Here's How To Navigate Your First Visit To A Brazilian Steakhouse
NEWS
By SARAH VALLIE
Reservations
With their amazing food, classy ambiance, and welcoming atmosphere, Brazilian steakhouses are usually pretty busy, so you'll want to make a reservation.
Although most Brazilian steakhouses will take walk-ins if they can, the truth is it isn't always possible for walk-ins to get a table, so reservations are recommended.
The Menu
Many Brazilian steakhouses offer a range of rotating meats, such as chicken, steak, and other Brazilian specialties, so be sure to familiarize yourself with the menu.
They also often include a salad bar in the experience, which might offer gourmet salads and other charcuterie options, as well as sides, desserts, and handcrafted drinks.
Terminology
Steeped in Brazilian culture, Brazilian steakhouses often refer to themselves as a "churrascaria," or a restaurant that cooks meat using a rotisserie style of cooking.
Many serve their food "rodizio" style, meaning servers bring huge skewers of meat around and cut slices off right at your table by servers called "gauchos" or "passadors."
"Picanha" refers to top sirloin capped with a layer of fat, "alcatra" describes a large, long cut of top sirloin, "fraldinha" is flank steak, and "maminha" is a tri-tip steak.
Fixed Price
A "prix-fixe" or "fixed price" means that diners pay one flat price for their whole meal, no matter how much they eat. Most Brazilian steakhouses use prix-fixe pricing.
Often, kids eat for a reduced price, and sometimes kids under a certain age eat for free. There is often also a price difference between lunch and dinner, with lunch being cheaper.
Instructions
Most Brazilian steakhouses give diners a card that's green on one side and red on the other. Green indicates you're ready to eat, while red means you need a break.
If you tell your server it's your first trip, they'll go over everything you need to know, including instructions for using the card, coaster, or whatever other method they use.
