I had heard quite a bit about Z Carinceria - especially about the old one which was a butcher shop etc. I missed out on going to the older address so when they relocated to a bigger space, I decided that I need to try it out.
Z Carniceria has garnered a lot of buzz since it reopened - now owned by Grupo Vegas, they had a refined food and drinks menu curated by bartender Kennedy Nascimento (voted best bartender in the country) etc. - so with all this buzz we did have exceptions.
We got in there on a Wednesday night (they have live shows Thu/Fri/Sat) and the place was relatively empty - decided to sit at the bar but the bar stools were so uncomfortable that we had to switch to a table. The drinks made are just ok - low on the alcohol content and catered towards people who want something lighter - I tried a Blood & Sand and a Daiquiri - both were average and nothing to write home about.
On the food front, we did try a few snacks - the tiny chicken wings (Tulipa de Frango), boar sausage (Linguiça de Javali) & grilled octopus (Polvo Grelhado) were all quite well made but the portions are really small - sharing for more than 2 doesn't quite work. I also tried their pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw (Chancho) - the sandwich is well made, the bread is really fresh but once again the portion is small : maybe I was extra hungry but I did find the portion to be small.
Z Carniceria needs to work a lot more to deliver on the buzz & expectation generated - maybe I had too high expectations or did not go a day they had live shows and the result was a 3-star experience but for the price/ambience/food/drinks, São Paulo offers better options. read more