Walking into Rode Meats in Stafford Heights, you’re met with a cabinet full of fresh meat, a selection of pre-cooked take-home meals, and a smiling Ethan Johns.
The 14-year-old apprentice butcher has become the unofficial face of the butcher shop thanks to his energetic, educational and enthusiastic behind-the-scenes videos on TikTok.
“Heaps of people come in just to see me, some of them are asking for autographs,” he laughs.
When this masthead visits the shop on a weekday morning, Johns is stopped by a passerby as soon as he steps outside.
Ethan Johns from Rode Meats has become a viral sensation.Credit: Brittney Deguara
“Everyone around here knows who you are now,” the local man tells him.
Johns’ videos have amassed millions of views, putting the shop at the forefront of the #ButcherTok movement. A single clip of him making sausages, while showcasing his quick wit, was viewed nearly 5 million times.
“I’m 13 years old, but I’ve already got 35 years of experience,” he says in the video.
‘It’s all history from there’
The success of the channel as a whole, and Johns’ stardom, hasn’t come as a surprise to Rode Meats owner Patrick “Will” Burgoyne, who describes the teen as “outgoing”. But he couldn’t take credit for the idea to put him front and centre – that honour belongs to the boy’s mum.
“Ethan’s mum came into the shop one day and said, ‘Oh, when are we going to get Ethan in a video?’,” Burgoyne explains.
This came after he had offered Johns a job – the way Johns remembers it, he told him to “come in and get a job instead of just clowning around” while riding his bike to the supermarket.
“It’s all history from there.”
Since the account went viral – three of the most popular videos had a combined view count of more than 8.6 million – Burgoyne had noticed an uptick in customers travelling across the city to spend some money and meet the man himself.
“People are just coming from all over, travelling half an hour, 45 minutes, to come see Ethan and grab some food.”
Ethan Johns is a first-year apprentice at Rode Meats.Credit: Brittney Deguara
One of nine apprentices across Burgoyne’s four butcher shops – he and his partner also own Prestige Meats Fairfield, Yamanto and Mount Ommaney – Johns describes his favourite jobs as making sausages and cutting steaks.
“Look at that sucker,” he says while grabbing a piece of steak from the cabinet. “That’s probably my favourite steak, or even my favourite meat in the whole shop.”
With three years to go until he’s fully qualified, Johns will then decide whether he stays with the Rode Meats team or opens up his own shop.
A rare dream come true
Johns is working in owner Burgoyne’s dream shop.
“It was actually a dream of mine to purchase this store, because it’s such an iconic Brisbane butcher shop. Ever since I was an apprentice, I’ve always had my eye on this store [and said] if it ever came up for sale, I’d always do whatever I could to try and get my hands on it.”
Rode Meats owner Patrick “Will” Burgoyne.Credit: Brittney Deguara
In 2023, Burgoyne did get his hands on it, taking over the store from the previous owners who ran it for 43 years. The decision was also made at the time to keep the well-known name, rather than bring it under the Prestige Meats banner.
“Since it was such an iconic store, we didn’t touch it, I didn’t have it in me to change it,” he laughs.
The team at Rode Meats has 136 different sausage flavours on rotation.Credit: Brittney Deguara
In the past two years, Burgoyne has turned the shop into a buffet of affordable options, with the aim of catering for all tastes and budgets. From pre-cooked, vacuum-sealed family pies, made by the in-house chefs and freshly cooked steak and chips, to over 136 different sausage varieties on rotation and every cut of meat you can imagine, it’s all on display.
“We try and cater for absolutely everyone.”
The majority of meat is sourced from Tasmania, but cuts do come from other parts of the country. Without diving into politics too deeply, Burgoyne has an opinion on Australia’s lifting of import controls on US beef.
“Oh hell no. [Trump] calls it the greatest beef in the world, it just shows he’s got no idea about meat.”
The dozens of staff employed across Burgoyne’s four stores, however, know about meat. And with the help of Johns and the Rode Meats team, that knowledge is going viral.
And for anyone who recognised Johns from those viral videos, his message is clear.
“Don’t be scared to come down and say hi to me, because I’ll be here all week.”
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