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Brazil Grill
Category: Restaurants Brazilian Brazilian [Edit]
1201 SW 12th AvePortland, OR 97255
Neighborhoods: Southwest Portland, Downtown
(503) 222-0002
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 5 pm - 10 pm
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
65 reviews for Brazil Grill
Review Highlights
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"The fries at the salad bar were also delish." In 24 reviews -
"Bacon wrapped filet mignon, por que no." In 4 reviews -
"the cinnamon pineapple was the star of the show." In 5 reviews
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65 reviews in English
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Review from Emilee G.
Tualatin, OR
2/29/2012
If you're a moral vegetarian, don't go here... in fact, if you're any type of vegetarian, don't eat here unless you want to pay 35.00 for a salad bar and some bomb cinnamon grilled pineapple (our 14 year old could have lived off this stuff. He just kept calling the server back for more!).
If you love meat, THIS IS YOUR PLACE! We took our son here for his 17th birthday, and he definitely made that 35.00 per person tab worth it. The meat just keeps coming! It's fresh, cooked to absolute perfection (although, perfection to me is pretty much raw. If you like your meat more well done, make sure to get the first cuts from the outside), and tastes absolutely amazing. The beef melts in your mouth, the mustard steak is to die for, there are three options that are wrapped in bacon (filet, chicken, and one other that I can't recall), and you can't go wrong with anything wrapped in bacon! The service was friendly and frequent. We had a different meat at our table every thee to five minutes. It was hard to say no when I knew I was getting full; I just wanted to keep eating and eating!
We went on a Tuesday night, and got right in to a big booth. Evidently, this is not the case on the weekend. Our server let us know that the weekends are pretty much full to the max with reservations, so walking in and waiting won't do you much good because you probably won't ever get in.
Our son claimed it was his "best birthday dinner ever", and I believe it! This place is awesome, and if you have a family full of boys like I do, you'll get your money's worth.
Next time, I'd love to go with a big group of adults on a weekend and see how crazy this place gets!
Brazil Grill rocks! -
Review from Valerie W.
Beaverton, OR
5/16/2012 1 Check-in Here
Where's the Beef!!??
Well aparently it's at Brazil Grill....and LOTS of it. But not just beef. Pork, shrimp, lamb, chicken, you name it....they have it.
Overall, here's my review....the salad bar...OK. More to choose from than I would assume but I had wished it was more like an actual 'salad bar.' i.e. lettuce and multiple toppings. Instead you get just lettuce with some strange dressing choice, hard boiled eggs, pasta salad, potato salad, black beans, two rice dishes, french fries, and brocolli salad. There were a couple different items I didn't recognize. It was so-so.
Next comes out your meat. Small samplings of just about everything under the sun. The chicken was super dry and non-flavorful. The sausage was a bit salty as were the prawns. My favorite was the serloin steak....very tender and pretty tasty. All the beef dishes were my favorite. Can't say much for anything else as I was not very impressed. The beef empanadas and polenta appetizers they serve were good however. Very flavorful.
All in all I would likely not come back here. 3 stars as the staff is great, but $34.95 is WAY too high for what you get here. I'm sorry, I can eat my money's worth so to speak but it was just not worth it. I can unfortunately get a much better meal elsewhere for the same price if not less. By time you add in your drink and gratuity I was pushing over the $50 mark. The restaurant is small and it seemed like everyone there including us were there to celebrate a birthday. Is this how they stay in business? I don't always like to nark on restaurants unless I just had a bad experience but the food here is not great...I'd certainly pay $20 or maybe even $25 but once you go past that mark I feel like I should be at a semi-swank Vegas buffet where I have more and better options. Meh. -
Review from Dave D.
3/28/2012
This was a fun experience. I would suggest trying it if you haven't ever been to a Brazillian Steakhouse where they come around with the various meats. The food quality was fairly good, but I wouldn't say great.
Like other reviewers mention, the pineapple is great. But who pays $35 for pineapple? The steaks were good, but not great. I enjoyed the filet mignon wrapped in bacon, and also the honey baked ham (with pineapple). I also really enjoyed the passion fruit mousse.
But I only gave 3 stars, because the meat wasn't super moist, and is it really a good idea to gorge ourselves with protein on this extreme? I enjoyed the experience, but don't think I'll be going back anytime soon. -
Review from Sadie C.
Portland, OR
3/23/2012
Brazil Grill might be considered fine dining somewhere in the strip malls of the midwest, but the lackluster variety of food, worst salad bar in town, and inability to split a check assure that I will never EVER darken their door again.
We went to Brazil Grill with a group, I arrived later than most. The lighting is dim, atmosphere is dumpy, salad bar is poorly stocked, and the service is second rate. I ordered a Jameson on the rocks (their variety behind the bar is disappointing). On inspecting the bill later, I was charged a dollar for the ice in the glass. A dollar! And with our auto-grat of 20% - we paid a dollar and twenty cents!! FOR ICE IN A GLASS.
