Restaurant Review of Espetus Churrascaria, San Francisco

Bring your appetite to San Francisco’s one and only Brazilian style Churrascaria. Top selections of beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and shrimp come delivered sizzling hot on sword like skewers by waiters decked in traditional “Gaucho style” ensembles—boots and all. Though the price is steep ($50 per person), any meal that is able to transport me into a frame of nostalgia for my days spent lying on the beaches of Rio is definitely worth the cost. The set-price menu includes an “all you can eat” smorgasbord of over fourteen differently prepared meats, and an exotic buffet. The buffet is overflowing with rich stews, spicy fish, fresh shellfish, sweet cranberry cous cous, and hearts of palm, a Brazilian delicacy.

The food comes non-stop until you switch your “green card,” meaning bring me more meat (given to every table) to the “red card,” signifying that there is an actual possibility of consuming too much perfectly cooked, mouth-watering meats in one sitting. Smiling brasileros swiftly dance across the room with their skewers of meat to the bossa nova streaming from the restaurant’s speakers, which almost gives you the feeling you could be sitting at a restaurant right in Ipanema, Leblon, or Copacabana.

         To wash down the overflowing spices that seem to almost tickle your taste buds, the in house prepared white or red wine sangria and/or the traditional Brazilian drink “caipirinha” seems to do the trick. Though drinks are not inclusive in the set price, they deem necessary with the constant eating that takes place throughout your sumptuous feast. After a few drinks and forkfuls of heaven, the crowd around the restaurant seems to have a uniform “smile and eyes closed” look while tasting the divine treats.

The scent that permeates the air while Brazilian music plays reminds me of the sweet sugarcane scent that flows throughout the warm and humid air in Brazil. As I ate the non-stop flow of food I recalled one of my favorite Astrud Gilberto songs titled “Non-stop to Brazil,” while I calculated how long it would take from SFO to the Carlos Jobim Airport in Sao Paolo. After the meal craze comes to a slow and steady end, every patron must satisfy their sweet tooth with the decadent desserts available ranging from sweet fried plantains with ice cream to rich “better-than-sex” chocolate lava cake (Not included). This celebratory style restaurant satisfies every palette from salty to sweet dishes that never end until you say so.

The service is representative of the Brazilian stereotype, that is the waiters and hosts are warm, friendly, laid-back, and occasionally forget to speak English to you instead of their native tongue, Portuguese. The busy atmosphere deems necessary to make a reservation on Friday and Saturday nights. For those hungry for Brazilian plates with slightly shallower pockets, try lunch, which is half the price, but equally filled with the same meats galore. Make sure to take a glimpse of the kitchen before you leave to get a peek at how the genius chefs’ cook the succulent meats—over a huge open fire located right in the restaurant’s kitchen. The waiters at Espetus care about your experience, and play the roles of “the expert” meat and wine connoisseurs very well. Espetus is made up of three medium-sized rooms to encompass the steady flow of people that infiltrate the restaurant every second while you dine, making one feel like not only have they come to the right place, but they are sitting in one hot commodity of a restaurant.

 

 

Espetus Churrascaria:

1686 Market Street in San Francisco

415-552-8792

710 S B Street in San Mateo (NEW!)

650-342-8700

Reservations needed for dinner

Hours:

Mon-Thu: 11:30-3PM for lunch 5-10PM for dinner

Fri: 11:30-3PM for lunch 5-11PM for dinner

Sat: 12-3PM for lunch 5-11PM for dinner

Sun: 12-3PM for lunch 4-9PM for dinner

All Major Credit Cards Accepted.

****/*****

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