Brazil Grill

10/28/09

What happened to this place?

by Agraf

I first visited this place in January’08 and loved it. The meats were delicious, the service impeccable, the ambiance inviting. Two weeks ago, I had one of the worst dining experiences ever, for the following reasons: 1. The meats were tasteless! Their bacon-wrapped items had just the taste of bacon to it. What a disappointment! I then tried their Mustard Beef Sirloin twice, and the first time I had to salt it to give it even the slightest resemblance of flavor; the second time I couldn't cut through it with my knife, as it was severely undercooked (not to be confused with "rare"). 2. They only had one guy bringing meats, so we felt very hurried; also, he was curt and impolite. Another thing: he would stop by the table next to us with just 1-2 pieces left on a skewer, give all of that to that table, and never come back to serve us the same selection. I don't think I had to tip him to favor our table over our neighbors, did I?.. 3. Our server opened a bottle of wine for us, and then disappeared forever to serve other tables. I'm not a high-maintenance person, but I don't like it when I have to pour wine for myself and my guest in a restaurant of such caliber. 4. They did not have their full menu of meats as they advertise on the website and on the menu. I suspect that some of the items might be seasonal, but I'd like to be informed of what they're out of right away.

Overall, bad service, which I can often tolerate in a restaurant if the food is good, but the food was bad, too! We got an impression that the place is severely understaffed and they’re trying to cut corners, but customers should not be victims of such circumstances for $32/dinner!

• Pros: None
• Cons: Bad food, bad service

09/19/09

Great Place

by Maile

The salad bar was very interesting, loved it. The staff were very pleasant and was always at your table with thier swords. The food was delicious and of course it was alot and we were overstuffed. Enjoyed our dinner and they actually joked around with us which made it a very relaxed atmosphere. We had a very nice time and we would go back again and of course the elder gentleman who came around and made sure everything was alright made it seem more enjoyable. This was our first time there and would recommend it.

• Pros: Good food and Good Company

09/06/09

What a great place!

by Marie Miller

I went to a similar place in Rio de Janeiro and must say that you can have the same or better quality right here in Portland.

They carve all those delicious cuts of meat at your table side and you can eat as much as you want. I was told that the owner is Brazilian and that he wanted his place to be as authentic as possible, but

the dessert menu lacked some of the typical Brazilian pudins.

Wonderful food, nice salad bar and of course that wicked Brazilian Caipirana.

I am telling all my friends about the fantastic dining experience I had there.

• Pros: Churrasco at its best
• Cons: Having a small stomach

08/28/09

Great Brazilian barbecue

by Charles Henri

Hello all! I like to write reviews and tell people what I think about a restaurant, bars, movies and other things. So here I am again and at this time I am going to talk about the Brazil Grill Restaurant.

I had a great night and I still am full of meat!! And what a meat.

The service was very good and the food wonderful. I loved the pineapple with cinnamon. The salad bar has some good choices, but I think it could be a little better.

The price for all I ate was incredible (thirty something dollars) comparing to other places, and quality is great. Sure I will go back some day and will invite some friends. It is a great place for parties or any kind or celebration.

I hope this review can help you in some way.

• Pros: Great service and food.
• Cons: Parking spaces

08/26/09

Great Service, Not So Great Food

by raeriva

We went out to celebrate a friends service in the Military and the one organizing the party chose this place.

When we first got there we were very happily greeted and shown to our table by whom I believe were the owners.

Since it was a surprise party of sorts, we had to sit at the table for a little while before the guest of honor got there doing nothing and they did not have a problem with this.

You start the meal off with the salad bar, which really is a caesar salad or plain lettuce with nothing else to add on it (aside from dressing of course). They also have an assortment of Brazilian salads which were interesting to try (chicken salad, rice salad, fruit salad for example). I read on their website that it was also supposed to have soups, but they did not.

Then the meat service started and the server came around with the meats skewered on swords, as advertised.

Honestly, the meat was dry, flavorless and I don't know if they know what a spice or marinade is back in the kitchen. Maybe they don't use them in the true Brazilian style, but then make sure the meat is juicy so you can at least get it down. They have a couple bacon wrapped meats (chicken and filet mignon) which, because the meat is so bland, end up being completely overpowered by the flavor of the undercooked bacon. I ended up giving a majority of my meats to my boyfriend (him also not enjoying it, but eating it to at least get our money's worth) only really liking the prawns which by the time they got to that stage I was too full to even enjoy (it takes a very long time to get through all the meats and they come almost dead last in the rotation).

Oh, and the grilled pineapple they rave about?

Maybe if you like hot pineapple soaked in sugar..

All in all I was very disappointed. When you pay $32 per person for just the meal you expect to at least enjoy it. If it wasn't for the great service I would have given this place a single star.

• Pros: Friendly waitstaff
• Cons: Dry, bland meats, lack of vegetables/side dishes

08/06/09

Fantastic Food!

by pepper1313

Great food, fantastic service, delicious drinks! This is a great place to go with friends and family. Be hungry! The food just keeps coming..... my favorite by far is the grilled pineapple... its christmas in your mouth.

08/03/09

Great Food

by 11222buck

Went with some friends, we had a great time! The wine list is great and the food was amazing!

Take an extra stomach with you!

• Pros: So much to choose from!
• Cons: Felt like thanksgiving day

08/02/09

Great Anniversary Dinner

by JackStx

My wife and I ate at Brazil Grill yesterday and in a word, divine. The food was an array of different meats that were juicy and flavorful. I'll be darned if I can remember the names of all the meats. My server was informative with the wine list and we loved the wine suggested to us.

We were there for our 11th anniversary and the manager knew that and came over to offer us a free dessert to celebrate. We thought that was especially nice.

The Brazil Grill did have air conditioning and even with front window doors open for the large party sitting outside, it was quite cool. The previous comment said they did not have A/C, which they obviously did and it was over 90 outside. Perhaps it broke during the recent heat wave.

Overall, a perfect anniversary dinner. It was an enjoyable evening and we will return.

• Pros: unique dining, good food and service
• Cons: Google map took me to wrong address

07/25/09

PLEASE turn up the AC!!! over 80 degrees in the restaurant!

by cmm503

The first thing they should do is automatically bring out a basket of bread... our waiter said they would come around with side dishes, but after 10-15 minutes of just meat we had to ask our waiter again... and then finally five minutes later we got one roll of bread for each of us, another ten minutes later we got one plate of some fried polenta and that was it for side dishes.

The biggest disappointment was that it was BOILING hot in the restaurant. Yes, today was a 91 degree day, but it was at least 80 degrees in the restaurant. For the prices they charge I would expect not to get sweat stains on my back and armpits. It was so stifling hot that we stopped eating early just to be able to get out of there. If the little hole-in-the-wall Nicolas Lebanese restaurant is able to afford to keep their restaurant cool in this hot weather, and only charge $10-15 for a meal, I would expect Brazil Grill to be able to keep their customers in comfort as well.

Needless to say we will not be going back, not at those prices and mediocre service.

• Pros: Good mustard sirloin, our waiter was nice.
• Cons: not enough side dishes, WAY too hot in the restaurant.

07/10/09

Wonderful experience

by Cindy3629

This is a restaurant that people come around and serve meats at your table on swords. I liked it a lot. I enjoyed the pineapple very much. The servers were great and for the price (32.00 per person) I thought we got a lot of food.

They were very busy but our service was top notch. I will return but next time I will take the next day off to sleep off my food.

Great place:)

• Pros: best pineapple in town
• Cons: weird neighborhood