dustin Olsen opened Mill Iron 4 in early February.

For the debut iteration of the steak flight, the lineup consists of three cuts sourced from Fischer Farms in St Anthony, Indiana. The display consisting of 18 ounces of steak is described this way on the menu:

• Oyster ❨also known as spider steak): Tender muscle tucked against the hip bone. Butcher's secret, silky texture. Mild flavor. Melts like butter.
• Zabuton: Name for Japanese tatami floor cushions. Beefy, heavily marbled steak from the shoulder.
• Toro: Well-marbled center-cut beef belly flank. Fatty, rich, and tender.

It's sort of a fancy show of what Olsen, teamed up with Kentucky farmers and ranchers, can do.

"I've been butchering for a long time now and I've had a million filets rand ribeyes and strips," Olsen said. "I'm just really after texture at this point. My idea was to give you three different textures on the same plate."

Mill Iron 4, 1758 Frankfort Ave., offers a spin on the food flight trend in the form of a steak trio. Pitmaster Dustin Olsen opened Mill Iron 4 in early February.

The steak flight has "absolutely” exceeded expectations, quickly becoming a best-seller at Mill Iron 4.

“It's insane,” Olsen said. “We probably sell 20 to 25 of them a night."

That makes Olsen a gleeful pitmaster, who has a passion for whole animal butchery and the Kentuckians he works with.

“I knew people thought it was going to be cool,” he said of the flight. “We didn't expect people to love it as much as they do, which is awesome."

The flight is just one of many darlings on the Western-themed upscale spot with nods to Olsen's family. The restaurant's name comes from his grandfather, Marty, who registered the Mill Iron 4 brand as a cattle ranch in Wyoming in 1947. And the sign beckoning people in from Frankfort Avenue goes to Olsen's dad, Dean. The moniker for Mill Iron 4 is modeled after one Dean Olsen's championship bareback bronc belt buckles.

“Both of them have passed now,” Olsen aid. “My dad was a really big part of my life. I honestly just wanted to carry on my family name."

And he'll carry on the steak flight game, as Olsen plans to change it up "indefinitely" every two months.

"Anybody can sell a whole bunch of tender steaks, but an interesting bite is kind of what I'm looking for," he said.

How to get a reservation at Mill Iron 4?

Mill Iron 4 is following in the fashion of MeeshMeesh, which Bilitzer opened at 636 E Market St. in September 2023 and was quickly dubbed one of the toughest spots in town to get a reservation.

As of late April, spots are "very limited at the moment" at Mill Iron 4, according to the restaurant's website. So, if you'd like to dine there, you might need to plan ahead. New reservations release daily at noon ET on OpenTable, 42 days out, for Thursday-Monday dinner service.

We featured MIll Iron 4's steak flight in the latest installment of our series, "Best Thing I Ate This Week." You can follow along by visiting Instagram.com/courierjournal.

Reach food and dining reporter Amanda Hancock at [email protected].