Midwest Grill Brazilian BBQ

I can’t say a bad word about Midwest Grill, it remains one of my favorite restaurants. It is a really good value for the price. Restaurants with a similar concept will charge in the $ 50s. I also want to commend the wonderful owner/​chef/​meat purveyor guy. He is truly a treasure with a personality and flair that is reminiscent of one of the Marx Brothers when he comes around with the meat. He works harder than anyone I have ever seen. That’s why I assume he is the owner, lol. But he is really a treasure.
I find everything at the hot bar delicious and of very good quality. I am partial to their chicken salad which really is the best I have ever had. The meatballs are delicious as well, and the way they make broccoli, carrots and cabbage is so good that it would convert any vegetable phobe. If you are a meat lover you have found your spot. Some reviews below complain that the meats can be overdone, so I just asked for a piece in the middle. The lamb and the chicken drumsticks are my favorites. After eating there I am stuffed for the rest of the day. Definitely try it, I am pretty certain that you will love it.

I enjoyed having numerous meat options to choose from; but, the meats weren’t that great. Some were tough or fatty. Nearly all, with the exception of the chorizo, were not well-​seasoned or overcooked.

Great place! Go to the bar in back, they’ve got 20 cent wings and caipirinhas. Super friendly service too.

Honestly, it’s more like 3 stars for the food, but I’m bumping them up a star for effort.
It’s similar in concept to Fogo de Chao (Brazilian steakhouse with buffet and unlimited meats on skewers) but half the price and a substantial downgrade in quality. Some dishes were winners, but some were losers and you need to be smart about how you will allocate your precious stomach space.
The lamb was the best out of all the meats we got. The chicken hearts never arrived! I was kind of sad about that. The garlic bread was amazing, and usually I’m too snooty to eat bread at a buffet.
Initially I was confused by the name and the décor. I think they are trying to fuse the image of an American steakhouse in the southwest with a Brazilian steakhouse (ergo Brazilian flags and cowboy paintings). They should probably stick to one or the other.

I was there a while back with my wife and another couple, the glassware at the bar was so foggy I couldn’t see through, we order ridizio, that’s when the disappointment began! They where pushing sausage and chicken the meet rarely came to the table. Well I’ve never been back and I don’t recommend, there are far better Brazilian restaurants out there!

Came here after my friend found a Groupon for this place. The Groupon seemed deliberately vague, and suggested that it would make a $ 30 meal for 2 people a $ 15 meal for 2. To be more clear, the Groupon should have said «$ 15 off your meal, if it’s over $ 30.» At the end of the meal we received a check for $ 15 more than we had anticipated, even though we verified with the waiter at the beginning of the meal that everything was squared away. Buyer beware!
The all-​you-​can-​eat meal included a buffet and the meat-​on-​the-​sword service, too! I was pretty excited, until I realized that the only meat that was worth sampling was the garlic steak and the garlic bread (which was served on a skewer?). The other meat was dry and overcooked. It was a huge let-​down for me because I had fasted all day to be ready to stuff my face with quality food. Instead I got parched meat. Avoid my same dry fate by asking for the fatty slices of meat.
The buffet wasn’t anything to write home about. The bread was great, but the rest was very obviously there to try to fill up the customers before the meat comes around.
The service was on the slow side. My waiter was nice but not terribly attentive, especially because we made up 50% of the people in the restaurant.
I hate to give out 1-​star reviews but I can’t justify a 2-​star review right now. Maybe something will occur to me later that will change my mind.

The food was not good at all! It was cold, and the place looked so dirty. The waitress was very very rude!!! I only gave them 2 starts because the guys who bring the meat to the table were very friendly. The food and customer service is HORRIBLE!

