How appropriate that my last meal in São Paulo was my first time experiencing Brazilian churrhasco. Although I lived in LA for 5 years and there are several churrhasco places there, they were always so expensive and inconvenient for me to get to from where I was living. I was really excited to try the different meats and had no idea what to expect, and I am happy that my friend and her family brought me here before sending me off on my 24 hours of travel back home!
Based on my understanding, Baby Beef is a chain in Brazil, and this particular location was in the Morumbi neighborhood. It shares a paid parking lot with a Carrefour, and on a Sunday around lunch there were plenty of spaces available. Our large party had a reservation which was a good thing, because it was pretty crowded for lunch! We were seated immediately on a table towards the back of the restaurant, past the salad bar area.
As soon as we got seated, a server came to take our drink orders and we went straight to the salad bar. For those of you who aren't familiar, let me explain: Baby Beef is a buffet with two different components. Veggie and carb options are all at the salad bar, while the meat and protein options travel to your table via impressive (and sometimes overwhelming) waiter service!
The salad bar is not really a "salad bar" like we see in the States. I'm only referring to it as a salad bar because that's the easiest comparison I can make between what they have at Baby Beef and what I'm familiar with. There were typical salad options like veggies and toppings, but there was also rice, sushi (including strawberry mango sushi), salmon and capers, bread, antipasto, and other Brazilian sides. So many options! I wanted to try a lot of the items but had to restrict myself to just picking a few so I could save room for the main event...
CHURRHASCO! I'll be honest with you, but I really had no idea what I was getting most of the time. I know zero Portuguese so when the servers were explaining what they had I kind of just nodded, smiled, and made a hand motion to show I wanted to try just a small piece. There was everything from chicken and sausage, but the most prevalent protein was definitely beef. Everything was amazing! The meats were tender and flavored just right. Things were easy to cut which is a definite plus. Just remember to use the little round token that you get at your seat to let the servers know if you are still hungry or need a break...flip it to green for more meat and red for a pause!
For my first churrhasco experience, I was truly impressed. I had a great time watching the servers run around with all their meats and left very full and satisfied for my long trip back to Honolulu.
TL;DR - paid parking with Carrefour, check the salad bar for not just salad items, and use your round token for more/less meat! read more