I don't love meat of questionable origin, I don't love steam tables or unlabeled vats of partial solids at a salad bar, in fact, I don't love anything about this place. Not recommended.
ps Pineapple dish alone cannot save this review. But the pineapple IS alright. -
Review from L M.
Monmouth, OR
5/11/2012
We had a very fun and satisfying dinner. Fair warning - their parking lot is very small and full on Saturday eve. Each and every thing we tried was excellent. We finally figured out to leave our table set to green so we wouldnt miss anything. The staff were all polite, but our main server was awesome. She paid special attention to the kids to make sure they were getting yummy food also. Great time!
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Review from Emmalee S.
Renton, WA
1/21/2012
Are you a carnivore? Do you love eating juicy, tender, perfectly seasoned chunks of meat? If you are, you better get your heiney over to The Brazil Grill. My mother referrers to it as " The Hunk of Meat " restaurant. And I don't think there is a better way to describe it. The place is on the smaller side.... less than 40 tables. The lighting is low and the ambiance is on the swankier side. After you get seated, the waiter comes and takes your drink order. They have a full bar, wine, soda or water. Then it's time to hit the salad bar. I wasn't all that impressed with the selection or the quality. They had a pasta and a potato salad, a greek salad, some greens with veggies and maybe 2 other types to choose from. All of it seemed like it had been sitting out for awhile and was a bit on the wilty side.
But the salad bar is not the reason you go here. You go to this astonishing restaurant for the colossal chunks of meat that they slide on to a katana-looking knife and roast over an open fire. Ok, not all of their selection is giant slabs of beef. They offer shrimp, lamb, chicken, and sausage too. Everything I had was magnificent. Even when I thought I had taken my last bite, I couldn't stop myself from flipping that stupid little chip to green so that the strapping young man in the multi-colored vest would stop by our table and tell me about the scrumptious looking whatever-it-was on his roasting stick.
So, in short: If you like meat, EAT HERE!
P.S Save room for the brown sugar glazed pineapple. It's delectable!
P.S.S CAUTION: After stuffing yourself with that much protein, you may experience extremely vivid dreams. The waiter warned us and low and behold, it was true :) -
Review from Chad A.
2/27/2012 1 Check-in Here
Wow... 3.5 stars? This place obviously has consistency issues. Either way my experience was nothing short of amazing, so I guess my family and me were lucky.
First things first... no matter where you're from if you love meat or haven't had Brazilian BBQ yet then you're missing out, especially if you love MEAT!
The experience:
Well this place starts you off with one each of the following., but don't feel obligated to eat it if you don't want to: 1 delicious Garlic Roll, one Ground Beef Empanada, and one Fried Parmesan Polenta Stick per person. They will offer more rolls later on.
They also encourage you to go up to grab stuff off their salad bar. This of course is much cheaper than eating all that lovely meat. Don't feel obligated to eat off here, but if you do their food is all fresh and delicious. Just make sure your portion sizes on here are small. They had mostly Mediterranean options: Olives, Caesar Salad, Regular Mixed Green Salad, Tabouleh, Cucumber Salad, Quinois, Pineapple Rice, Meatballs, Stroganoff, a couple different soups, etc. You get the picture... just be careful and don't fill up on this stuff.
The Gauchos or servers with the skewers/swords will start coming to your table with the meat one by one. You will have a double sided disk that is red/green to tell the Gauchos whether to come around or not.
They brought: Marinated Shrimp, Chili-Lime Pork Loin, Marinated Chicken Legs, Bacon-Wrapped Chicken, Marinated Lamb, Black Forest Ham, Linguicia Sausage, Roasted Cinnamon Pineapple, Beef Tri-Tip , Bacon Wrapped Beef Filet, Mustard Marinated Top Sirloin, Top Sirloin and I'm not going to lie... I enjoyed like 99% of it immensely in every way and I'm a pretty discriminate diner!
Broken down:
Marinated Shrimp - I didn't have these, but my stepfather seemed to enjoy them having multiple rounds!
Chili-Lime Marinated Pork Loin - I loved this pork. My parents thought it was a little dry, but I didn't. I enjoyed it and could taste both the chili and the lime!
Marinated Chicken Legs - Seasoned and cooked perfectly. These are bone in FYI
Bacon-Wrapped Chicken - Ditto of above plus they arrived boneless and piping hot.
Marinated Lamb - This was the meat I didn't really care for. I found it to be way too gamy. I didn't personally like this one at all!
Black Forest Ham - Cooked perfectly and tasted delicious
Linguicia Sausage - Very good. A little spicy without being too spicy. Very flavorful
Roasted Cinnamon Pineapple - One of the stars of the show. It went with all meats, but especially the ham.
Beef Tri-Tip - Cooked medium rare, seasoned, and juicy!
Bacon Wrapped Beef Filet - Cooked medium well, but still tender and juicy, but not as good as you would think!
Mustard Beef Sirloin - Simply incredible. This meat was tender, juicy, well seasoned and cooked (medium rare), and you can catch the light mustard marinade on it!
Beef Sirloin - Tender, juicy, well seasoned and marinated, and cooked a perfect medium rare. I definitely had seconds! Holy Jesus it's hours later and I still feel like I have a food baby!!!
