RODIZIO GRILL (the brazilian food restaurant)

Slicef18 wrote:There's a recently new restaurant in Pensacola and it's in the old ZIA location.
First let me say it's not inexpensive, but what you get is a very good value.
The staff is very well trained with the meat servers in full Brazilian costume as they walk about with their fare on special made vertical meat skewers and the customers pointing out how much and how well done. The meat server then cuts off from the vertical skewer the meat selected by the customer. It's great theater to watch these young men move swiftly about from customer to customer. There is covered outside dining that give even more flair to the scene.
Lunch
Salad bar is $10.00 and worth every penny.
Salad bar with some meats (from the Brazilian servers) $17.00
Salad bar and unlimited meats. $24.00? I think
This is a "must do" when special company comes to town.

Yomama wrote:

Slicef18 wrote:There's a recently new restaurant in Pensacola and it's in the old ZIA location.
First let me say it's not inexpensive, but what you get is a very good value.
The staff is very well trained with the meat servers in full Brazilian costume as they walk about with their fare on special made vertical meat skewers and the customers pointing out how much and how well done. The meat server then cuts off from the vertical skewer the meat selected by the customer. It's great theater to watch these young men move swiftly about from customer to customer. There is covered outside dining that give even more flair to the scene.
Lunch
Salad bar is $10.00 and worth every penny.
Salad bar with some meats (from the Brazilian servers) $17.00
Salad bar and unlimited meats. $24.00? I think
This is a "must do" when special company comes to town.

We went to Atlanta about 8 years ago to Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian restaurant. The dinner cost was about $50 per person for the full treatment. http://www.fogodechao.com/index.php?id=166 I see their price is about the same... maybe less. I see that their lunch full treatment is $32 per person. The dinner was a gift. I don't like spending that kind of money on a meal, but hey, it was free to us... and it was real good!

If you haven't been to a Brazilian-style restaurant, it is worth going ONCE. This page has an explanation and a video. http://www.fogodechao.com/menu/dining-experience/

Ghandi, I like the Wendy's menu too.

Slicef18 wrote:
There are people who routinely eat at high-end restaurants. I myself have been a guest to Sunday Brunch at the NIKKO for $45.00 a person and seven pound Maine lobster dinner at the PALM at $250.00 per person. Those places would go broke real fast in Pensacola.

Yomama wrote:

Slicef18 wrote:
There are people who routinely eat at high-end restaurants. I myself have been a guest to Sunday Brunch at the NIKKO for $45.00 a person and seven pound Maine lobster dinner at the PALM at $250.00 per person. Those places would go broke real fast in Pensacola.

We have a restaurant at a hotel at our big mall here in Hoover. It is named Shulas, after the NFL player and Miami Dolphins' coach.


I had Lobster and a bunch of other stuff first. I made a huge mistake and ate the tail before the claws. We had before-dinner drinks and appetizers and I was so full I couldn't eat the claws... and to me, that's the best part! I'm talking about huge lobsters, here... nothing like what Red Lobster calls a lobster.

I learned several years ago at the Palm in Chicago forgo the beans, corn asparagus, and bread when ordering a 7 pound lobster.

The dinner was superb. I don't know how much it cost, but I know it wasn't cheap.

RealLindaL wrote:Tried Rodizio for the first time tonight. What a fiasco. Terrible, virtually non-existent wait staff service, tiny slices of meats -- dry and/or salty, and very few meats actually came by our table at all, so we sat while our sides grew cold. Way overpriced for what it is. IF we ever return (big IF), it will be in the interest of fairness, to ensure that this one experience was not a fluke --- but it's a lot of money to dump. Drink and dessert should be included but they're extra.

MIGHT come back just to buy the 'salad bar' (which is a lot more than salad), but even that's pricey.

Really hate to say it, but I predict this place will fold within a couple of years just like Zia did before it in the same location (and with the same weird service and lack of perceived value for the dollar). Pensacola just will not support this -- already evident in the lack of a wait on a Saturday night while every other restaurant on Gregory St. was packed to the gills. Just a shame.

RealLindaL wrote:Thanks for the updated insights, Slice. It's really sad to see a place going downhill after such a busy opening, but if they don't earn repeat business, well...

Can agree the ten buck salad bar at lunch might be fun with guests. But at night it's $16.99, and I consider that pricey for what's really quite a limited buffet. Hubby and I agreed we could find things to fill us up, and may try that one of these evenings -- or may not. We just didn't like the attitude of some of the staff, but I suppose there's not much we'd need them for, other than maybe refills for our tea, if we went salad bar only.

Nekochan wrote:Where is Nikko?
I would gladly pay $45 for a brunch or dinner with some good Japanese food (not sushi or sashimi). But I have a feeling I'd be very disappointed. (:

Nekochan wrote:Oh, it's Hotel Nikko. If they have Japanese chefs, I'm sure it's very good. The Japanese are experts at food presentation. They can make even a disgusting dish (like raw baby squid) look very pretty.

My favorite Japanese foods aren't fancy or expensive and in Japan they are found at little shops in train stations and hole in the wall mom and pop neighborhood restaurants. But I would still pay $45 for some good Japanese train station food.