Brazas Brazilian Grill

I am not sure what people go to Brazas expecting, but we love it. We eat here 2-3 times a year and have never had a bad experience. The staff has always gone out of the way to be helpful. After having pineapple for dinner one trip we were looking for it at lunch a few weeks later. When they didn't have it planned for that lunch they told us to give them about 15 min and they would make one just for us which they did. This is not fine dinning like Chima , nor does it cost as much as Chima. It is a great family or casual way to enjoy the experience. One note for those confused about the Indian food... If you don't like it, don't eat it. It is an option if you choose to try it. more

After reading some of the reviews here, we were tempted to contact Groupon for a refund and skip the place altogether, but we decided to go ahead and check it out for ourselves -- and I'm glad we did! We actually wondered if we were at the same place the other reviewers have just slammed! We were there this past Saturday evening around 7PM. True, there were just a few other tables occupied on the Brazas side -- but Namaste probably had a dozen or so tables occupied. We were greeted and seated quickly by a very friendly staff member and then given an orientation by a gentleman who was very clear about the way things worked. We ordered a couple of cocktails and went up to the buffet. There are a lot of salads to choose from -- very fresh crisp romaine and tomatoes were our personal choices with a little taste of the more than 10 prepared salads they were offering. Everything looked fresh and tasty. They also had several hot Brazilian dishes -- I particularly like the chicken with the mushrooms and the fresh chopped and satueed spinach -- as well as a great Indian buffet on the Namaste side of things which was also included in the price. Nice and savory/spicy Indian food in our opinion -- and lots of meat and vegetable dishes to choose from. Then the meats started to arrive, served by a very friendly (and my wife says to add ""handsome"") man, who learned our preferences and gave us great suggestions. The top sirloin was our favorite from the 10 types of meat we were offered, which included everything from lamb to filet to chicken to alligator — and the pineapple was delicious too! My wife prefers her meat a bit more done — and the waiter didn't hesitate to bring her whatever she wanted and just the way she wanted it. Yes, there were a few things I personally didn't care for -- like the polenta and the beer-marinated chicken -- but not because of the way they were prepared. Isn't that the point of a buffet anyway? Try a bit of everything and accept that fact that you'll like some items more than others? Bottom line, we had very wide variety of choices on the buffet and a never-ending opportunity to enjoy meat in all of its incarnations. What's there to complain about? At $27.95 per person for dinner on a Saturday night, I thought it was both an adventure and a bargain — and we would definitely recommend Brazas to others. We have also eaten at Chima and other variations on the Brazilian steakhouse and felt Brazas was just as good (and in some ways better) at a much lower price. As far as the location of the restaurant and the interior go, Brazas was easy to find, clean and modestly decorated. Yes, it's in a strip-mall sorta building at Independence and Sharon -- but there's nothing ""sketchy"" about it. As far as the images in the video and photos are concerned, prior to the economic downturn, Brazas opened up another location up in Mooresville in a very upscale building -- the photos are from that restaurant, which sadly couldn't survive the financial crash. So the food was great, the service was great, the experience was great. My only regret was that I didn't pace myself and ended up too full too soon. Next time, I think I'll skip the Indian buffet selections and leave more room for the top sirloin, bacon-wrapped filet and parmesan chicken. YUM!! more

Last evening I had dinner with a friend at Brazas and having been to Chima and other Brazilian Steakhouses I was expecting the same experience; well....I wrong. Upon entering the sketchy multifaceted building (the website pulls a great Houdini, whoever took the pictures should get an award for transforming that place to attract patrons via the web) which I found out hosts both Brazas and the Indian restaurant Namaste, I felt like I was in a bad horror film. The place was eerily empty where only 2 other tables were occupied during our time there. Being blunt, this restaurant is decorated in early f@$!....as Professor McDoogal says in Van Wilder. Just not an appealing decor. Moving on down the line, the waiter, who reminded me of a ventriloquist dummy with a pull chord, rambled off the whole Brazilian steakhouse spiel like a robot. It was hard not to laugh at his monotone and disengaged attitude. There were only three people working in this restaurant for service. And it seemed like the nicest server (Indian fellow) was working both restaurants. At this point, I had been thinking as long as the food is good, I'll be content in my decision to come here. They offer a starter course which consists of a hot/cold food bar with various salads, pasta salads, plantains, and some questionable chicken and beef with vegetables. Both my friend and I had bit into the beef and chicken pieces and I'm not quite sure what cuts of meat this was, but it wasn't very edible, half of it was gristle. Having just a few bites of the Caesar salad, I was done with that part of the meal. As I previously mentioned, I have been to multiple Brazilian steakhouses and all have been great. Because of my previous experiences, I figured that the churrascaria meats would be on frequent rotation, again, I was wrong. As other members commented, the quantity and frequency of the meats are very low. As far as the cuts of meat, I think they need to reevaluate this to an extreme. On their website, they say they offer around 10-12 cuts of meat. Well last night they had the following: Pork Ribs, Top Sirloin, Filet wrapped in bacon, Pork Tenderloin, Sausage, Lamb, Chicken wrapped in bacon and Deep Fried Alligator. I asked for beef ribs and they said they don't offer it during the week. I didn't bother asking for any other cuts, because they kept coming around with the same meats so I figured after getting told ""no"" to the beef ribs, that there wasn't going to be anything else that I wanted. The sad part was that the top sirloin was the best meat that they had. All the meats except the sirloin were cooked to the point where it was extremely dry which was disappointing. I'm not quite sure how this place stays open. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone unless you want to spend $30 being creeped out eating dinner. Otherwise, don't bother. Its definitely worth the extra $15-$25 to visit Chima and have yourself a great Rodizio experience. more

