Rio Grande Churrascaria

Woke up early and had breakfast. I had the steak and eggs with sausage and bacon and yuca and frying cheese and toast.
Everything I had was cooked to perfection. Service a little slow but efficient

Super value! Don’t be put off by the location, a quick and easy subway ride from midtown plus a five minute walk. Simple, great rodizio including chicken hearts. Alas, no pao de quiejo.

Tucked in the basement of the Holiday Inn, this is a very good value Brazilian steakhouse. It’s $ 20 on weeknights and $ 24 on weekends, which is less than half of what it costs in the Manhattan Churrascarias.
You get the red light/​green light block that indicates if your table still wants to be served by the meat servers. The beef ribs and lamb were my favorite here. The steak cuts, as with most Brazilian steakhouses, are decent, but not great (I like dry-​aged rib eyes).
There is a buffet area for veggies and pasta items. It’s not as extensive as some other ones, but for the price, this is a very solid spot.

Great place to stuff yourself whenever the craving for meat hits you. I profess I am not a meat lover and am no meat connoisseur but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and variety of meat served here.
I came here this past weekend with a group of friends. The restaurant accommodates a large party, and the buffet/​all you can eat option makes for easy split of the bill. The buffet offering is limited compared to Plataforma in the city, but in my opinion, much better quality. On this particular night, there was a collard green /​kale with citrus salad that was AMAZING.
The servers make their rounds of beef, pork, chicken, and lamb meat on skewers. My favorite were the skirt steak, pork sausages, chicken sausages, and fish wrapped in bacon. They even have garlic breads on skewers, too! The garlic mini buns were a bit t of indulgence, but it was SO good!
The restaurant is a bit out of the way for me, so not sure when the next time I’ll get to come again, but it was truly an amazing eating experience!

After reading the Unilocal reviews decided to give this place a try. My wife and I were very delighted in the place. The staff was friendly and curteous. The food was fresh and service was very good. Can’t really beat the price at all. We would highly recomend this restaurant.
When you are here try the chicken salad it’s very good. And the skirt steak is delicious. The roast beef was done perfect medium.
As other reviews say it is a little hard to find but well worth the trip.

This steakhouse is located on basement level of the Holiday Inn Long Island City. I went here on a Friday night and noise levels were high due to the amount of families present with children.
Personally, I didn’t find the food at the cold/​hot buffet appetizing. It was just salads and a few trays of hot food. The did have a homemade hot sauce on the side that was pretty good though and went great with the BBQ. The BBQ wasn’t particularly amazing either and is very salty. The waitress was pretty good with the water refills though. They also didn’t serve us the right cut of meat at times. We would ask for rare and would get well done.
The service fee is already added onto the bill so no additional tip is needed. We almost ended up paying extra because we almost missed this.
There is an ATM, if needed, located right outside of the restaurant doors before the bathrooms, but they accept cards.

This is my third time here and this time was just as good as the first and second time, perhaps even better. On weekdays, the BBQ and buffet price is tough to beat. The variety of meats they come out with is absolutely amazing. All sorts of beef, pork, chicken, lamb, you name it, they pretty got it on a stick. What was really good was their garlic bread. Yes, the garlic bread! They served it hot and ready on a stick, perfect cubes of fluffy garlic bread. Pinch the garlic bread cubes together with some of their skirt steak or other meats and you’ll find yourself wanting more.
The service is always great but the guys who come and serve the meats are sometimes impatient and a bit moody and rude. Our waitress was really nice, our beverages came out almost right after as soon as we ordered them. What I didn’t like is how they assume that you’re finished with your beer or cocktail and they take it away with the quickness. Before you could tell them that you were not done with that, they’ve already speed walked their way away from your table.
Verdict — Still one of my favorite places to dine in. Some of the meats were somewhat salty but it’s okay. The chicken hearts needed to be grilled a little longer. They were too soft and squishy for my taste. I’ll certainly come back again. The meats here are pretty consistent and the short ribs and skirt steak are always my top choices when coming to Rio Grande.

I have to tell you this place is awesome I love the all you can eat $ 23.99 buffet the meat (steaks all kind chicken awesome Bacon wrapped around fish chicken sausage etc) omg I love the wine also let me tell you when I say fresh this food is fresh the brownie sundae is so good the brownie it self is homemade wow you don’t understand I’m a guy pile my plate baby with all that meat wow.

