About 25 years ago, my family and I lived in Brazil, where my father worked on that country’s first nuclear power plant. One of my fondest memories of that time is a visit to a Brazilian restaurant called a “churrascaria”. These are a uniquely Brazilian invention which, in my opinion, would do well in the USA. They are an “all you care to eat” style restaurant that features barbecued meats of every variety. In a typical churrascaria, you are seated at a table, partake of a salad and vegetable bar, and when you’re ready for meat, you have a device (typically a card) on your table that indicates you’re interested in meat. Roving servers will drop by to tempt you with various cuts of steak, chicken, pork, lamb, sausage, etc. If you like what they have, they’ll slice some off the skewer they’re carrying and you grab it with tongs and put it on your plate. When you are full, you use the device to tell the servers you’re finished and they stop bringing the meat.
I’ve just returned from “Sal & Carvao” (Portuguese for “salt and charcoal”), a restaurant located at the intersection of Finley and Butterfield in Downers Grove, Illinois. This churrascaria is one of three I’ve visited in the United States. The others were located in Washington, DC, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It’s definitely a good one.
My vegetable plate included asparagus, roasted spring vegetables in a balsamic vinaigrette, and jambalaya (technically not a vegetable dish). I also had some proscuitto and salami. All of it was first-rate, fresh-tasting, and delicious. This was followed by the meat courses, which included “bottom sirloin”, marinated chicken breast, linguica (sausage), lamb, chili-lime chicken, filet mignon wrapped in bacon, and probably one or two other meats I’m forgetting. In addition, there were three side dishes offered. These included garlic mashed potatoes, a vegetable medley, and truffled french fries.
The service at Sal & Carvao is great, easily an 8 or 9 out of 10. I rarely wanted for anything.
The side dishes weren’t bad, but not my favorites of the meal. I don’t care much for garlic mashed potatoes, though theirs were better than average. The vegetable medley was good, but I’d gotten my fill at the harvest bar (salad bar) earlier. And the fries, well, I didn’t care for them but they were OK. (The side dish concept, by the way, is something I’ve only noticed in the U.S. churrascarias. I assume they’re provided to reduce the guests’ intake of meat items, which are probably cheaper in Brazil than in the U.S.) I generally ignored them during my dining.
The meats were all good. The filet was probably my least favorite since it was a little dry, but even that was good. The marinated chicken breast was excellent. The bottom sirloin was great. The linguica was perfect. The lamb was the second-best I’ve ever had (the best, interestingly, was at a churrascaria in Washington, DC).
On balance, I’d have to give Sal & Carvao at least an 8 out of 10. The service is excellent. The food is really good. The seating was comfortable. The “harvest bar” was very good.
I have only two real complaints about the place. The music got a bit loud during the latter part of my visit, and took away some from my enjoyment of the food. My other complaint is that they don’t have a location in Columbus, Ohio. If they did, I suspect it would become one of my regular haunts at home!
admin Food barbecue, brazilian restaurant, churrascaria, downers grove illinois, restaurant review, review, Sal & Carvao, Salt and Charcoal