I don't think a Brazilian owns this restaurant, because no self-respecting Brasileiro would serve this food and call it ""Brazilian"". We went on a Saturday afternoon for lunch. When we called to ask if we needed reservations for 1:00 pm, they said, ""No... but we're usually full around 1:30."" We were there from 1 until 2 ... there were no more than 15 customers in the place. The dead boring quiet of the place, the un-appetizing, non-Brazilian salad bar, the slow service... all of this could be overlooked if the meat were good. But it wasn't. We were offered 2 types of beef, an Italian sausage, chicken served 2 ways, and pork loin. The meat was always too rare, too well done, and two little in quantity. It was sad getting your tiny piece of beef, eating it in two bites, putting down your knife and fork and looking around the restaurant to see all the other customers doing the same... everyone looking around wondering how long it would be until they get their next bite of food. When we complained about the slow service, it appeared that a manager started serving meat alongside the lonely waiter... but that lasted about 3 minutes... then he went back to leaning on the bar. But maybe eating less at this place was the best thing for us... the beef (when you could get it) had a slightly rancid taste. At $50 for 2 meals and 2 drinks, we felt totally ripped off. more

The food was o.k. Nothing unique except how they served the food. Plain tasteless sausage, regular chicken wings and rice should not count as Brazilian food. The buffet had 5 choices 3 veggies and 2 dried out meats (and this was at the beginning of dinner time). I was told the meal was around $15, but what they didn't tell me was that was without the buffet. With a drink my bill came to about $25.00. Not worth it at all. Also don't be fooled by their website pictures. The place was out dated and dark. more

\r ""love it... love it... love it...visually lovely, food plentiful and delicious...probably need to be a meat eater to get the best experience...service attentive, pleasant and knowledgeable."" \r \r Pros: Meats the best part.. Cons: Good more

The staff was very freindly and on their main sign it states LUNCH, DINNER 9.95 14.95. Now, one would assume that lunch is 9.95 and Dinner is 14.95. NO, it is not. Lunch is 9.95 w/o buffet and 14.95 with. Needless to say, very suprised to be charged 60 instead of 30.\r The food was o.k. Nothing really unique except for the presentation, but that's all brazillian restaurants. They did not even have the red/green card. You had to tell them yes or no, which is not very polite with you mouth full. Two meats (chicken, beef) were wrapped with bacon (how amazing) and I don't think plain old sausage and chicken wings should count as brazillian food. Pros: Friendly Staff Cons: Lying billboard prices, ordinarry cuisine more

What a great place, especially for family or friends! Everyone leaves happy and full!\r The food is like nothing you can experience elsewhere and the staff is friendly and helpful. more

100$ lunch for no variety in the buffet and flavorless meat!NEVER going back there!The beggest doubt was,is it indian or brazilian???? very strange. more

The worst place I have ever eaten. The staff were friendly, but the whole place seemed shady. Just a couple people in there at 6:30 Friday night. My date was so disgusted at the quality of the food, we had to finish our meal at another location. I could go on and on, it's not worth writing. Don't eat here. Pros: I know not to ever eat here again, That count? Cons: The food more

""I Ate myself into a coma! Great food and staff!\r ""I Ate myself into a coma! Great food and staff!\r ""I Ate myself into a coma! Great food and staff! more

First time dining at this restaurant 6/25/08 and what a wonderful experience we had! The food is excellent and the service is wonderful. With the waiter carving and serving fresh cuts of a variety of meats (beef, pork, lamb, bacon wrapped turkey, quail, etc) at the table it is very hard to pace yourself, but you should definitely try to do so because you don't want to miss out on anything. Everything we had was cooked and seasoned to perfection. I can't wait to go back! My only advice is to eat lightly at the salad and hot bars (a challenge because these are great, too) so you will have room to try a large variety of the main entree options. Pros: Excellent variety and unique serving style more