Holy smokes! What a gem of a place. Kind of hard to find but once you’re in, it’s completely worth it.
I haven’t been to the more well known Rodizios (Fogo de Chao etc.) so I don’t know how they would compare, but I absolutely loved Rio Grande. The price is definitely right, I was very full after the $ 20 AYCE deal. The meats were tender, moist, and delicious. The buffet was pretty decent (left a bit to be desired, but great for the price). It was a special treat for my girlfriend and I, for we are true carnivores. The service was also exceptional… we were seated as soon as we arrived and the friendly waiter promptly explained to us how rodizio works.
FWIW my favorite meats were the sausages, bacon wrapped turkey, and beef tenderloin. Also FYI, the drinks at this place are pretty decently priced. I got a Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn Lager for about $ 4, and my GF a stronggg caipirinha for $ 6. They definitely did not skimp on the cachaca. Can’t wait to be back.

I like the food but service fee it wasn’t very nice.
I believe it is because this place get a lot brazilian customers that pretend to forget to leave tip!
Gostei da comida mas cobrar taxa de servico nao e muito legal.
Eu acredito que e porque o lugar tem bastante clientes brasileiros que fingem esquecer de dar a gorjeta!

I came here for my birthday dinner after a friend recommended this inexpensive Brazilian barbecue buffet. The place was somehow at hard to find but once we reached he venue, we were directed to go down to the basement. The venue was clean, orderly and there was even live music as we ate.
The open salad bar was also a great complement to the differs types of barbecued meats that were offered. The salad bar included white rice, black beans, pasta, mozzarella and cherry tomato salad and several varieties of baked chicken.
The ordering process was pretty simple. You have a wooden block on your table. One end is red and the other, green. When you’re ready to be severed, you simply turn he block to the green end and the severs will just come up to you and carve up the meat at your table. If you’re full and don’t feel like having more, just flip the block to the red end.
My personal favorites were the sirloin, bacon wrapped chicken and fish. The ribeye and beef also weren’t bad. All the meats were served medium rare to medium.
Overall, I had a decent experience here and I left happily full. Would I come here? Sure.

Rio Grande Churrascaria is a delicious and reasonably priced eatery for us carnivorous diners. At $ 20 on weekdays and $ 23 on weekends, this is likely the cheapest rodízio this side of equator (or at least in Queens. If you know of another, send me a message). Rio Grande’s perfectly cooked succulent cuts of beef, lamb, pork and a few other meat options left me stuffed and anticipating my next visit. The dinner comes with all-​you-​can-​eat rotisserie and a buffet of assorted fixins. Scrumptious all around.
The meat came out regularly and was sliced by the passadores as instructed. Most of the meat was cooked medium although you could ask for more well-​done or rare cuts if available. Everything I had was perfectly crispy on the outside and juicy and tender in the middle. No need for any sauces with the meat. My favorite cuts were the skirt steak, top sirloin and chicken wrapped in bacon. They also had some very flavorful chicken legs at the buffet. This is coming from someone who don’t usually eat chicken legs. They tasted as if they were baked in a honey-​like glaze. Fell right off the bone. Delicious.
Both times I frequented this restaurant they had different buffet options, and I was happy on both occasions. The chimichurri sauce is good and can be used as a dressing or sauce to garnish your meat selections. I enjoyed the potato salad and rice & beans. The rest of my table raved about the yucca fries.
The servers do seem to linger around the TV watching soccer, which doesn’t bother me so long as the food keeps coming. I did also find it a little unusual that a 20 percent tip was included in the bill for my party of three, especially for a place where half of the food is served buffet style. I am a very generous tipper, but I don’t appreciate it when a prescribed service charge is forced upon me for what I would consider adequate service. Does the venue really attract such poor tippers that it’s necessary to include the charge in the bill? I’m assuming so.
I will definitely come back to Rio Grande (rolling my eyes about the included tip, perhaps). The food is delicious and the price is unbeatable.