Service by the entire staff was impeccable! I think we left our server a little more than 20% including cash, which was well earned by all. Our drinks never reached below full.
You will want to call them to make reservations and preferably before 6 if possible.
They are only open for dinner and open at 5 p.m.
They have a full bar
Décor inside is modern and subtle with artwork giving a nod to Brazil. Seating comes in the form of booths and regular tables. The lighting is kept pretty dim, so if you're taking photos you'll need a flash to see the food!Listed in: Portland, OR
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Review from Kathleen P.
Beaverton, OR
3/26/2012 1 Check-in Here
This was fantastic. We had so much fun. Only reason for not getting the 4 stars, one of their gouchos, was more like groucha. She was a total grump, and completely avoided our table. And no, we weren't being inappropriate or anything. But she was the one that came out with all of the newest things, so it started to get pretty frustrating.
But, overall, it was fantastic. -
Review from Sprite D.
Vancouver, WA
12/24/2011
WoWsers! This is our new favorite spot to bring out-of-town guests to eat or simply to (occasionally) indulge in a meat-stravaganza.
What can I add that hasn't already been noted here? Well, my tip is... when the servers come around (and they keep coming and coming), you only really need to take a 1/2 portion. That way, you won't be so bloated when you leave! -
Review from Sean M.
11/3/2011
GET THE PINEAPPLE!!! Youll be so damn hooked on it you wont leave until you almost die from eating too much.
For me a lot of the meats were too salty. Dont get me wrong they were still amazing, and i liked most of what was put in front of me. It seemed most of the meat was cooked med rare, which is perfect for me. Salad bar is the reason for lack of 5th star. Disappointing...the salad was sub-par, and a lot of the food tasted like they stole it from Hometown Buffet.
Come with an appetite and a wheelchair. Maybe even call a cab to get home. Lots of food. -
Review from Well-Traveled I.
Sherwood, OR
8/22/2011
Meat...on...a...sword. Bacon-wrapped meat. Sausages. Polenta, meat pie, and garlic roll to warm-up plus a salad.
All in all, the meal was good; however, the price is too high. Eating a plate's worth of food, after eating the appetizers, doesn't really amount to that much. Someone mentioned the rare flank steak, but it tasted perfect; all other meats were well-cooked. Our waitress was very attentive. The only thing that's odd is while you are coming for the meat, the salad and veggie offerings were just OK. If I wasn't on a date, I probably would've eaten more, but I felt like a pig eating what was brought forward (which you can, obviously, refuse). For adventurous folks, they offer chicken hearts. ;^) -
Review from Ran B.
Upper East Side, Manhattan, NY
10/20/2011
I didn't like everything that was placed in front of me. Not everything - just most :)
Don't let the emptiness at the middle of the week deceive you, this place is great. Interestingly, the best were the caramelized pineapples. Not that the meat wasn't excellent, but the pineapples. I wish I had more too. For them. Yum!
Of the meat the best, IMO, were the sausages, followed by the bacon wrapped... Something. There were so many I can't even remember - I just sank into a depravity delightful food-gasm.
One word of advice - pace yourself. If you don't like something, leave it after the first taste. There are so many good things - don't stuff yourself full of things you like less.
Oh - and fast 3 days before :) you'll need the room. -
Review from Chiemi N.
11/5/2011 1 photo
I come to Brazil Grill at least once a year. Last night was my annual trip with friends. The first time I went, I was unprepared for the experience that awaited me. I had the strawberry lemonade, which is really good. I could get filled up just drinking the strawberry lemonade! Next, I had the salad bar. The salad bar is so-so. I had the empanadas and polenta sticks. By the time the meat started coming around, I was so full, that I was force feeding myself, and by the end of the night, wasn't feeling so hot!
So, I've learned from that first experience! I stick with water to drink, I only had a couple of things from the salad bar, the cucumbers in vinegar was really good and light. I got a small bowl of rice to accompany all the meat to come. I had one of the polenta sticks. I thought it was a little on the salty side, but my friends all seemed to like it. A lot. Then the parade of meat started to appear. Bacon wrapped filet mignon, roast pork, top sirloin, mustard glazed something or other, tri tip, lamb, shrimp. The top sirloin and shrimp were a couple of my favorites. The waiters come around with sword skewers of meat, that they carve off in front of you, and you grab it with tongs. There's a disc on the table that is green when you want them to come to your table, flip it to red when you are resting. Be warned that sometimes they will come to tempt you with some delicious meat, even if your disc is turned to red! My favorite is the grilled pineapple that they carmelize with sugar and cinnamon!! They have a dessert menu, but who needs dessert when there is the pineapple!!
All you can eat meat for $34.95...that is a bargain in my book! My friend that has been following a vegetarian diet, had the salad bar for around $13.95. Something for everyone! -
Review from Tyler A.
3/12/2011
The cheapest churrascaria ever! Well, I've ever been to thus far.
AMBIANCE
It's got the requisite cheesy fake flowers, etc. No exotic brazilians here ... too bad.
