| rev:text
| - To start, this review almost didn't happen, because we almost walked out of the restaurant. This review might be long, but worth reading if you want to know what you are getting yourself into.
We came by Samba around 5:30 to ask about a later reservation. We were asked to return at 8:15.
8:15 comes, and our table was not ready yet. That's fine. We play some slots, kill some time, then check in again about 15 minutes later. Still not ready. We are eventually led to a back room in the restaurant.
We grab seats and are given menus. We already had chosen what we had wanted, due to the waiting out front to be seated. 20 minutes later, no one has come to even give us water. It's now a full hour after our reservation time. Only difference is, we are now an hour hungrier! Husband sets a timer on his iPhone. He says, "when this hits two minutes, we're walking."
At one minute and 50 seconds, a bus boy walks by, and circles back to talk to us. Maybe he sensed our hungry anger? He asked if we had been helped, and immediately brought us water. He told us our server was Roxanne/Roxanna, and she'd be right over.
Not long after, the same bus boy comes back to our table, bringing a waiter with him.
James would be our waiter for the remainder of the meal, and he really saved the evening for us. He was pleasant, sweet, and apologetic about us getting lost in the shuffle. I'm big on when stores/restaurants/whatever can step up and admit they messed up, so that helped.
We placed our order. Husband (who is also Brasilian from Brasil) and my brother order the rodizio for $40 each. I don't eat meat, so I went with the lobster tail.
First thing to come out was our pão de queijo, otherwise known as "cheese bread", and some sort of crackers. Pão de queijo is pretty amazing, but the one here had some garlic going on inside? It wasn't quite right. It was good, but wahhh I wished it was more traditional. If that makes me sound like a brat, so be it. It's a Brasilian BBQ restaurant.
Along with the bread came some vinaigrettes/sauces. One was a pico de gallo, the other was a phenomenal garlic vinaigrette.
For appetizers, we ordered the beef empanadas and the coconut shrimp. Both were delicious. The shrimps were HUGE!!
Before the meat came out, you are given a plate of salad. A lot of time actually passes before you get to have your meat. I'd suggest skipping appetizers to speed up the process. It's almost like they're trying to fill you before the meat comes, but since you pay so much, you feel some sort of obligation to eat a ton of meat anyway, and walk out feeling like a fat tick about to pop.
The salad is okay, but it is already mixed and has a heavy dressing on it. Most Brasilian BBQ places have astounding salad bars, but not here.
After the salad, all of the sides came out. Rice and black beans, plantains, creamed spinach... All really delicious.
The meats started rotating, and my lobster tail came out.
Again, all was good.
So other than the weird pão de queijo (round cheese breads), all of the food was great. The service in the beginning was wretched. For the price we paid, we could think of at least a dozen other places we'd have rather spent our money.
So while the food WAS good, we'd still not return.
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