Texas de Brazil, The Invasion of the Chain Churrascarias in Fair Oaks Mall, Mount Vernon Square, and Richmond

[ol_ironstomach]

Seen in the American Airlines magazine: Texas de Brazil is opening a location in Fair Oaks this year.

Isn't there some sort of meta-rodizio signal we can flip over to mean "please stop bringing the Brazilian steakhouses, we're stuffed"?

[deangold]

Seen in the American Airlines magazine: Texas de Brazil is opening a location in Fair Oaks this year.

Isn't there some sort of meta-rodizio signal we can flip over to mean "please stop bringing the Brazilian steakhouses, we're stuffed"?

Ohhhh but Dave... where else could you possibly find such hidden wine gems as their two wines of the month.... Joseph Phelps Cabernet and Far Niente Chardonnay. Why this estblishment must be breaking new grounds in culinary and enological wonderment. But of course they will have 1000 times the customers that I ever will so what the f*ck do I know.....

[Baccala]

This will fit in well with the Italian masterpeice Macaroni Grill. People that support these places deserve the mediocrity the support.

[ol_ironstomach]

Ohhhh but Dave... where else could you possibly find such hidden wine gems as their two wines of the month....

Thanks for pointing that out. I totally missed that portion of their website because, for a while there, my ears thought I had accidentally wandered into The Limited.

Dean, Jake, Joe, Rocks, might as well pack it in, no need to keep searching. Grape perfection...they've had it figured out all along!

[eighty]

I ate at this chain recently when I was in Orlando. I'm not a chain fan at all, but it was good. All of the food was fresh. The sides & salads didn't come out of a bag, didn't appear to have been frozen, or prepared a week prior, as much chain food does. All in all, it seemed to be pretty good for the price and being a chain. The meats were okay. Some was great, some was not. The lamb was terrible. The chickens & filets were all excellent. There was also prime rib & pork. Sides on the table include fried banannas (just okay) and mashed potatoes (not Ray's, of course, but they are made in-house). The service was some of the best I've ever had. I've eaten at Citronelle, Charlie Palmer, Palena...some of the best places in town. Service is what this chain has. We have been whining about service on our foodboards for the past two years-well this chain has service. I don't know who trains the staff- but they are excellent. We had a table of 8. And the service was fantastic. The servers brought fresh plates as we tried new meats, they brought fresh napkins, silverware, you name it. They were not overly attentive, but they were always within eyesight if you needed something. Our drinks were replaced-not topped off with ice. None of this is easy to do with a large table.

[otello]

to those that have been to both: is this place better than fogo?

[jparrott]

I once ate in the Texas de Brazil in Addison, TX. People describe the service as "great"; I kinda felt the service was only "voluminous."

[DonRocks]

to those that have been to both: is this place better than fogo?

Having been to both once, my impression is no.

Last week, I took my young dining companion to Texas de Brazil, because he can still eat there for half-price:

Fogo de Chao: Under 5 free, 6-10 $24.75, Adult $49.50

Texas de Brazil: Under 6 free, 7-12 $21.49, Adult $42.99

At the host stand, they asked him how old he was, so unless you've plotted your lie in advance, your kid will rat you out.

We were seated and immediately hit with an attempt at an upsell: "Would you like a bottle of Saratoga water?" was the first thing we were asked.

Determined to eat as cheaply as possible, and to maximize the meat-versus-everything-else ratio, we made a cursory visit to the salad bar (these churrascurias love it when their diners load up on salad), and it wasn't at all bad. You can get a "light meal" here for something like half-price, consisting only of the salad bar, and might actually enjoy it. All sorts of things - charcuterie, freshly made salads, cheese, smoked fish (even a salmon sushi roll which was about the quality you'd find at Whole Foods).

Drinks are expensive - my Xingu dark beer was $6, and a bottle of Guarana soda was $3.75.

As for the meats themselves - they are extraordinarily, across-the-board salty. Our server mumbled something when we first arrived about being able to request salt-free versions, and now it made sense - I think all meats might be rubbed with salt before being roasted. Salt aside, Texas de Brazil featured the typical mainstream offerings, but I remember really liking the meats at Fogo de Chao, and I didn't care for these. Even the on-bone cuts (which I specifically remember favoring at Fogo) were neither tender nor flavorful. Interestingly, the only time I've had chicken hearts at a churrsacaria was at Green Field in Rockville, which has closed.

So my impression is that Fogo de Chao is more expensive and worth the upcharge.

Incidentally, on a Wednesday evening, Texas de Brazil was absolutely packed, with 150-200 people seated at one point. Lots of people are spending lots of money to eat lots of salty food here, that's for sure.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[Kibbee Nayee]

Sounds perfectly mediocre. I'm surprised you didn't wash it all down with a Cheesecake Factory dessert.

[Bob Wells]

Sounds perfectly mediocre. I'm surprised you didn't wash it all down with a Cheesecake Factory dessert.

There's already a Malibu Grill nearby in Fair Lakes. It sucks.

[DanielK]

As for the meats themselves - they are extraordinarily, across-the-board salty.

And still, less salty than they'd be if you had the same meal in Brazil. We've taken 3 Brazilian friends at various times to Fogo, Texas, and Green Field, and even when the meats were at the edge of what we could actually eat, they were still adding salt at the table.

FYI - Green Field, at it's best, was the one that our friends identified as the closest to what they remembered from home. But not just the meats - the feijoada and other sides were truly authentic. Fogo was a close second (though probably higher quality meats than they actually served in Brazil!) They didn't like Texas all that much, and thought Malibu Grill was no better than TGIF. Our Brazilian friends who lived 5 minutes from Malibu Grill would instead drive 45 minutes to Green Field.

[StephenB]

There are so many misconstrued assumptions on this thread that it’s hard to keep up.

To Don, I would say for credibility's sake learn how to spell churrascaria and then get rid of the naïve notion that one should avoid the salad bar to save room for the beef and thus bamboozle the establishment. Anyone who regularly patronizes these restaurants for reasons other than gluttony and bargains understands that the salad bar adds variety and balance to the meal. One would no more limit himself to the rodizio offerings than he would go to Ray’s the Steaks and have the onglet, the chateaubriand and the filet mignon, but no appetizer or dessert.

Daniel, Brazil is a big country, the area is equivalent to that of the continental U.S., and to say you know some Brazilians tells us nothing about their tastes. Where are they from? We had a window into this issue recently when the President visited Ray’s Hell Burger and ordered a burger midwestern style, medium well, which caused some in this region to guffaw. In short, there is no Brazilian taste any more than there is an American taste.

I don’t consider $6 for Xingu in a restaurant exorbitant. The dark variety is the richest beer I know. It’s nice to know it’s available here. I have looked for it at several liquor stores but have had poor luck.

It is true there are differences between the churrascarias here and those I know in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Florianópolis. When I took John C. Dvorak, the computer columnist, to A Jardineira in São Paulo, he practically collapsed when he saw the salad bar. “Pickled turnips!” he cried joyfully. Lobster and other delicacies were also laid out. I can hear Don saying, “No, no, save room for the picanha!”

There is probably a bigger difference between Brazilian restaurants here and in Brazil than between French places here and in France. That’s because the best French places here are top dollar while the Brazilian counterparts are not. The closest I have had to the Brazilian experience in the U.S was at Porçao in Miami. I have not been to Texas de Brazil (Texas do Brasil), but I have had some decent repasts at Fogo de Chão. I did not notice any particular difference in saltiness, but my time in Brazil is limited to the southeastern part of the country. In general, people from hot climates (northern Brazil) use more salt than those from more moderate regions (the south). Cada um no seu gosto (each to his own taste).

[Kibbee Nayee]

For what little it's worth, a genuine Brazilian foodie friend of mine told me this week that Texas de Brazil was head and shoulders above Chima's and Fogo de Chao. Just saying....

[bilrus]

For what little it's worth, a genuine Brazilian foodie friend of mine told me this week that Texas de Brazil was head and shoulders above Chima's and Fogo de Chao. Just saying....

That isn't a representative sample of the Brazilian population. You'd need at least 1,000 subjects in a double blind experiment. Come back when you're ready to present your findings.

[deangold]

That isn't a representative sample of the Brazilian population. You'd need at least 1,000 subjects in a double blind experiment. Come back when you're ready to present your findings.

Randomly chosen and then statistically adjusted to reflect the random sample density vs the actual population of Brazil. I knew that year of econometrics (I had to take it) and grad level statistics (I was infatuated with a girl in the econometrics class and she took the stats series, so I did too) would finally come in handy someday!

[Kibbee Nayee]

Randomly chosen and then statistically adjusted to reflect the random sample density vs the actual population of Brazil. I knew that year of econometrics (I had to take it) and grad level statistics (I was infatuated with a girl in the econometrics class and she took the stats series, so I did too) would finally come in handy someday!

Well, the Brazilian I cited in my last post was a rather cute young lady, so I am inclined to believe anything she has to say at any time about any topic. Is that econometrics...?

[DanielK]

Well, the Brazilian I cited in my last post was a rather cute young lady, so I am inclined to believe anything she has to say at any time about any topic. Is that econometrics...?

Depending on the scenario, perhaps econdometrics.

[JPW]

Well, the Brazilian I cited in my last post was a rather cute young lady, so I am inclined to believe anything she has to say at any time about any topic. Is that econometrics...?

Some things are more important than science.

[bilrus]

Some things are more important than science.

[deangold]

So photo shopped. There is no way Rahm Emmanuel can tell what is going on that would make him smirk so!

[zoramargolis]

So photo shopped. There is no way Rahm Emmanuel can tell what is going on that would make him smirk so!

That's Nicholas Sarkozy, not Rahm Emanuel--but they both are little short guys with bigtime cojones.

[DonRocks]

[Can you imagine what would happen to this website if I left town for three days?]

[The Hersch]

Texas de Brazil (Texas do Brasil)

If this chain is trying to be all Brazilly, why indeed "Texas de Brazil"? What language is that? French?

[DonRocks]

If this chain is trying to be all Brazilly, why indeed "Texas de Brazil"? What language is that? French?

You could always go and ask the "gauchos" who are serving you. Honest to goodness, that's what they called them.

Oh, sorry. "Gaúchos."

Perhaps you could ask this one (and I KNOW you're going to laugh the second you see this) ... click.

[Ilaine]

Incidentally, on a Wednesday evening, Texas de Brazil was absolutely packed, with 150-200 people seated at one point. Lots of people are spending lots of money to eat lots of salty food here, that's for sure.

Cheers,

Rocks.

Texas de Brazil has coupons for one meal half-price or one meal free for birthdays and anniversaries, weekends excluded. Also, this month (month of July), there are coupons for half off for every guest, Monday through Thursday. Not a bad deal, and no wonder they're crowded. (We got the coupons via email as registered guests.)

My sons are big fans of churrascarias. All the meat they can eat, what's not to like?

Fogo de Chao is probably better but it's always so crowded and so noisy. Texas de Brazil has easier parking, less jammed, less rushed. Not to mention more than 10% cheaper and you don't have to pay DC restaurant tax or valet parking.

We aren't wine connoisseurs so that's not an issue for us. Just the meat.

I much prefer Ray's, myself, but that's beside the point.

[cheezepowder]

Grand opening today in DC at 455 Massachusetts Ave, NW, DC (via District Cuisine, Texas de Brazil's tweet).

[MichaelBDC]

Let the sweating begin!  And not just from the gross, humid weather outside today.

[StarStraf]

The start of Grandma's birthday month (She turns 98 on the 24th) was dinner at Texas de Brazil.

We have been to a number of 'meat faucets' before (Fogo, Chima, and another in KC)
so knew what to expect and had decribed  to Grandma and she seemed excited.

We went to the one at 455 Massachusetts Ave, took a few passes to figure out where to put the car,  you have to go on I street to find the valet (which is really just a parking garage where they park for you) and walk half a block to the restaurant.

Started with Caipirinhas around the table, they really wanted us to get flavored ones but we went for original, mostly ice and small glasses, I've had better.

Salad bar was great, included cheeses, sauses for the meat, and much more then just salad.  Highlights were the roasted pinapple and fresh mozarella

The bring to the table sides of the cheese bread balls (good when warm, not when luke warm), mashed potatoes (nothing special) , and fried bananas (good);

The meats were good to very good and they were very accomodating with sending the meats we wanted or getting something more done for our pickey eater friend.  Leg of Lamb and Garlic Steak were the big hits on our table.

I think i have a prefrence for Fogo because the Caipirinhas and atmosphere are better.

Grandma report: A nice restaurant where she dosen't feel like she is imposing for having me cut her food up, I was able to just have them serve me and then would cut up and put half on her plate and she was able to mostly eat with fingers - she loved it.  The bathrooms are VERY Dark and were hard for her to navigate, the accoustics are tough to hear if there are any large groups around and the sun bounces off a mirrored wall and shines in your eyes while sun in setting.  
'This place is really ugly but the food is good, and those boys work very hard'