I am a fan of the Balada Mix in Ipanema, Leblon and Barra...but this one in Gavea rubbed me the wrong way. I am a pretty repetitive eater so I get the same thing almost every time--the salmon medallions with the caprese and I substitute the shitake rice for grilled sweet potato. I eat at the other Balada Mix locations at least once per week with no problems, but then suddenly, at this location, the waitress and the manager say that I cannot make the potato for rice substitution. When I insisted that I do this all the time, she said that she would up-charge me. I have gotten this plate at least 40 times in the past 3 years, no joke, and never been up-charged so I just didn't want to let her win.
Outside of this whole up-charge thing, the service was not good. We waited at least 15 minutes just for our drink orders to be taken. It was impossible to ever catch a waiters eye. Almost like they were trying to avoid us (and this was before I asked to change the order so it wasn't on purpose).
The manager DID finally budge and trade the rice for free, but it was too late. I am tainted. I won't eat here again. I will stick to the other Balada locations. read more