Grande Disappointment
Food: 2 Stars
Where do I begin with the food. The salad bar is good, but small. The options are rather limited, but what they do have is good quality and a rather enjoyable start. The meat falafel (don’t know exactly what it was) was delicious. I had to stop myself from consuming too much of it.
The majority of the meats that passed by the tables were overcooked. Some were still tender, but it doesn’t excuse the fact that the majority of the beef and lamb were somewhere between medium-​well and well-​done. Occasionally the meat comes by dripping juices/​blood because it was cut into before it had rested. For a restaurant specializing in meat, it seems to be making many rookie mistakes. Other churrascaria’s I have been to provide meats with different temperatures available as well as meat that had rested before arriving on the dining room floor.
My favorite «meat» was the fish wrapped in bacon. It was soft and light. Sadly it only passed by on 2 occasions so I was unable to get more. The pork sausage was good.
The passion fruit mousse was a refreshing finish to a coma inducing meat-​a-​thon for the main course.
Service: 2 Stars
One thing that angers me is when a restaurant takes advantage of a customer’s lack of knowledge or lack on inquiry. Like many reviews posted before this one and likely many after the «complimentary sides» were nonexistent. We are a group of hungry people eating at an all-​you-​can-​eat restaurant. Just bring out the complimentary sides or ask the customers if they want any. You can save money by cooking less meat. I’m pretty certain some fries and mashed potatoes are cheaper than an extra-​large leg of lamb or sirloin steak. It’s a shady business practice. If you don’t want to tell people about the sides, then why have them at all. Just have the meats and the salad bar and let that be the end of it.
It really pisses me off!
The service otherwise was decent. The meats made their rounds quickly and the servers were friendly. It was hard to get the attention of the other servers for drinks and whatnot, but they seemed to focus on other things.
Ambiance: 2.5 Stars
Located in a hotel I didn’t expect much. You enter through the main entrance (on the corner) where you would think it would have been on the first floor. Off you go into the basement. I have eaten in restaurants located in the basement levels of a hotel before and had good overall experiences, but something here felt off. Maybe it was the way the room was setup, maybe it was the small buffet table, or maybe it was the dreary rainy weather on the day I ate there.
The live music was nice, but it doesn’t really fit the restaurant. Then again, outside of being a churrascaria, Rio Grande doesn’t seem to have much of an identity.
Overall: 2.25 Stars
You get what you pay for, $ 20/​$ 25 for the parade of meats is reasonable, but far from excellent.
Have to ask for complimentary sides, majority of people do not know or ask about it. Nothing is mentioned anywhere. Shady practice.
Decent, good quality items to choose from at the salad bar, although it is limited.
Meats are of a wide variety and come around often; however the majority will be overcooked (medium well and higher).
You won’t find another (if any) Churrascaria’s for the price anywhere else in Queens or the city for the price. If you are willing to overlook the miscues here and there I recommend a visit, otherwise I suggest spending a little for a better overall experience.

Went to Rio Grande churrascaria while on vacation in NYC and was staying at the holiday inn Manhattan view. Went there 4 different times, the food is excellent, price is good 20 dollars for all you can eat, it’s guaranteed that you’ll walk outta there full!
The cold bar and hot bar got great selections, the food tastes fresh, the ambient is great, the staff (mostly Brazilians) are very nice and friendly. They help you sort questions and types of meat you may want.
I went there a few times while in NYC and had such a great experience every single time I went there.
Definitely will be back for more.
Delicious food!

You know, this place had the potential to be fun and awesome, but man it sure WAS NOT. I chose this place for my birthday and it was completely embarrassing to have my friend feast on dry salty meats cooked to jerky-​like consistencies and dying of thirst because the restaurants wants to charge you $ 2.00 for a cup of hot water. A cup of HOT WATER. The waiters were so sour and mean that I was mortified they treated my guests so. The salad bar was also so salty — the few actual vegetable options tasted like they’ve been preserved for the last 100 years in a block of salt. Then at then end, they also charged us a cake fee. Oh, and they NEVER gave us the free sides we requested while bringing it out to all the other tables. The only highlight of the night was when the singer got the whole place to clap and sing for my birthday, so we gave him a huge slice of cake.
For better service, actual edible food, and your sanity, you might as well pay a little more for a quality churrascaria. My 15 friends and I agreed that we will NEVER be back.

Little bit of a strange setup. From the entrance on the corner (not the entrance to the Holiday Inn), you walk through the bar area, then to a foyer, then downstairs to the restaurant. The bar area was pretty quiet for a Saturday evening.
Like most Brazilian BBQ places, there’s a separate area for salads and some prepared foods. Here, the selection wasn’t very big — I did like their olive/​cheese/​tomato plate, some kind of spicy salsa, and their VERY hot sauce! I love spicy, but this was pretty strong yet still had some good flavor. Too much of it would definitely overpower … anything.
The meats are of very good quality. Nothing was over-​the-​top amazing, but for the price, the food was delicious. Nothing super-​exotic (except, perhaps, the chicken hearts). Their bacon-​wrapped fish was surprisingly good — normally those two don’t go together, but hey, bacon makes everything better, right? Also, the pork loin had some sort of flavor (like a dry mustard rub?) that was delicious. The flank and sirloin were a little tough.
About 24 bucks on the weekend plus whatever for drinks. First plate of plantains/​fries/​bread was free, after that they charge $ 3 for each (and it was pretty small). I love Pao de Queijo (cheese bread), but three bucks for about 5 tiny pieces was a bit of a rip-​off, and this was a little saltier than I recall (or maybe I’m comparing to the Colombian version).
Also, they have live music, but it usually starts after 8pm. When we went, it was one guy with a guitar and a synthesizer/​keyboard.

