My guests and I received complimentary meals to facilitate this post sharing my tips to get the most from your Texas de Brazil dinner, but the opinions, creative content, and photographs are my own.
I love a good meal if you can’t tell. While I cook at home often, I’ll never turn down a good night out.
Years ago, I discovered Brazilian steakhouses where they grill the meat and serve you all the good stuff.
If you’ve never been, it can be a bit of a daunting experience. If you don’t know what to expect, you may not plan your meal out to maximize your enjoyment.
No worries, I’ve got you covered. Read on for my 13 tips to make the most of your Texas de Brazil meal!
13 Tips Make the Most of Your Texas de Brazil Meal
Plan ahead
Texas de Brazil is all you can eat. It isn’t an inexpensive meal, and I always want to feel like I got my money’s worth. That said, salad and full dinner at my local location is $54.99, and there are plenty of restaurants far more expensive.
Keep reading for tips for discounts to enjoy Texas de Brazil, too!
If I know I plan to go for dinner, I eat a light and early lunch. No snacking, no heavy foods. I want to be hungry when I walk in the door but not so hungry that I pass the point of feeling hungry.
Figure out your Thanksgiving Day strategy and go from there!
Try the caipirinha
The national drink of Brazil is the caipirinha, and they make it fresh on site at Texas de Brazil. If you drink alcohol, make sure to order one.
The main alcohol in the caipirinha is cachaca, made from distilled sugar cane. They mix it with fresh lime juice and sugar to make my flat out favorite cocktail ever.
Even better, Texas de Brazil kicks it up a notch with a variety of flavors. In addition to the traditional caipirinha, you can try strawberry or mango or coconut – six in all. Just don’t try all six in one night!
Don’t forget about the bar menu
If you aren’t up for a whole churrascaria dinner, enjoy their bar bites instead. Rather than all you can eat, you order from a set menu for about $10 per item.
You still get the same great flavors with choices like chicken breast, garlic sirloin, sausage, filet with bacon, or an antipasto platter. It’s a great way to enjoy just a taste of this fantastic restaurant.
Take advantage of the happy hour, too!
Texas de Brazil’s dining experience includes happy hour specials where allowed by law. (Some states have some really funky laws – Florida’s happy hour regulations are my personal favorite!)
Stop in for happy hour Monday through Friday 4:30-6pm at most locations. You can get $3 domestic beers, $5 glasses of TdB’s private label wines, $7 martinis, and – my favorite – $5 caipirinhas and well cocktails.
The salad bar is worth it
All you can eat focused on meat? Why bother going to the salad bar. It’s just going to fill you up, right?
I’ll be honest. That was my philosophy the first time I went to Texas de Brazil. Then I saw the salad bar. The salad bar that’s the size of my living room.
This isn’t your typical salad bar with lettuce and cottage cheese and a few toppings. It’s worth a stop. Or two.
They have everything from sushi to amazing cheeses and smoked meats. There are fabulous mixed salads and smoked salmon. Don’t forget to take some of the pineapple carpaccio, too.
Enjoy these tastes that help give some variety to the meat you’ll enjoy later. Don’t fill up on the salad bar, but definitely take bites and pieces of your favorites.
If you aren’t a meat eater, you can enjoy just the salad bar, too. Texas de Brazil offers a reduced price if you – like my mom – indulge only in the salad bar.
Texas de Brazil gets allergies
I have plenty of friends with gluten allergies, dairy allergies, and more. When I visited, a friend who joined me eats keto and successfully kept to her keto diet while at Texas de Brazil.
That said, if you have an allergy, don’t just show up. While the gauchos bringing us meat were able to easily identify which were and were not gluten free, had we thought to call ahead and let the manager know, they could have accommodated us even more.
When you have a food allergy or intolerance, it can be nerve wracking to go out to eat. Texas de Brazil gets that and knows exactly what goes into each item, so they can share what you can and cannot eat – and help ensure you have a fantastic experience.
Don’t forget to use your go/no go circles
At each person’s seat in Texas de Brazil is a small cardboard circle. The red side means you aren’t ready for meat from the gauchos, while the green means bring it on.
Keep it on red while you visit the salad bar. Once you finish your salad round, go ahead and flip it over to green.
I like to get 3 or so meats, then I flip it to red so I can enjoy my food. That way I’m not turning away gauchos or filling my plate too full.
As soon as I’m ready for more, I flip it back to green. There’s no limit to how many times you flip it from red to green and back again. Well, no limits until the restaurant closes anyway!
Request your favorites
Each gaucho brings a specific kind of meat to your table. They’ll offer you a serving of their dish, then move to the next person.
After you try the various offerings, you’ll likely discover you have a favorite and want more of it. Or you saw the menu and want to start with a particular item.
When a gaucho comes to your table, let them know what you want more of, and they’ll bring it by. I adore the Brazilian Picanha and Alcatra personally.
