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| - Went for lunch 7/26/17 and received warm greeting and door opening. Good start. The old Elephant Bar has been transformed into a spacious tables and side booths dining area, but lacks any hint of Brazilian decor or stains of Brazilian music--they can easily fix this and I trust they do. We'd never been to a Brazilian steakhouse before, so were not aware that there are no menu choices except if you just wanted the salad bar the price would be $14.95 (quite steep for lunch--$10 for P83 Entertainment District--we're not Scottsdale, and for that size of a salad bar and the all you could eat meat was $28.95. We're used to all-you-can-eat, choices galore buffets like Golden Corral where for less than $15 at the right time will net you freshly sliced steak, so the prices startled us, but we were there for the experience, which it was. However, maybe they could devise some mini-version for lunch; they could do it per piece like at a Dim-Sum restaurant where cards get punched per item. That would be such fun and add to a casual lunch-time atmosphere and differentiate it from dinner. We were walked through the salad bar (one large table and two side stations of black beans and rice) by an attentive staff member, which was nice, but it's a lot of info to take in and I'd rather have good signage. Everything looked fresh and were artistically arranged, but nothing was particularly unique except some generous slices of cheeses (btw, should be covered or they will dry out) one of which had a tangy bite to it and the hearts of palm.
Once seated, we were brought some warm cheesy rolls in muffin shapes with a texture like a chewy popover: very tasty! My friend ordered a bottle of Xingu Brazilian beer for $6--ouch!
Two little colored cards were on our table and we were told once we switch from the red side to the green, the meat would be brought to us. I was just having the salad bar, but my friend flipped his card to green and then the parade of meat began for him. Fresh off the barbecue rotisserie and still on the skewer came a variety of cuts ranging from filet mignon to ribeye to ribs, meat wrapped in bacon, meat coated visible garlic that was so aromatic it made me salivate, and so many more that I lost track. There were also pork ribs, sausage, and chicken. My carnivorous friend was in heaven with meat so tender he said he barely had to chew it. This was obviously top quality meat, perfectly prepared, and he enjoyed the participatory nature of looking at the cut of meat and deciding if he wanted a well-done or rare slice, and he had to use the little tongs to hold it while the server cut it to order. He was also brought side dishes of a sliced and caramelized plantain, and mashed potatoes (I was hoping for some roasted colorful mini potatoes since that seems it would be a good additional use for the rotisserie and in keeping with a South American cultural homage (their brochure uses phrases like "cultivating the tradition inherited from our ancestors" and being "proud to be a place where you can live and spread the culture of those who love the authentic tradition," so celebrating the heritage varietals of potatoes would be an excellent touch).
We are so glad we went to this very pleasant escape from the ordinary, but they need to add a little more atmosphere, and I wish they would institute the Dim-Sum approach for lunch as I proposed since I can neither eat enough to justify the cost (they are a great candidate for local coupons, Living Social, Groupon, etc. so hope to see them there, esp. to acquaint local residents to them) and I don't know many around here who could, esp. for lunch. BTW, staff member (oh, and they all worked together in effective and pleasant manner) informed me there is no difference for dinner, except the prices go up....
Good luck to them!
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