FOOD
DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT eat the bread and the polenta baton. This is a trick! Just flip the disk to green and eat the meat! You go to a churrascaria to get drunk on 10 different kinds of meat, carbs will just get in the way and ruin your meat-astic experience!
We went on a Tuesday night to get into a carnivorous coma. It was achieved with flying colors.
- Chicken drumettes - nicely golden brown and well seasoned
- Tri-tip - get the nice pink part, it's tender and juicy
chicken wrapped in bacon - this should really be turkey and the bacon should be only a single layer - skip it
- linguiça - have as many of these as possible. love love love
- lamb - OMG, never had lamb at a churrascaria before! It was really mild, not too gamey and super tender
- bacon wrapped filet mignon - again double wrapped bacon! The morsel of filet was too small anyhow and got overdone
- shrimp - not sure why there was shrimp... not ideal to cook the shiznits out of them but they was flame broiled. eat the skin, nice and crunchy!
- mustard beef - it taste like the yellow mustard on a hot dog or pretzel but it's really good on the beef
- sirloin - it's a classic go to. they did it well
There is a salad bar, it's full of stuff but all stuff that will fill you up. A bit of greens is all you need. But I am a total sucker for farofa so I have to go and have my black beans and farofa. Really fatal error but I do it every time! ARG! And the beets too. Damn!
SERVICE
Dude, the lady was on a mission. She saw the green and came seriously every 2-3 minutes she came by, we had 2 rounds of almost everything before we came to our senses and put up the red.
What was really lovely was that the caipirinha was super. Nothing better than eating 10lbs of meat and limey goodness. Waitress was super attentive - mind you it wasn't super busy but still, this never is the issue with slow service in PDX it seems :)
All in all, this joint hit the spot. We CRAVED meat and we got it, in many many doses. Chris T is saying pace, I say RACE! Eat all you can before your stomach tells your brain you are full. You gotta get your money's worth of meeeeeat! -
Review from Cody L.
Portland, OR
4/30/2011 6 photos
The only reason this place warrants two stars is the simple fact that we knew what we were getting into when we stepped through the doors. A meat heavy "gut buster" was our only option.
Lets start with service. This is the one are that they really excelled in. Our waiter was one of those people in the service industry that knows how to read tables. He knew how much to engage us and was always at the table within seconds of us needing something. We happened to be one of only three tables in the restaurant at the time, so that could have been a factor.
The drink menu was sad. Only offered a few wine selection and none were promising. I settled on a cocktail and it didn't deliver. I really felt like I got short-poured.
The food all sucked. It consisted of swords of various roasted meats that all tasted like they had been cooked hours in advance and kept in warmers. Lamb, chicken, pork roast, sirloin, bacon wrapped filet, prawns and a few other unmemorable items were all below average. The "salad and condiment" bar was equally a bummer. Frozen meatballs in marinara, various wilted lettuces and unflavorful dressings was basically all it consisted of.
Not recommended unless you have a craving for a ton of badly prepared meats. -
Review from Timothy C.
Portland, OR
7/9/2011
This place is awesome!
For anyone who enjoys sampling different meats at one sitting, this place is a dream come true! Plus the cultural ambiance is extremely authentic.
Also...... the salad bar is a wonderful surprise for anyone who doesn't wish to participate in carnal gluttony. The Quinoa salad was scrumptious and everything at the salad bar was well maintained and very fresh.
Now....about the star attraction....."The Meat":
Each offering was delicious! The service staff were attentive and our plates were never empty until we could stomach no more.
I tried every meat offered, and was impressed by the quality and preparation. The only meat that left me unimpressed was the skewered shrimp which were a bit overcooked and dry, but this didn't surprise me.
Not only will I recommend this establishment highly to friends and family, but will dine here again often in the future. -
Review from Chelsea B.
Portland, OR
1/9/2011
By no means would I say this is an upscale dinning experience. But sometimes you just want some swords of meat, brought continuously to your table by cheerful staff dressed as gauchos.
There is a good variety of meat. So much meat that I can't remember all of the varieties. Dripping with their savory juices fresh off the spit (drool). They also had grilled shrimp and pineapple, and a well stocked salad bar. So if you have reached your pre-heart attack quota of meat, Meat, MEAT then you have some options to slow it down a bit.
And for my friends who like to get intoxicated from more than just artery overload, they do have a full bar that pours some stiff drinks. And a decent wine list, heavy on the reds but of course. -
Review from Jaben C.
4/1/2011
The food was pretty decent. The lady who sat us was quite rude. Yes, I didn't get a reservation, but you had a table open? Why did we get a long speech and a glare before being told we could sit?
The salas bar was nice and I liked lots of the swords. All the bacon-wrapped stuff was subpar and not hooch. How does anyone make dry bacon?
Best sword for me was either lamb or pineapple. Not sure. Overall good, but 32 per person needs to be more than that. -
Review from Peter M.
