Everything is BIG in Texas!!!
It seems everything is also BIG in Brazil. I have been waiting patiently for Tradicao to open in Clear Lake. I have been a regular at the location on 59/Hillcroft but it is quite a drive. Finally I saw an OPEN sign at their new location in the Clear Lake area. Knowing the quality of the food I ventured in yesterday with my husband. I was a little shocked, the place is much nicer than the 59 location. I almost felt under-dressed when I walked in. There is a pond at the entrance with Water Lily's that had a flower in full blown ( I wonder how to do that in the middle of winter). The hostess sat us, gave us the wine list and asked us if we had tried a caipirinha before. Feeling like a specialist I told him that I loved ""Caipirinha"" and ordered a couple as an appetizer and we picked a Red Chilean to go with the meal. The salad bar was amazing, I didn't count but I would venture to say it had at least 20 to 30 items. Helped myself for the Red Peppers, some sort of Pico de Gallo that was not hot, Hearts of Palms, Dried Tomatoes, etc. They brought hot ""Cheese Bread"" ( a meal in itself) and they told us they make them from scratch every meal. A procession of waiters brought us the ""Fried bananas"", Mashed Potatoes, Rice, Black Beans , etc. I turned my coaster to Green ( GO!!!!) and the race started. Almost like ballet dancers their Gauchos ( Brazilian cowboys) started serving us their delicacies one by one. The first is my favorite, Picanha ( top sirloin and also the house specialty), Baby Beef , Baby Back Ribs, Chicken legs, chicken with Bacon, Filet Mignon, Lamb Rack ( they import them from New Zealand), Beef Ribs, and on and on....By this time I was ready to turn the coaster to RED. I was satisfied. All the cuts were soft, juicy and delicious. Ever since I found their 59 location last year I haven't gone to other steakhouses because I hate to start cutting a sizzling hot steak and by the time I am 1/4 into it, the rest of the steak is already cold. Brazilians must have put a lot of thought to this matter and created the rotating system where they take the steak from the grill and take it immediately to the table and serve it while still hot. Then they put it back again on the fire and keep feeding us until we say stop. In other words, take a small amount, eat it and then wait for the Gaucho to bring more again. I ordered Papaya Cream with Liquor for dessert, and my husband the Creme Brulee. Both were out of this world but my husband raved about the Creme Brulee. The owner ( his name skips my mind), stopped by and chatted for a couple of minutes. We closed the night with a couple of espressos to make sure we wouldn't sleep at the wheel going home. Welcome to the Clear Lake area and we wish you all the success.
Pros: Best steak in town
Cons: I had a hard time finding restaurant first time there
more