Many months after moving to Cambridge, I decided I needed to finally enjoy a good meal of Brazillian BBQ. The food here wasn’t bad– it tasted good enough that I ate until I felt full, but not so delicious that I came close to gorging mysely. This is a mistake that I make frequently at buffets, and this place had a built-​in deterrent since the meat was too fatty and not seasoned particularly well. And, alas, the salad bar included wilted, sad looking lettuce :(
I am still vacillating between assigning 2 or 3 stars, but since the server who brought out the meats was so polite and attentive, I’ll go higher than I otherwise would.
Oh, and what the heck! Chicken hearts look exactly like little cartoon hearts (less-​than-​three), not at all like anatomical hearts. The more you know.

Not recommend. Meats are of bad quality with too much salt. We got a bill way before we finished. They give a lot chicken and hearts. Twice reminded to refill water.

I’ve been wanting to try Brazilian BBQ for a while then came across the Groupon featuring the Midwest Grill so I jumped on the opportunity and purchased the voucher for 2 dinners. Hoping that it will turn out to be one of my «go-​to» restaurant.
My boyfriend and I went on a Wednesday night last week. Walked in, and the restaurant has a rustic vibe which is pretty cool. We were greeted and seated right away, great. We saw the large buffet selections, great. The waitress was friendly great… but wait, untill… the moment she realized we have a Groupon and intend to use it. She said oh, then all you can have is the Buffet and the meat where the meat carver will coming around offering you selections. My date ordered a beer and the waitress left. We didn’t see her again until ¾ of the meal later. Not once she stop by to check our drink refill (which was just water) NOR explain how the whole process works, even though I had told her we have not been to a Brazilian BBQ before. So the nice boys-​meat cravers came by and were attentive, explaining different kind of meat and that we have to… this is important for the first time

I bought a Groupon for 4 people @ this restaurant. We arrived around 5 pm and being the only people there were sat promptly. I was shocked to see how dirty the restaurant was, the food was very dry and absolutely not worth $ 25 per person plus drinks, sprite being $ 2 (really). Not for lack of trying, and being the only people there the waitress was very slow and unattenative. Until we asked another member of the staff where we should put our used plates, then she hovered over the table and one time attempted to fill a glass of sprite with water.
So ultimately we spent $ 75 for 4 people after a $ 50 discount from Groupon (75+50=125) way too expensive
Not everyone was bad, the guy bringing meats to the table was very polite and prompt.
Sadly we won’t be recommending this place to anyone.
*and their menu said that the Phantom Gourmet was there, I’d like to see how the review was. I’m thinking Epic Fail

It’s a great idea, but the execution is bad.
The buffet area is very small and does not have a lot of options. The best thing I had were the french fried, until they got cold.
The card system they use to gauge if they should bring more food isn’t followed well. They either brought food too fast or not at all. We were ready after about 5 rounds of them bringing food over when they offered us chicken hearts.
We went for lunch and it tasted like everything that was served to us was left over from the night before because it was all very dry.
I had high hopes, but the restaurant was uncomfortable and very empty the whole time we were there. It was also very dirty, someone had drawn penises all over the windows.

Ordered here from GrubHub the other day and I enjoyed it. It wasn’t great but it was very good. It’s tough for me to judge other Brazilian restaurants when I have Fogo de Chao around the corner. Fogo is just so good that when I try other Brazilian restaurants, they dont compare. I ordered a plate with steak tips, rice, salad, beans and French fries. The fries were delicious. They had the same breading and consistency as oinon rings which I love. The rice was also delicious. It was soft and melted in your mouth. The two things that could have been better were the salad and the beef. The salad was boring to be honest and the tomatoes were a bit soggy. As for the beef, it was a little chewy and dry for my taste.

Went here for a friend’s birthday on a Wednesday night. Was empty except for two other tables when we first arrived at 7:45PM, but at around 9PM, the place was a bit more crowded. Had no problem fulfilling a reservation for 8 people.
This place’s food was pretty standard, though the serving staff were all very nice. Not really sure if it’s worth the $ 22/​person we paid for. We came here for the AYCE meat buffet and the meat was a little too greasy and fatty for our liking. Our favorite of the meat selection was definitely the lamb, with the chorizo and sausage coming in close as second and third. We really wanted to try the short ribs, but they ran out of that, which was a bummer. The hot buffet, salad bar, and other menu items such as the shrimp stew are not really worth it. So if you do plan on coming here, I would stick with the AYCE meat buffet.