San Diego, CA
9/10/2011
Atmosphere was cool and an awesome idea. Unfortunately did not go well. Most of the meat was WAY overcooked!! Especially shrimp, tri tip and chicken. Although the lamb, sirloin and pineapple were soooooooooo good. Very expensive but if the food was better I would have eaten more and it would have been worth it.
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Review from Elaine P.
Kates Corner, MA
Updated - 11/11/2011
I was there on a Monday night, so keep that in mind. I found the food to be dry. I will not be visiting this establishment again anytime soon. Maybe I hit it on a bad night, but there are so many other scrumptious restaurants in the vicinity.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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6/1/2011
This place is well organized, and yummy!! Yes, they are a bit vigilant about how much meat you… Read more »
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Review from Melissa P.
Portland, OR
6/15/2008 ROTD 9/18/2008
I believe that when cows die for my pleasure, their meaty spirits and tender loins arrive at Brazil Grill. Their select goodnesses are then grilled in the Churrasco tradition and then delivered tableside still on their spits by gaucho's, slicing it for me to pick up with my tongs then put into my belly.
It's meat heaven.
Rock salt grilled tri-tip, sweet lord.
Bacon wrapped filet mignon, por que no?
Top sirloin, dios mio.
Cognac marinated chicken legs, yes.
Cinnamon roasted pineapple, put a fork in me and call me done.
Basically, you pay a chunk ($32/person) for unlimited Brazilian salad bar, then you pick and choose your meaty yumyums as the gaucho's stop by your table, ferrying their wares. It's like a constant stream of food coming to your table for you to say Yay of Nay to. Unlimited amounts.
The service was a bit slow when it came to the bill and initial drinks. But when we turned our table disk to green (they give you disk to turn to red or green when you're ready for the onslaught) the gauchos come arunnin.
The dessert, passion fruit mousse = holy shit, words can't describe. (Transcending from meat heaven to fruitty heaven, to eventual sleep heaven). -
Review from Martin F.
Oregon City, OR
9/3/2010 1 Check-in Here
This is my second experience of a Churrascaria - the first one was that big chain that includes a location in Vegas. I was a little nervous about taking some friends and my wife here for their first encounter with this style of dining after reading some of the reviews here. We really enjoyed the food that was served and I will not hesitate going there again for one of those once-in-a while special occasions with friends.
We arrived a little before 7pm on a Friday night. We had reservations but they weren't needed this night.
The salads that were there were very good - nothing soggy about the Caesar, the other sides were tasty. The number / variety of salads compared with that other place is the main reason that I am going 4 stars instead of 5.
Other reviewers have complained about soups not being there. In our experience, the black bean soup that was there tonight was one of the highlights of the night. They had other hot side dishes at the salad bar that we didn't try - we came for steak, who wants to eat meatballs?
The meats were a little on the salty side,but I think that's to be expected for Brazilian food. As for "done-ness", with the exception of a tri-tip that was so rare that I thought I could still hear it mooing, the beef we had was served medium / medium rare, which is exactly the way I like it. Some of the meats were even more cooked, but I did not choose to have those. The chicken was cooked completely but never dried out. The sausages were very tasty. Be prepared to enjoy the "bacon-ness" of the selections wrapped in bacon - you will certainly notice it.
The service was good and friendly. It is the other reason to rate it 4 stars instead of 5 - I think I asked for the famed pineapple 4 times before it finally showed up.... Once it arrived, we all agreed that It was definitely worth the wait. Fortunately it wasn't as long to get the second round of pineapple delivered.
Everyone had their own favorites - the lamb, chicken in bacon, marinated chicken and bacon wrapped fillet Mignon were the choices for "favorite of the night" of the four diners at my table.
I thought the iced tea was spectacularly well done, my friend didn't like it because it was unsweetened.
My wife thought the Capirianha was very good (at $7.50, I'd hope so - but I know I'm out of touch with the cost of cocktails at restaurants) .
I'm not sure if they are new (I don't remember reading about them in earlier reviews) - the plates of fried polenta with Parmesan and meat filled empenadas that just "showed up" at the table were a great completer to the experience.
Everyone had a great time, no one walked away without having had all the food they wanted. Everyone thought their food was good. We stayed around chatting for about 20 minutes after our meal and there was no rush to settle up the check and get out of there. It's a place I'll go back to take friends who have not been to one of these before to share the experience. Because of the price ($32/person) perhaps not very often. -
Review from Dave M.
Portland, OR
4/9/2009 ROTD 7/13/2009
DUDE.
It's Meat....served on a sword! A very good friend of mine and I simply call the joint MOS (for Meat On Swords).
The gist is, a small army of dudes dressed like gauchos walk around with varying cuts of delicious, savory, fresh seared meat. You have a little plastic disk that is red on one side and green on the other. If you have the red side up, they walk buy your table and don't stop. If you have the green side up, they stop and offer you some of the deliciousness that makes a rainy day seem like July. It's not just beef on these swords, but also chicken, pork, shrimp, a really tasty empanada, and my absolute favorite: grilled pineapple. ALL ON SWORDS!