My Fiancee and I had been debating for several months on if we should eat here, but after spending 2 days painting my future mother-in-law's house we decided we deserved a reward. We were surprised to see on the Brazas website there was a location close to us in Mooresville. We got dressed up and drove 30 mins only to find out that the location was closed. We figured since it was Friday night and we hadn't been out in a while to drive to the Charlotte location which is another 45 mins. After being told how the process worked and looking forward to eating rabbit and ostrich (per the website) we got basic food that we could have gotten at any steakhouse (chicken wings, flank steak, sirloin, etc.) When we asking about the more exotic foods we were told that the menu rotates that there is no guarantee that the more exotic foods will be served. Then we were told by someone else that those items are no longer served due to food prices, and on top of it all we were charged a ""weekend"" dinner rate which was 2.00 more than the posted website price (24.95). The food was ok, but it definately was not worth still tasting it the next morning. So overall, this was a big letdown and no one at the restaraunt seemed to be too concerned about the discrepancies. Pros: Service was great, but that was about it. Cons: Food, price, discrepancies on website. more

This is my first review of any restaurant, but felt I had to save someone from the experience I just had. I have eaten at many Brazas and Brazilian style restaurants from Atlanta to Minnesota and they were great....this wasn't. I walked to the smell of the Indian restaurant attached to it and it went downhill from there. The Buffet was small, non-labeled and disqusting, not an understatement! I anticipated a buffet with even half-way decent tasting items, but found nothing that even remotely tasted good. After the buffet I at least looked forward to the meat. (it gets worse) There was only one waiter on a Sunday night who had to keep running back and forth for each item. Let me say by the 9th item we had had ENOUGH! We told them just bring the check. The food was dry, fatty, and you couldn't tell the difference in taste between Lamb, Sausage or Turkey. It was by far the worst experience I have ever had and I eat out at least 3 times a week for my job. Maybe it was a bad night for them, but I can't see how it has gotten the ratings it has. This was the one on Independence, maybe the other was better???? Hope this helps save someone else a wasted date night! Cons: Bad food, Smells of Indian restaurant, Buffet small, No ambience, Tasted horrible more

My girlfriend and I went to this place a long time ago when it first opened, It was great, they had all different kinds of meats.\r \r We had family in town looking for something different so I suggested Brazas. We got there at around 6:30 walked in and we were the only people in the place other than a few guys at the bar. NOT A GOOD SIGN!!! We stayed thinking its just slow right now and will pick up.\r \r The server was nice and gave us a brief breakdown of what was going on. We proceeded to the Hot bar which consisted of some rice, steamed veggies (cold), fried plaintain and 2 mystery meat dishes that were supposed to be chicken and beef. The salad bar looked old and the dressings were not good at all.\r \r On to the meat. This was what we were here for so I was excited. here is what was brought by during the meal in order\r \r 1. Chicken- It was a bunch of fried chicken wing drumsticks on a stick\r \r 2. Bacon Wrapped Turkey- It was processed turkey breast cubes wrapped in bacon - GROSS!!!\r \r 3. Beef Short Rib- It made me nauseated. It was a few days out from being spoiled\r \r 4. Garlic Steak- Not bad but not great either\r \r 5. Sausage- A bunch of Italian Sausages on a skewer. Not really brazillian right??\r \r 6. Lamb- Probably the best thing on they brought out. Tasty\r \r 7. Pork Rib- Nothing but fat on a bone- Gross\r \r That was pretty much it. the total bill for 4 people $112. I let the Indian manager NO that he needs a Gordon Ramsey Makeover ASAP!!!! Dont forsee them being in business much longer. Overpriced Gross food avoid at all costs Cons: FOOD!!! more

There is no brazilians in this restaurant, the owner is not from Brazil, who cook the food is not from Brazil, nothing there is from Brazil, just the name. The previews owner is from Brazil, and had to sell the restaurant to Indians, so this is not an autentic brazilian restaurant, it is a shame. more

Seriously, this is the worst brazilian food I've ever had. The meat was horrible, the service sub par, and their version of a caipirinha; disgusting. Don't waste your time or money on this dump. There is another brazilian restaurant in pineville that is much better. Pros: they have an adjoining Indian restaurant Cons: everything more

Went for a family birthday, the service was very tentative and the food was exceptional. Don't fill up on the salad bar, 'cause the meat is mouth watering. Pros: Excellent food, Service, Great Value more