‘Brazilian’
What do you do when combine Chipotle and Brazilian food in the city of Denver? Apparently a spot called Five on Black. It has the element of walking down the line to make an order, puts it all in a bowl instead of tortillas. Seeing as I and the world seem pretty bored of Chipotle these days, this seemed like a nice change of pace.
After a summer spent in beautiful Western New York, it eventually came time to return to Pittsburgh to finish out my MBA. Per usual, the first thing I wanted was meat, and lots of it. Without Korean BBQ or Fogo de Chao (that I know of), I turned to Texas de Brazil for my all-you-can-meat fix. Having never been to one of these, I expected much the same as any churrascaria. What I found was, well, yeah…that.
I have a confession and this may come as a surprise to all of you: I love Brazilian BBQ. Yes, I know it’s shocking that a menagerie of meat such as Brazilian BBQ could be one of my loves, but it’s true. Unfortunately, this isn’t an easy love. Firstly, it ain’t cheap like Korean BBQ, which is equally meaty. Secondly, I can’t go without eating an insane amount of food. Sorry, it’s just how I work at such things, which means my body usually needs a fair amount of recovery time before going back. But, when I saw a sweet Travelzoo deal for Libra in Culver City, at least my first problem with Brazilian BBQ was taken care of.
Occupying the courtyard that formerly contained NoHo Royal Garden is a place called Rain Forest Cafe. While I’m not sure how they were able to get away with using that name, I do know that the rain forest referred to is that of Brazil, so it should definitely not be confused with the more mainstream Rainforest Cafe. Claiming to be a Brazilian Churrascaria, I was certainly interested in what would be offered.
Thanks to @DanJacobs81 for the guest blog. Follow him today!
Meat is a religion, and M Grill in Koreatown is the reason I’m anti-Semitic against vegetarians.
A friend of mine had an e-mailed discount from Yelp.com, and with this firmly entrenched in his soon-to-smell-like-meat hands, I went with him and another friend to the aforementioned all-you-can-eat Brazilian churrascaria. Authentic Brazilian food in K-Town? This I had to see taste.
Once in every generation, a great new idea is unleashed upon the world. The steam engine. The printing press. Penicillin. All-you-can-eat Brazilian pizza. That’s right, that list of great ideas now has company and it comes in the form of Bella Vista, a somewhat new restaurant in Culver City. As if combining the awesomeness of Brazilian food with phenomenon of pizza wasn’t enough, Bella Vista took the combination one step further by offering it rodizio-style, which is basically the Brazilian version of a buffet, but with the added bonus that the food is brought to you, rather than forcing you to do actual work. Oh and all that only costs $12.99.
Ever since beginning my meat blog, Fogo de Chao in Beverly Hills has been in my sights. I’ve eaten Brazilian food before, but I have been told over and over again that Fogo is the king of meatiness. But it’s expensive. Like a fixed price of $56.50 expensive. But when Restaurant Week comes to town, that ridicu-price drops down to a more reasonable $44 bucks, including dessert. So for my first Fogo experience, I made sure to go during Restaurant Week and was amazed with what that price bought me.
As a child, going to a food court to eat was just about the greatest thing to do. I could get fries with a taco, maybe throw a slice of pizza on there and top it all off with a root beer float. Sure, it wasn’t a healthy place, but I was a growing boy. Most food courts have lost their allure since then, but the new food truck craze has given my old love of food courts a grown-up spin. Apparently the Miracle Mile loads up with food trucks during lunch, so when I was finally able to get there, I wanted to take advantage. A few trucks that I had been to before were there, along with a regular taco truck that was either reaping the benefits of these newbies or losing a lot of business to shiny and newer trucks. For the first part of my modern food court meal, I decided to try out Bool BBQ.
For one day of the year, unvegans all around will be wishing they were fathers. And if they are fathers, Father’s Day this year can be truly memorable. Texas de Brazil, the Brazilian steak house chain is offering a free dinner for fathers on Father’s Day. Of course some restrictions apply, but this is still a great offer for some delicious Brazilian steak.
Going to Bossa Nova is not the easiest dining experience around. This is nothing of their fault. I’ve never had any trouble getting a table or getting good service. Rather, it is the difficulty in deciding what to get from their textbook of a menu.
The possibilities are almost limitless, ranging from sandwiches to pizza to pasta to steak. And somehow this is a Brazilian restaurant. With so many options, they manage to have a good amount of unvegan food.
Since I was at a Brazilian restaurant, I decided to get the Picanha Steak. It is a special Brazilian cut that has never let me down. It comes from the “Hot from Bossa Nova Grill” section, meaning I also get plantains, rice, beans, yucca flour and salsa. Not bad for $15.99.
When my plate came, it looked almost perfect.