I've never been to Brazil, so I can't claim I know what a REAL Brazilian Grill would be like, but I can tell you that there is MEAT on Friggen swords here! If you watch "worlds greatest Barbecue" on the food network and salivate, you will LOVE this place. I am not one to fall for a gimmick, in fact I generally find them offensive and obtuse. It must be the caveman in me, but for some reason being served meat on a sword makes me happy!
If you are a vegan, you probably hate me and this restaurant. I'll let you go on enjoying grilled tofu and bean sprouts, just so long as you don't firebomb the Brazil Grill. Coolio? -
Review from Michael F.
East Haven, CT
2/17/2008
I am surprised to see the negative comments and relatively low rated reviews for this excellent restaurant. I think most folks either don't understand the concept of a Churrascaria, or their expectations are out of wack. With that said, I've been to several high end Churrascarias and several traditional and authentic ones, both across the country and in Portugal and I base my review in comparison to those experiences.
Service was excellent! I was there on Valentines day, the place was packed (actually had forgotten it was even valentines day so didn't have a reservation) and they were able to accomodate us. It was kind of funny however because I was there with an old buddy and I'm pretty sure everyone thought we were gay. Anyways, waitresses were right on top of drinks, including water. Bus staff offered to exchange our plates several times which is not typical at a Churrascaria. The meats were there right as our plates were set down and didn't stop coming all night. They also came back a few times with our requested favorites.
The only reason for not getting 5 stars was the meat selection, it was good, but not great. All of the steak variety were perfectly cooked and flavored to perfection. The sausage and chicken wrapped in bacon were also very good. Beyond that I was only mildly happy with the others. The pork was a generic pork roast, and would have been nicer flavored with some parmesan. The roasted pineapple glazed with brown sugar was phenominal, and a dessert in itself. I enjoyed my favorite Brazilian drink, the Caipirinha, which was excellent.
Definately don't go by the existing reviews, this is a great restaurant. -
Review from Joe M.
6/18/2009
This is truly a meat lover's paradise spot. Sure, it is pricy and can get packed, but it's certainly worth coming at least once a year to be spoiled. I made reservations for my birthday dinner which the hostess was very accomodating. Even when we showed up and our party shrank from 6 to 4, they did not mind. We started off with the salad bar which is kinda small but has a lot of good quality items to choose from. There is a tablet on our table which has green on one side and red on the other. You flip the tablet over to green and the magic begins!
The servers are all dressed up and carry with them swords of meat and flesh. They promptly cut the meat in front of you and plate it. Once they leave, a few minutes later, more servers with swords arrives. After about 10 minutes, you will have a plate full of the most delicious, moist, and flavorful meat. We flipped the tablet to red so we could enjoy our meal. The drinks are pricy but they are very good. I heard the long island ice tea is strong so you do your money worth.
The service was pretty good throughout the evening. The servers made sure we sampled everything they had. My favorites were the cinnamon grilled pineapple and the bacon wrapped lamb. They made sure we tried that since it was one of their favorites. I must of had at least 4-5 plates of meat since it was so good and addicting. They are only open for dinner and there is no happy hour. This is certainly the place to celebrate for a special occasion and splurge. If you show up when they first open, it won't be packed. It is also a great way to enjoy the food freshly cooked from the grill. That and if you do have a large group, you will be seated right away instead of waiting a long period of time. -
Review from J B.
Gresham, OR
1/26/2011
Went there with a large group for my birthday. The food was good, not outstanding, but good. The service varied widely: our table waitress was great but many of the "gauchos" were just rude. We had long delays between visits by a gaucho, and often times only half of our group would get served at a time. We asked several times for specific items to be brought back, which never happened. They only gave bread to about 3 of the 12 people at our table. So we didn't really get to have a "gut busting" experience. The price was WAY too high for what we got. I'm glad to have gone there once, and I will be interested to try other places like it in other cities, but I doubt I'll ever feel the need to go back to the Brazil Grill.
PS - the pineapple truly was amazing -
Review from Mike G.
5/12/2009
We have been here quite a few times! I LOVE Brazil food....We have a favorite Churrascaria (Spelling!) in NYC that is the best! This one was outstanding when they first opened ( a great Chief from Brazil was brought in!) It is good but the food seems a bit rushed when being prepared and with it being kind of cramped inside you don't have much privacy.
People will find it on the expensive side (it is!) but look what you get...It is better than paying for your food to look like art with very little substance!
I would give it a 3.5 star rating from all of our experiences here so far! Service can be good and bad......
Try it if you LOVE meat! -
Review from Emily Elizabeth S.
Portland, OR
The food here is ahhhmazing. The mustard marinated beef something or another was so good and I hate mustard.. they made me magically like mustard -- thats pretty impressive.
The fries at the salad bar were also delish. The waiters (the ones actually slicing the meats) took a shine to us and were at our table every .5 seconds and it was awesome!
The pineapple with cinnamon & sugar was also to die for.
I choose this place as where I wanted to go for my birthday and everything was perfect up until the last 10 minutes.