Sometimes there is nothing that makes you feel more gusto in life than biting into some juicy meat. the cave men do it. The lions on animal planet do it. and when you think about it most of us do it every night. Yes we are talking about meat. So when I hear all you can eat meat buffet for $ 20 i definitely get excited. I have been here on two occasions to sample the different types of grilled and charred and roasted meats that are brought around to each table. Besides caiparinhas and other libations they also serve brooklyn brewery beers. But i have to say my favorite drink here is the papaya juice. No free refills though. A good hot and cold bar is filled with very different types of sides I have never had before, even a slightly spicy meaty stew that they keep in a large pot which you can serve yourself.
How it goes is that they have these wooden blocks on the table green means go and red means no. Green is my favorite side even though it is a good idea to pace yourself. I wanted to try one of every piece of meat but it was hard to do because each time I told them I wanted a small piece I got a big one. Well one certainly doesnt come here if on a diet unless you are doing paleo. There aren’t too many prime cuts of meat but there isgood variety like wings, different types of sausages, lamb, and many different parts of moo cow. The servers are very good at remembering if you want rare or well done.
There are not too many carby dishes at the hot and cold bar but they do have a dish that supposedly comes with your meal and that is a dish of yucca fries and plantains which they must bring to your table. They should definitely inform you of the option. I pretty much sat there thinking there was something unbalanced about my meal. Thats cuz i forgot to order the free sides!!! I need carbs! The one time we did ask for it when asking for seconds on these free sides because we came with a large group. They charged us for plantains which we saw was added to our bill. Maybe cuz we shoudve said can you refill the free sides instead of can you refill the plantains. I felt they could have been more explicit in letting us know we would be charged.
But besides that the price would definitely encourage me and my wallet to return. I always leave full if not a little coarse/​dry in the mouth since they mostly use salt to season theIr meat which you can spice up with a dip in their house hot sauce. The drinks help but they are an additional charge unless you just ask for water. Its usually not that crowded since its kind of off the beaten path. Weekdays are almost andead zone. There is a side entrance on the street for the bar area of the restaurant but you have to go through some narrow stairs unless you go through the hotel lobby. Make sure you dont walk into the wrong hotel like I did. There are like 3 on the same block. Still a good place for a large gathering of hungry people if you don’t mind eating in a conference room like environment. Open mic and music livens it up a little if you come on a weekend. Defintely come hungry.

This occupies an acceptable middle ground between expensive churrascarias and pay-​by-​the-​pound Brazilian buffets, but they need to fix the awful «service charge» that may or may not be a tip. Since it’s 15% one might think it’s a tip, but since there’s a separate line for «gratuity» it may not be. Rio Grande, just because you’re in a Holiday Inn, doesn’t mean you have to adopt hotel cash-​training policies that are designed for captive audiences.
The pork loin was probably the strong point, with a clever presentation that basically resulted in «pure play» meat on one side and more sauces and seasonings on the other side. I think the sirloin was the first one and that was a good choice. There were several items that seemed like roast beef, one of which was actually roast beef.
I see a reference in another review to lamb and short ribs but I didn’t encounter either of those. The pork rib was odd since it had a nice taste but it was an unusual cut with a lot of bone and not much meat.
The Brussels sprouts were a strong point on the salad section. There’s a small selection of hot dishes; you can skip the chicken. Try some green sauce and hot sauce.

Situated in the Holiday Inn hotel you’ll find this restaurant in the basement. Ample space with great service. Plates were always replaced and the meats kept flowing.
Skip the salad bar except for your greens of choice as you’ll need the ruffage with your meats. The meats were grilled great with plenty of variety from beef pork and lamb. A bit salty as by the time you get home you’ll down a gallon of water. Standouts are the lamb and beef short ribs. Tender and delish. A note only on weekends do they have the cheese bread and do ask for the apps basket which is free and not on the menu of maduro yuca fries and either the cheese bread or veggie panninis. Nice mixed sagria and caprihas as well.
You can’t beat the price with value of the meal. 20 on weekdays and 25 om weekends. Not exactly a date night kind of place but great for groups as was with our group of 18.

Ok, so I finally came out of this meat coma from having eaten there like 3 times. I’ve talked about this place to so many people-​including people who live out of town just so they can come to a churrascaria for only 20 bucks! Seriously! You’re not going into a Fogo or a Brazzaz but what that means is that you’re not going to get a super fancy ambiance but the meats, oh the meats. Sirloin, chicken, lamb, chicken hearts. If you’re not going to eat the offal cuts then you’re really just a tourist in carnivore land.
The service is great with the 4 gauchos friendly and the last time I was there they were happy to feed me and my friend for what seemed like forever. They also let you go without the barbecue option for 15 which is still a good deal. Their buffet isn’t super big but it’s pretty extensive with a large variety of foods, hot and cold. Oh man, I need to go back right now.