Braza Grill: Treat yourself to Portuguese inspired cuisine

By Patricia Dark
For Now Utah

Two things distinguish Braza Grill from other eateries around Fashion Place: the sweet smell of mesquite charcoal and the gentle pulse of the salsa playing quietly in the background.

Braza is a churrasqueria (choo-rah-scah-REE-ah), Portuguese for a restaurant that serves grilled meat. It owes its origins to the fireside roasts of the gaúchos of southern Brazil in the early 1800’s. Passadors (meat waiters) come to your table with knives and a sword-like skewer, on which are speared various kinds of meat, be it beef, pork, filet mignon, lamb, chicken, duck, ham (and pineapple), sausage, or any other sort of local cut of meat.

While several other Salt Lake City restaurants offer Brazilian barbeque, Braza’s take is more intimate than most. Brazilian warmth and cordiality are felt from the moment you enter to when you leave. The excellent service lures guests into relaxing and not rushing through their meals. To ensure that all is running smoothly owner JR Lopez works his way around from table to table chatting with clients.

Lopez opened this churrasqueria over five years ago. He modeled it after the barbeque restaurants in his homeland. Along with a buffet of hot and cold foods, meats hot off the grill are carried about the room by the passadors, who slice off as much as diners want.

While the attentive waitresses zip around clearing tables and serving drinks, the passadors visit the tables in almost a procession, wielding their menacingly large skewers of barbecued meat. As the servers visit the tables, they happily slice off pieces of meat for diners, who grab their serving with small tongs even as the meat is being cut away. The passadors’ selection at Braza Grill include garlic steak, juicy beef tenderloin, pork tenderloin, chicken, tender ham and grilled pineapple. For the more adventurous, chicken hearts are also available upon request. Waiters only go to two or three tables before returning to the grill for freshly cooked meat, ensuring you don’t get cold cuts.

To accompany the vast selections of meats there is unlimited access to an extensive salad bar. Standard salad options are augmented by native Brazilian recipes such as breaded and deep fried bananas. Rice with black beans is a popular choice as an accompaniment to the delightful range of barbequed meat and fruit.

When you need a break from the feast you will find atop each table a wooden rod the size of a salt shaker, painted red at one end, green at the other. A little like a traffic system, green means you’d like more meat, red it’s time to stop. You can flip back and forth as much as you like. Children are particularly amused by this.

On weekend nights the restaurant is consistently busy so reservations are recommended. Even after 8 p.m. you are likely to find people in the lobby waiting to be seated.

While the quality of the food and service is equal to the best restaurants in town, the price is more than reasonable with a flat fee of $18.95 per adult diner on weekend evenings.

Everyone leaves with a smile and a very contented stomach, the lilting tone of salsa and the seductive aroma of charcoal urging them to return again soon.

Details

Where: 5927 S. State, Murray

Hours: Monday-Saturday 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Payment: Checks, credit cards

Special: Receive an instant coupon by texting BRAZA to 83043

Phone: 801-506-7788

Web: http://www.brazagrillutah.com