Brioso Brazil Rates Mediocre

Brioso Brazil
3607 Magellan
Bentonville
2 1/2 Stars

It was a major night out on the town when we went to eat dinner at this upscale Brazilian style restaurant for a special occasion two years ago. The $32 full-course price tag was steep for folks on a fast-food budget. But it was worth it: The food was amazing, the service outstanding and the entrées kept coming until we were too full to slide out of our chairs, much less have dessert.

So it may be that our expectations were a little high for this lunch review.

Lunch at Brioso is offered in only two forms: the salad buffet ($9), which allows patrons the pick of an extensive palette of lettuces, pastas, deli meats and cheeses; and the full-course lunch ($11) which includes the salad buffet and also, trips to the buffet of churrasco meats, mashed potatoes and warm mixed vegetables.

Four women and one “meat-and-potatoes” man’s man went on this review. The ladies went for the salad buffet that includes deli meats and exotics such as hearts of palm, but the guy wouldn’t settle for less than the full course with plenty of meat.

Seating was immediate and available in a semi-private area, so a business group discussing proprietary vendor secrets or the latest gossip could cut loose.

The women said the salad bar was good, though no one got really excited about it. One noted the soups were “great,” particularly the clam chowder. She rated the experience with an overall “A minus” because the bar ran out of chowder before she could slurp seconds.

The man at the table was expecting to devour his own weight in savory cooked meats, but he was underwhelmed with the quality of the selections from the warm chaffing-dish buffet.

On that day the offering was glazed ham and pineapple, pork loin, linguica sausage, turkey breast, chicken legs and ribeye along with the veggies and potatoes. He tried everything but the chicken legs.

Most of the meat was dry and semi-warm by the time it hit his plate, though he did say the sausage was delicious.

With such a lackluster meal, the diners gave the establishment an opportunity to redeem itself with desserts. A New York-style cheesecake with raspberry sauce ($5) and a chocolate-fudge pie topped with two big scoops of ice cream ($5.50) were ordered and consumed. The fudge pie got lots of “oohs” and “ahhs” but the cheesecake could’ve been anyone’s.

The most memorable thing about the lunch was the price.