3 stars for the meat and the boy’s service. you know what, today a couple of friends and we visit the place with Groupon and we really think it will cost less than we thought. but the buffent with meat will cost more. but that’s all right because the waiter give a nice service and the chief brought great meat to us and very kind guy. I really give them appreciate attitude.
however, when we go almost one turn into another, the waitress just bring the paycheck and ask if we have finished!!! it is unbelievable. we just started half an hour ago! does this buffent limit our time? after we say no she keeps around us and even not so many people in the resturant. why she always push us to leave? i dont got it. and unhappy when you eating someone just bring the check and stare at you…
anyway. the food is ok but not the waitress attitude.

They don’t take Unilocal check-​in offers FYI. Service was good and attentive. Everything that came from the grill and off the spit sticks was AMAZING!!! Even the lamb and I don’t prefer lamb. I’d advise not hitting the buffet trays until AFTER you’ve had everything come from the grill. We went a little early for dinner on a Friday night 6pm and the buffet offerings weren’t fresh. edible and the taste was alright but the fried stuff wasn’t crisp and some of the vegg were soggy from sitting in the hot tray too long. Don’t forget that ice cream and fruit comes with the buffet. The non buffet desserts aren’t anything special. They are all out of the freezer box type desserts. The Brazilian flan maybe legit but I don’t eat flan I didn’t make. Dinner crowd started around 7 and live music at 8pm.

This is a staple of mine for delivery when I want meat. It’s simple, well-​spiced and well-​cooked meat. They already get a pat on the back for that.
We had an unfortunate mishap where the food was 75 minutes late for delivery. Yea, traffic is bad in town but over an hour of delays is not acceptable. We called the restaurant and they admitted they made a mistake. They didn’t give excuses – the apologized and said they would make things right as soon as they could. When the food came (really shortly after we called), they had a few goodies for us.
They say in marketing that it’s better to keep the customers you have than to try to recruit new ones. And the fact that they owned up to the issue, and tried to make it a little better for us is pretty good service in my book – particularly in a city where service tends to be pretty p*ss poor.
Do they deserve 5*? No. But no qualms in giving them 4.

This just missed four stars. On little things. Would like to give 3.5
The meat was great — but we like rare — and we had to ask for it, otherwise it was overcooked. That said, they brought it out medium rare for us — we just had to wait.
The salad bar area was typical — nothing special, again — that said, if you picked carefully, you could find something quite nice.
The service was tolerable, but I had trouble eating that night (tmi on why) — so they set my meal to a kid’s meal price. That was nice of them — given this is an all you can eat place and priced as such.
I’d recommend this restaurant, but you do need to position it to make sure you have a great evening — and we did.

My friend and I have been doing the low carb thing and figured MidWest Grill would be perfect. While the food was generally good our experience was FAR from perfect.
When we walk in we are greeted by he chef (who apparently is the manager as well) and were brought to a very dark table. It was about 8:30 at night, the restaurant only had a few people left. We went up for the buffet which was okay. Most things were good but clearly have been sitting there for a while. We eventually were greeted with meat but it took a while and took even longer in between meats. Most Brazilian bbq places we’ve been to you can’t eat fast enough, the meat just keeps piling on. Not here. The meat was pretty good too. Beef short ribs, sausages were particularly good. Some of it was a little tough. I had to track down our waitress and ask for more and were brought more of the meat we already had. We did not get everything on the menu! Meanwhile our server not once checked in to see how things were or asked if we wanted drinks (we said water was fine for now).
We waited an extremely long time for the check. Everything was slow and they weren’t at all busy. We had a
gift certificate that said you must spend $ 50. We spent $ 46 and were told they wouldn’t accept it. We may have ordered more if 1. the waitress asked us and 2. if everything else wasn’t so slow. I asked for the manager (that’s when we met the chef again) and let him know about the horrible service. The waitress was really one of the worst we ever had. We go out to eat often and always tip 20%+ but couldn’t leave a dollar to someone who obviously was not trying to make money.
On a positive note the manager handled everything properly. Apologized, took the coupon and gave us free dessert. Although that was appreciated I doubt we’ll be back.