The waitress whose only job was to refill drink orders.. came by with our bill which had an added gratuity and she REFUSED to split it for us. She even said, "I'd be happy to bring you a calculator so you can do it yourself." are you freaking kidding me!!? The bill was almost $300 did she really think one of us, we are clearly poor looking college kids, was going to pay for it all!? Since my friend and I have both been waitresses before we gladly denoted on the bill which party had what -- and the waitress still refused to do it.. she kept saying there was no way to split up the mandatory gratuity.
Finally she stormed off to deal with the bill -- which is her job!! As someone from our party was exiting the bathroom she heard the waitress say to another server, "Can you bring them their bills -- I can't even look at them!" Um.. cardinal rule of waitress-dom.. you don't talk shit about people until they have paid & left! duuuuh. needless to say I wrote something nasty in the tip line and if I ever go back for the delicious food-- I will refuse to be served by that hiiizoe. -
Review from Uyen T.
8/21/2009
I will never go here again!
Terrible service! At times we felt like we had to beg for food. With the amount of money we were spending, we shouldn't have to feel like beggars for food. The meats served tended to all taste the same. Some of the meats were dry and tasteless. The salad bar was nothing to write to mommy about. Don't go in a large group - they will pass you on their way to serve smaller tables.
On a positive note, the pineapple is amazing!
Take your money to a place that cares about their customers! You can find a better restaurant in this price range. -
Review from Orian I.
7/30/2010
I'd give it another half a star. it's some where in between.
I went here when it first opened oh so long ago, and thought it was quite tasty. I dunno if my food experiences have just gotten larger or the quality has gone down. either way i just wasn't that impressed.
This is like a more expensive all you can eat buffet, it's a gut busting good time but nothing was really "WOW" well except the pineapple, that was fantastic. the caipirinha was very tasty, not sure the price point is quite there but it was good.
so onto the food, what i remember from long ago was that the salad stuff was more extensive and there were sauces, the black beans looked like they should be good but i was left feeling flat and the pork inside was painfully dry.
The meats: bacon wrapped chicken, dry and no distinct flavor, cognac chicken, over cooked with only a slight hint there was any added flavor. shrimp like rubber and overly seasoned. bacon wrapped fillet well cooked nice and pink in the middle but again, no flavor, no delicious mmm meat flavor. tri tip, was ok, the lamb was probably the best out of the meats.
once again, the pineapple, oh holly molly that stuff if good, i had probably a whole one to myself. the apps of empanadas with sirloin were very tasty hot and fresh as were the little fried polenta stick. i should have just stuck to those and the quinoa salad honestly.
we ordered desert, ya, i know, well their deserts are ridik. like huge! the red Velvet was for several people it wasn't a slice it was a literal whole cake, very tasty though. i had key lime pie which wasn't bad, the passion fruit mouse really was the winner in this though.
I think this place is more of a touristy trap more than anything. So, I think if you want a whole bunch of slightly mediocre meat this is where you should go. -
Review from Julia P.
Chicago, IL
5/14/2010
Sometimes a gal just needs to pig out. What better than an all you can eat meat place to satisfy cravings. I am used to paying $50 per person at churrascarias so the $31.95 price sounded like a steal. Then I saw the pathetic salad bar and thought perhaps you do get what you pay for.
The quality of the meat was a pleasant surprise. I also liked that they serve grilled pineapple. The waiters were good about bringing all the meats to our table.
Overall, I enjoyed my meal. I know where I am going to go the next time I get a meat craving. -
Review from Kitty P.
Portland, OR
9/1/2008
I saw this documentary about how common kidnappings are in Brazil. It's a super big problem. Apparently it has become quite formulaic too: target, observe, snatch, demand money, cut off an ear, demand, cut off another ear, receive money, release, repeat. There are some phenomenal innovations going on in Brazilian surgical ear constructions.
Maybe it was my Docs-n-Socks date that made it all a "please let this just end" experience. It seemed like a commitment that I'd wished I hadn't made, but then once made, I had to try and maximize my investment (and it's a pretty big one, financially speaking).
I found that I wanted the MAMSOW's (Model / Actor / Meat Skewer Offerer / Whatever's) to slice me off a piece of whatever they were packing, whether it was extra tasty or just big meats on sticks. But I can't stop thinking about those poor kidnapping victims ears.
Probably fun for a big group (that doesn't discuss the merits of Linux and their favorite episodes of Battlestar Gallatica the whole meal...sigh).
Wackadoodle! I just realized I wrote another review about something Brazilian tonight too - check out the um "spa and beauty" section. -
Review from Kara T.
Portland, OR
10/24/2009
Save your cash...spend it at a place that actually gives quality cuts of meat and service with a smile. Sure it's a cool experience to talk about, but at the end of the meal when you get your check, you realize that this is gonna be the first and the last time you will dine here.
The servers will actual pass you over, when you make a request for more of a certain item it takes them forever to bring it out and there's a lot of moments where you just sit there waiting for what they will be serving you next and they give you tiny little portions!!
Go somewhere else. Not worth it. -
Review from Snow M.
Portland, OR
Updated - 8/2/2009
My folks took me here the other night in celebration of me losing my job. Ever do that? Go out and party when you get laid off?
