For DH's birthday earlier this month, I treated us to a nice dinner at a well-reviewed Brazilian steakhouse. This is one of those places where you pay a set amount, and the waiters circulate with skewers of meat which they cut off and serve at the table. It was DH, me, our two friends, and 16 yr old DS. The guys were all excited at having a carnivore feast, based on many reviews.
The way this place operates is that you are given a wooden cylinder painted in 3 stripes of red, yellow, and green. You put the red side up while you visit the salad/appetizer bar, then flip it to green when you are ready for your meat and sides.
After we'd been to the salad bar (and waited 15 minutes for drinks), we flipped the token to green. After about another 15 minutes, tiny dishes of sides came out (rice, beans, and fried bananas), about a spoonful for each person. Another 15 minutes and a waiter appeared with some meat. He served us all very small portions - about 2 bites each - and left. I don't mind the small portions, as it makes sense to not waste the food by serving a plateful at a time. However, it took between 20-30 minutes between each waiter wandering by, so our meal was 2 bites, wait 20 minutes, 3 bites, wait 30 minutes, etc. It took 45 minutes for DH to get a refill on his soda. We asked for a refill on the fried bananas; after 30-40 minutes, out came a plate with 2 pieces on it.
The base charge per person was $30. With drinks, dessert, and tip, our total was close to $300. The food was delicious, but I don't think any of us had more than about 4 oz of meat. For $31, I can do a lot better.