I’m a fan of Brazilian rodízio restaurants and this place had a Groupon deal that I couldn’t pass up. I had walked, driven and biked by this place hundreds of times, knew exactly where it was but had never been. I don’t know why but on a frigid Monday evenings, my wife and I got into the car, headed to the edge of Inman Square and right into the place.
Upon arriving we found a near empty restaurant. Pretty typical for a Monday evening. The hostess was very friendly and we ended up seating in one of the their dining areas, right in the middle of the place. In a room next to ours was the buffet were mounds of various food items were kept warm, and our drink orders were taken.
I went with a Sagres Branca beer from Portugal while the wife ordered a caipirinha which came with a glowing ice cube. Both hit the spot, and we quickly grabbed our card and flipped it to the green side so that the gaucho chefs would become aware that we were ready to receive tableside service. In our case, the gaucho chefs actually only consisted of one guy and he was quite inattentive and didn’t come as frequently as we wanted.
And while most places will offer upwards of a dozen various cuts of meat, this place only really had a bunch. They had the bacon-​wrapped chicken breast which was our favorite of the night, some linguiça, some sirloin, some pork ribs and some Brazilian sausage. No chicken hearts and only one beef cut it was. Unfortunately that also meant that I couldn’t get any picanha (top sirloin) which is hands down my favorite Rodizio cut. No filet mignon or fraldinha (bottom sirloin) either. Bummer.
That being said, the few meats that I did have were pretty good. Especially that bacon-​wrapped chicken which was beautifully cooked and was very juicy and flavorful. However it did take a long time for the guy to return with more meats, and we often sat there, waiting upwards of 15 – 20 minutes for our next bite of food which was a bit awkward, especially considering that the place wasn’t busy.
The hot and cold buffet in the other room had a salad bar and a few Brazilian staples such as fried plantains, feijoada and farofa. But no hearts of palm in sight and honestly, none of it was very good. The fries were soggy, the parmesan flakes were old and dry and the entire buffet was by far my least favorite part of my experience there. The items were lukewarm and the entire thing was a bit sad to see.
Another missing Rodizio staple: pão de queijo (cheese bread) however they did have some garlic bread (we had to ask for it!) which they roast on a spit and which was pretty tasty. It was good that we did our research and knew about it though because they clearly had no intention of hooking us up with any. Same goes for their divine and highly addictive grilled pineapple which is sprinkled with a bit of cinnamon and which was absolutely delicious and a perfect way to end our meal there. They did have other desserts but it just didn’t seem worth it, especially considering how much you get to eat there.
All in all, I hope that this place turns their business around. A more attentive staff, a better hot and cold buffet and a slight décor upgrade could really make this a great place to eat but for now I’ll stick with Fogo de Chao in Copley which is hands down my favorite place place for this time of dining experience and which really kills it everytime I go there.

Fui por primera vez y la verdad que no quedaron ganas de regresar, la bara de comida tenia un muy mal aspecto, parecia comida recalentada, vieja, muy mala presentacion, el servicio, horrible, la señorita, fue una vez a tomar la orden de las bebidas y fue la unica vez que la vivos, por que nos tuvimos que para para pagar, porque nunca aparecio, pero lo peor fue la carne, salada, seca, vieja, quemada, y lo que me dio mas risa fue ver al cocinero comer de la carne antes de servirla.
El restaurante tiene muy mala presentacion, mala iluminacion, mala comida y muy mal servicio… en mi opinion deberian de cerrarlo. Asco de comida.