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