The Popular Brazilian Steakhouse Chain That's Just So-So In Our Mind

Brazilian steakhouses date back to the culinary practices of the indigenous Guarani people in the 17th century. Fast forward four centuries, and the grill-based cooking style is a global phenomenon and a meatlovers dream. But when we rated 16 different Brazilian steakhouses to find the best of the best, while none of them was terrible, we found Rodizio Grill just so-so and put it last in our ranking.

Named for the type of experience we've come to expect at a Brazilian steakhouse, Rodizio Grill has waiters roaming the restaurant carving slices of meat onto customers' plates at regular intervals. Unfortunately, Rodizio Grill doesn't have the wide variety of many of its competitors. If the experience is about sampling all different kinds of steak, pork, chicken, and even a tender lamb skewer or two, then Rodizio Grill falls short on the fundamentals. For that matter, their side dish menu is comparably limited as well. Worse still, the Picanha steak, a signature cut at any Brazilian steakhouse, was quite large which inhibited the thick fat cap from dripping through the meaty layer underneath. Perhaps the biggest faux pas of all is that Rodizio Grill cooks its meat on a gas-powered rotisserie spit instead of over wood or charcoal which instills much more depth of flavor.

The problem is that Rodizio Grill is lacking the authenticity and decadence of better Brazilian steakhouses. With around 25 locations around the U.S., Rodizio Grill has created an advantage of convenience — and our reviewer found that it had dialed down the Brazilian experience in favor of something more Americanized. Customers on Facebook were content with Rodizio's low prices despite a smaller salad bar and meat menu than competitors like Fogo de Chão, which came fourth in our ranking. Many also remarked that they went because it's the closest Brazilian steakhouse to their neighborhood, settling for convenience instead of driving for a half hour or more to a nicer Brazilian steakhouse.

Redditors complained about the lack of variety at Rodizio, with one saying, "The meats were OK, but I've had better, and they didn't have chicken hearts, a Brazilian specialty." And they agreed about the lack of authenticity, saying that the menu "had very few things on it that looked like they had any resemblance to Brazilian cuisine." Another dissatisfied customer summed up their experience as "very underwhelming. Food is ... edible ... but definitely not worth paying for." A Brazilian steakhouse should be a unique and extravagant experience, so it says a lot that one Redditor wrote, "Always excited about the experience, but afterwards always feel let down that it wasn't very good and felt the money could have been better spent elsewhere."