A feast to remember
Sitting down at a rodizio-style restaurant can be daunting, but that ultimately gives way to childlike wonder and excitement once you see the big cuts of meat impaled on skewers that are paraded out of the kitchen and straight to the table.
From filet mignon and New York strip to parmesan-crusted pork loin and lamb chops, the diversity in options is staggering. Going in with the intention of tasting everything will leave you crawling out the front door later. But don’t let it stop you from trying.
Guests are given a two-sided card — one side green, the other red. Flipping the card to the green face tells the chefs — or gauchos — that you’re ready to go. Any time a cut of meat is ready to serve, it’s taken directly off a 600- to 900-degree rotisserie grill in the kitchen and directly to the dining room. Gauchos cut off pieces of the meat from table to table until it’s gone.
“Some places you go and you order steak, but this is different,” said Edson Ludwig, area manager of Galpao Gaucho, a Brazilian steakhouse downtown. “It’s all about the experience. The chefs bring the experience directly to the table and ask you, ‘How do you like it?’ To cut the desired temperature right there and experience the variety — it’s unlike anything anywhere else.”
The meat lacks the smoky flavor popular in U.S. barbecue, as gaucho-chefs seek to preserve the natural flavor of the farm-raised beef. Smoking the meat can alter the taste, but the rotisserie slowly cooks the meat until the outer layer is nicely seared and the inside is tender and juicy.
Traditionally, gauchos were cowboys or ranchers, and a sort of folk symbol in regions of South America, including Argentina and Brazil. The gaucho-chefs of Brazilian steakhouses today have adopted the name to represent that history and culture.
Steeped in culture
While the concept is somewhat familiar in the Lowcountry — with local steakhouses Galpao Gaucho opening in 2020 and Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse opening in North Charleston in 2016 — the style of dining has deep roots in Brazil.
“This is very traditional in Brazil, especially if you go to the South,” said Cowboy Brazilian co-owner Ana Maria Dias. “But really, it’s everywhere. Almost any restaurant you go to is just like this.”
Dias is from northern Brazil, where she previously worked in the hospitality industry operating a hotel service. She moved to the U.S. with her husband and started working in the kitchen at Cowboy Brazilian before buying it from the previous owners during the pandemic, she said.
Ludwig is from southern Brazil and was raised as a gaucho taking care of cattle on the family farm. He moved to San Paulo and spent many years in the restaurant business before moving to the U.S. in 2002 and starting to work in Brazilian steakhouses, which reminded him of home, he said.
“The culture of the steakhouses here is the same we have in Brazil,” he said. “The experience itself is the same as you’d get in Brazil, too. We’ve preserved the authenticity with the service style.”
A 2016 article from Eater says it’s almost impossible to determine who really invented the rodizio, which means rotation, style of dining, as several Brazilian restaurants claim the “first” title. But the concept was popularized in the mid-1900s, the article says, coinciding with Brazil’s big road-construction boom. Restaurants opened around the country to feed truck drivers, and grilled meat was the easiest and cheapest food to serve, as the region boasted huge numbers of cattle herds.
Ludwig said he has worked to ensure that Galpao Gaucho is as true to that history as possible.
“It’s so important to focus on preserving these southern Brazilian traditions with the gaucho-chefs. It’s a very important part of our culture,” he said. “The leave-in style — the cowboy that grows up on the farm, taking care of the cattle, that’s our roots.”
What you came for
The service style isn’t the only thing that has made its way from Brazil.
“The meat is totally accurate in the way it’s done, especially the sauce and chimichurri,” Dias said. “The one we call the ‘house special’ is the one I like the most. In Brazil, we call it picanha.”
Picanha is a Brazilian steakhouse staple. The most traditional cut, taken from the top of a cow’s rump and seasoned heavily with salt, is skewered into a C shape before going on the rotisserie grill. It’s similar to a sirloin in flavor and texture, but a juicy fat cap infuses the steak with flavor and tenderness that you can’t find anywhere else.
“That fat cap on the outside is what makes the picanha special,” Ludwig said. “As the meat turns on the skewer, the fat melts and runs over the meat. That’s where the flavor is.”
Galpao Gaucho also offers a “spicy” picanha that packs a bit of a kick, but not too much so that anyone can still enjoy it.
“The seasonings are also very traditional Brazilian, and most cuts just have sea salt,” Ludwig said. “We keep the natural flavors of the meat, but with 17 different options, they all have different seasonings — the lamb, the chicken, the pork and the seafood.
“The lamb is marinated in white wine and fresh mint blended with spices like garlic and pepper. The chicken is heavily seasoned with a blend of different spices, and the pork has a white wine marinade with a different spice blend.”
But what really enhances the flavor of the meat is the sauces. As is traditional, both restaurants make their chimichurri and other sauces from scratch — a perfect pairing for the steak, especially the picanha.
Not just the meats
While Brazilian steakhouses may not be the best spot for vegetarians, the salad bars and hot bars offer options meant to pad guests between rounds of meat.
Mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, Brazilian-style black beans, fresh salad greens, potato salad, smoked salmon and more are featured on an all-you-can-eat, self-serve salad bar. And it’s here that you’ll find some more familiar selections, too, Dias said.
“The salad bar is adapted a little to American tastes,” she said. “But you’ll find some traditional options there, too.”
Some non-meat options are also served rodizio style, including the famed pineapple. Grilled on the rotisserie to glistening perfection, then rolled in cinnamon for a sweet, spicy bite, the pineapple is a Brazilian staple that serves as both dessert and a way to get you back in the game.
“Even when you’re full, you always have room for the pineapple,” Dias said, laughing. “So many people come back just for that.”
Bread and cheese options are also abundant, with fresh baked rolls and puffed breads that pair perfectly with the chimichurri or butter. Galpao Gaucho’s cheese bread is baked with yucca flour, making it gluten free to boot.
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