And good news – if you can’t remember the name of what you loved, describe it, and the gauchos know their meat! They’ll figure it out for you.
Don’t forget about your tongs
As the gauchos literally serve you a piece of meat from the cut they carry, they end up short handed. One hand holds the tray and the second hand cuts with the knife.
Next to your cutlery, you’ll find a small set of tongs. Use those to help grab the piece of meat from the main cut and place it on your plate.
Sausages and other items that don’t require a knife don’t need the tongs. The gaucho can serve those to your plate directly.
If you have a question about whether or not you need tongs, just ask!
Go ahead and bring your kids
The best part? Kids eat at a discounted rate. As long as there’s an adult enjoying a full price meal, kids under 2 are free. Kids 3-5 are just $5, and kids 6-12 are half price.
That makes this so much more affordable for families! In fact, we dined here for my dad’s, husband’s, and daughter’s birthday a year ago to celebrate, and it was perfect! (Yes, they all have birthdays within 4 days of each other.)
The food at Texas de Brazil is so varied, there’s bound to be something your kids enjoy. And since it’s all you can eat, it’s the perfect chance for them to try foods they wouldn’t otherwise eat.
Let them try a bite. If they don’t like it, they can try something else without worrying that you have to order an entirely new meal.
Save room for dessert
While dessert isn’t included, it’s worth saving a little room to enjoy it. Good news? While you can’t take home any “leftovers” of your main all you can eat meal, anything you don’t eat from dessert you can box up to bring home.
At the end of the meal, your waiter will bring the dessert tray by so you can check out all the offerings. Honestly, you may want to share with others at your table so everyone can get a bit and taste of different sweets.
My absolute favorite is the Brazilian papaya cream, something you don’t see on many menus anywhere. It’s light and creamy without being too rich after a large meal.
They offer everything from carrot cake to key lime pie to creme brulee to coconut chess pie and so much more. You may have to enjoy Texas de Brazil more than once to try them all!
Sign up for the Texas de Brazil eClub
Like so many restaurants, Texas de Brazil has an online club that sends periodic offers via email.
When you first sign up, you’ll receive an email good for $20 off the purchase of two dinners. Outside that, you’ll get additional offers for your birthday and anniversary – no surprise.
Beyond that, they share special offers periodically throughout the year to give you extra incentive to come visit.
Don’t forget about special “thank you” discounts
This is one of my favorite aspects to Texas de Brazil. This privately held restaurant recognizes the everyday heroes in the world.
If you serve in the military or are a veteran, if you’re a teacher, work in law enforcement, as a firefighter, or EMS, Texas de Brazil wants to say thank you. They offer their 20% heroes’ discount to any of those groups with proper ID for groups up to four.
And let me tell you, as the wife of a hard working schoolteacher, I appreciate that recognition and discount!
Bonus Tip: Try the sides
With your meal, the wait staff will bring you three sides. They’re served family style, and any time you want more of one – or all – of them, just ask.
My hands down favorite is the Brazilian cheese bread. It’s so delicious I figured out how to make it at home, but I’ll take that whole basket just for myself thankyouverymuch.
Beyond the cheese bread, there are also garlic mashed potatoes and – my other favorite – the sweet fried bananas.
What are your best Texas de Brazil tips?
The place is amazing! With every bit is a flavor explosion in your mouth.
I love that description of it. It’s definitely somewhere we enjoy eating on the regular.
Great place to WoW your special someone.
It really is!
Great article. We have been going to the Irvine location for special occasions. For three to four years now. We were there this past Thursday and the food was exceptional as it has been every time. We were celebrating a friends visit from Germany. There were 6 of us. The lamb was exquisite as well as all the cuts of meat. I will share your article with my friends. It does have friendly hum that can make hard to hear each other, but it’s tolerable. I learned more about this favourite spot from your article next time we will take advantage of the discounts and the drink. Thank you!
Thanks for the feedback – I hope you enjoy it again soon!
My son and daughter took me there and that is a beautiful awesome place to go
I’m so glad you enjoyed it. It’s such a fun and delicious place to go.
My husband and I always go there for our birthdays and also for our friends celebration. It’s a great experience, the meats are usually fantastic and the buffet is great, yes I only serve a small amount, I want mainly the beef. Your tips are perfect.
So glad you enjoy it there and find the tips useful! It is a great celebration restaurant.
love this place food is great service great no problem I would go everyday if they had one in new jersey
Hopefully for your sake they open one there soon!
I had the opportunity to eat at the Memphis, TN location and it was, hands down, THE best dining experience I’ve ever had! My son was only 8 at the time and he loved it. Like you said, he branched out and tried so many different foods. We had such a great time and can’t wait to go back.
I’m 100% with you. I love how you can try all the foods. Another friend of mine told me she took her son to Texas de Brazil and got him happy with meat before breaking the news about the guy in the big red suit a couple weeks ago!