It was meat-tastic, meat-opolis, not a single veggie passed my lips. I was sloshed after three Caipirinhas. I was a bloated, staggering beach ball of happiness when we left. Small downside, the A/C wasn't working right Friday night. It was hot in there but after the second Caipirinha, I really didn't care.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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7/27/2009
~Looking at the ceiling and trying to remember~
I think Beth and I went here on her last trip, yeah… Read more »
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Review from Henry Y.
1/26/2007
If you're hungry....REALLY hungry, indiscriminately hungry, and willing shovel large quantities and varieties of meat that all taste nearly the same (except for the ones wrapped in bacon which are a little saltier), and money is no object, then this place may suit you.
The salad bar was the best part of the meal. Beets, Hearts of Palm salad, Quinoa salad were among the better salad bars I've been to.
But the meat, (this is a Charasco) made me reconsider my carnivorous ways. Pork loin was tasteless, the flank steak nondescript, the lamb was tender but also tasteless. The meat comes fast and furious because they come to your table and cut it right off the stick it was impaled on while cooking it. I think all the meat was not the best grade, and none of it was marinated it seemed. Just lightly salted and plain. I couldn't hack it. I believe something was heavily doused in MSG because my mouth still tingles the next morning.
Surely the fancy and fun brazilian charascos that you see advertised in the in-flight magazines are grades above this one. This was like all you can eat sizzler grade meats for nearly $30 a head. I'd rather spring for a Today buffet.
Service was good and pleasant. The meat men were all funny, peddling their wares, so at least it was entertaining. -
Review from Lily S.
5/4/2009
I think if I were into eating copious amounts of different kinds of meat I'd be into it, but...um...I wasn't.
They had a pretty good salad bar, except for I felt a little queasy afterwards.
For our friends that were there, they looked like they were thoroughly enjoying the experience and the meat - and for that, it's great!
But for someone who doesn't really eat meat on a regular basis...it wasn't really the place to be. -
Review from Max P.
Portland, OR
2/11/2009
I went here with a bunch of friends for the first first time, and I wasn't too impressed. There was a great variety of meats (pro) and the salad bar was good (pro). But a lot of the meat was either dry (i.e. sasuage and chicken) or really rare (con). I actually thought the best dish they had there was the grilled pineapple with cinnamon...i had a few slices of that! but other than that...i just got tired of eating the meats.
I usually can eat a lot, but when we all left....my tummy wasn't all that full, nor was my wallet ($$)..my friends and I most likely would not come back again. -
Review from Marc W.
8/22/2010
We ate here with another couple. It's a nice looking restaurant, pleasant ambiance, gauchos quickly hopping from table to table with their swords of meat.
The food was good, but nothing to rave about. The tri-tip, lamb, bacon-wrapped filet bites and pineapple were amazing. The ham, shrimp and other beefs were OK but not stand-out worthy. The chicken legs and bacon-wrapped chicken were dry, and I didn't like.
The salad bar had a few tasty items, but again, not stand-out worthy (even the Caesar salad seemed to be missing garlic flavor).
I had been to a churrascaria in Las Vegas and that was amazing... the meats and side dishes were exciting to my palette. So I am comparing to this.
I think for the experience, it was fun, but if you want to impress with amazing food, look elsewhere. -
Review from Chris G.
10/19/2009
I have to admit that I had a bit of a bad attitude coming into our night at the Brazil Grill. It was one of those "we got invited to a big group dinner, but essentially our only menu option starts at over $30/head" deals. For those of us who dine on a budget, this is not a good start to any night.
However, I was pleasantly surprised by a few things at the Brazil Grill:
(1) Our server was extremely accommodating of our big groups (20+). She set up as many separate checks as we wanted without blinking.
(2) The salad bar was much better than I had expected for a place that specializes in slabs of meat. There were some really nice and unique options. I could easily see a vegetarian surviving there (my pescetarian Sister-in-law did OK). I know that I could have easily filled up on salad bar items if I hadn't shelled our for the main course.
(3) Roasted Cinnamon Pineapple ... *drool*
On the minus side, I did feel like I was passed over several times when there were new and exciting skewers coming around. I felt like I had to flag people down half the time. I really enjoyed about half the meat (the Chili-Lime Pork Loin was amazing), but there was some that was pretty mediocre. Most of the beef was a bit bland and extremely rare. I'm a medium-rare fan and I think that the most cooked piece of meat on most of the beef skewers might have been medium-rare.
Like many of my reviews, this was a 3.5 star experience. If you had asked me the day after, I would probably give it 4 starts (with the tipping point being our server). It's now been a few weeks since our visit and after comparing to other restaurants, I thing 3 stars is more appropriate. -
Review from Maggie and Chad T.
Portland, OR
10/14/2006
This place is very interesting.
We went with a medium size party & kids but the service was still pretty good. Its an experience the way the serve but the food was just alright & fairly pricey for alright food. Beverages are spendy & small so stick with water by at least try the traditional Brazilian beer ~ its funky!
I wouldn't go again but I'm glad we went
