Brazeiros Churrascaria (Brazilian Steakhouse)

About a week ago, Laurie and I had the opportunity to join a group going to Brazeiros Churrascaria in Knoxville.  While I had eaten at this type of restaurant a couple of times before when traveling for business, Laurie had never had the opportunity.

We thought that the exterior of this large restaurant was quite impressive…attractive too!  Brazeiros is described as an authentic steakhouse from Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil.

For those that have never visited a Brazilian Steakhouse (Churrascaria), the dining experience unfolds as follows.  Once you are seated, the waiter or waitress will tell you about the large salad bar, (the first course), then the sides that will be available at your table are described…and then you learn about the green and red coasters…the ‘go’ ‘no go’ meat signals.  Green side up…Bring on the Meat!  Red side up…Give me a Break!

This interior photo gives you an idea what the interior of Brazeiros looks like.  The restaurant is big but it has a warm and stylish feel to it.

There is no menu per se… This is a fixed price restaurant and the cost of dinner for the salad bar, sides and the meat is $33.50 per person.  This is quite reasonable, especially for someone who loves meat as the meat and sides keep coming as long as you want.  Of course, the salad bar is available for repeat visits as well.  Beverages and dessert are extra.

This is a view of the salad bar.  This 4-sided bar was nicely stocked with all types of fresh and tasty items designed to wet your appetite.  I’m a total carnivore so I didn’t spend too much time grazing… I limited myself to a couple of hearts of palm, two artichoke hearts and 6 or 7 fresh asparagus spears.  Laurie tried a wider variety of the available items…with positive feedback.

In addition to the 3 items I chose, some of the other available options included 3 or so different green salads, an apple salad, Italian salami, Manchego cheese, tomatoes, potato salad, tabbouleh, olives, beets and fresh Mozzarella.

Now this is the core of the operation.  These Gaucho Chefs roast the various meats on these skewers in a specially designed cooking unit. 

So, what meats are available at Brazeiros?  How about Picanha (prime portion of sirloin); bacon wrapped Filet Mignon; Alcatra (top sirloin); Fraldinha (bottom sirloin; Cordeiro (leg of lamb): Costela de Porco (pork ribs); Frango (marinated chicken legs or bacon wrapped chicken breasts; Linguica (pork sausages) or; Costela be Boi (beef short ribs)

Note: the sirloin cuts and the leg of lamb are served thinly sliced from the skewer…maximizing the flavors for the diner.

This is Claudia, our waitress for the evening.  She was very nice, efficient and patient too.  She kept us well supplied with drinks and sides.  

The sides that came with the meal were: caramelized bananas, garlic mashed potatoes, warm cheese bread (little muffins) and crispy polenta.  Both the bananas and the polenta served as palate refreshing tools between the various cuts of meat.

This is one of the Chef Gauchos…presenting a skewer of Picanha, (prime sirloin), to our table.  This is Brazeiros most popular cut of meat.  We could see why…it was very flavorful!  So, all we had to do is leave our ‘stop and go’ coaster or marker green side up and the gauchos with their skewers full of meat would just keep coming…

We tried most of the 12 meats/cuts of meat that were offered.  I didn’t try the Beef Rib…must have just missed it.  After the Picanha, my second choice was the Fraldinha (bottom sirloin) with the Filet Mignon coming in a strong 3^rd.  Laurie agreed with me for her first choice, (the Picanha), but the Cordeiro (leg of lamb) came in second for her.  I wasn’t crazy about the pork ribs, the sausage was a bit bland for my taste…and I skipped the Frango (chicken), although we were told by others that it was delicious!

The good news is that no matter what your taste is, if you like meat, you will find at least a couple of items on the skewers that you will really like!

Laurie and I decided that since we were at Brazeiros, we should go all the way and try dessert.  This is the Brazilian Flan…very nice indeed!

One of our friends went with the Key Lime Pie.  It was very tasty and the presentation was classy too!  Other available desserts included Papaya Cream, Cheesecake, Crème Brule and Chocolate Eruption Cake.

This is Renata and Zenzen… They’re from Brazil and they own Brazeiros.  They are eager to please their customers and they do work hard to ensure that the food and service is upscale without being too formal.

Brazeiros Churrascaria is open for lunch Tuesday through Friday and also on Sunday.  Dinner is served daily.  The restaurant is located at 6901 Kingston Pike in Knoxville Tennessee.  Phone: 865-247-0295.  Website: www.brazeiros.com.

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for visiting! 

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave