Texas de Brazil Churrascaria

You will NEVER leave hungry after a meal at Texas de Brazil Churrascaria; an exciting Brazilian Steakhouse located at 1011 Third Avenue New York NY 10021. Dinner hours start at 5:30 pm Monday through Friday and end at 10:00 pm (10:30 pm on Friday), 4:30 pm - 10:30 pm on Saturday and 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm on Sunday. We arrived ready to chow down at 5:30 on the dot and were escorted upstairs to our table by the friendly hostess at the front desk.
Our waitress Carla set us up right away with a couple of "ultimate caipirinhas"; Brazil's signature drink made with a unique sugar cane spirit and flavor options like traditional lime, passion fruit, coconut, strawberry and mango. I tried the traditional lime first which was AMAZING! (We were also persuaded (twist twist) to try the coconut (our favorite) and a combination coconut-strawberry and coconut-mango.
A beautiful 50 item buffet spanning an entire dining room was set up amidst beautiful flowers and lighting which we checked out right away. Highlights of the buffet include salad greens and plenty of toppings/dressings, a DELICIOUS gorgonzola and grapes salad, imported cheeses and charcuterie, steamed asparagus with strawberry sauce (really good!), imported olives, sushi, seared tuna, potatoes au gratin, refreshing pineapple carpaccio, portobello mushrooms and lobster bisque (amazingly creamy!).
As if anyone would have room for more, we then turned over our YES/NO coins on the table and the unique "Gaucho" experience began! Throughout our meal the team of carvers "(gaucho's) circled the restaurant offering us various meat options. Choices included filet mignon, filet mignon wrapped in bacon (delicious!), Braised beef ribs, lamb chops, garlic marinated picanha, Brazilian sausage, chicken breast wrapped in bacon, crispy parmesan drumetts, parmesan crusted pork loin, flank steak (my personal favorite), and a herb marinated pork loin. As long as your table coin is flipped to "green" the gauchos will bring you these yummy cuts of meat until you tell them to stop (turn the coin red). Each cut was moist, cooked perfectly and absolutely delicious! Accompanying the meal, the restaurant offers fried bananas with cinnamon and sugar, garlic mashed potatoes and cheese bread.
We literally had no room left but couldn't say no to dessert. We opted to try two of their signature desserts: the papaya creme and Brazilian cheesecake. Papaya Creme is served in a tall glass and quite simply the yummiest light mousse-like dessert. Brazilian cheesecake did not disappoint with a delightful layer of fudge on the bottom. Additional dessert options included chocolate mousse cake, key lime pie, carrot cake, caramel flan, creme brulee, bananas foster pie, pecan pie and coconut chess pie.
The Texas de Brazil experience can be all yours for $59.95 per adult (alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages, and dessert are additional). The price is $39.99 if you are just there to eat the salad bar. Children 2 and under eat for free, children 3-5 years eat for $5.00 and children 6-12 years can enjoy the meal for half price. Happy hour in the bar area is available to enjoy from 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm Monday -Friday offering amazing prices like $3.00 domestic beer, $5 Brazilian Caipirinhas, $5.00 glasses of wine and $7.00 martinis. For more information or to make a reservation please visit www.texasdebrazil.com or call 212-537-0060. You can search restaurants by location as well as these yummy churrascaria's are all over the country (Fort Lauderdale, Dadeland, Denver, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Chicago, Detroit, NYC, Las Vegas, Dallas, San Antonio to just name a few) as well as International locations such as Aruba and Trinidad. My recommendation would be to go hungry and try it all!