RIO Brazilian Restaurant Parramatta — Restaurant in Sydney

Firstly, we had a booking at 6 pm and were told we could walk in any time between 5:45 pm, so we did turn up around 5:40 pm to be told to wait in the seating area for 5 mins before going to our table (which is fair enough) However, 2 mins after we sat in the waiting area, another couple walked in, and were seated immediately at their table, where as we were asked to wait for another 5 mins. This indicated for us, very poor service and ageist behaviour (we are fairly young, the couple were more mature/elderly).We were then seated at our table and were not asked if we wanted any water or drinks, but just told how the menu works and that was it. We were then given 4 plates on our table (even though we have mentioned in the booking only for 2 people, we had noticed they did this to another table) which may be a minor detail, but excellent customer services goes a long way and they will notice every little detail. A staff member eventually came to ask us after 25 mins ( we believe after hearing us unhappy about not being offered a drink) and asked abruptly if we wanted drinks, which we then ordered. We had also noticed that another couple that came 15 mins after us were able to order drinks straight away and received that. Once again, very poor service and inconsistency between your inexperienced staff. Aside from your one waiter (brasilian young guy, who was very bubbly, introduced himself, provided good service) the other waiters were very unprofessional, abrupt, lacking energy and showing no sense of emergency. One of the waiters actually would sigh/grunt loudly if we didn’t take a meat he was offering when coming around. Please pass on our feedback regarding the brasilian waiter, as the other’s could learn a lot from him and you are lucky to have at least one good waiter with energy. We ordered a margarita for a drink, however it was the most poorest attempt of a margarita I have ever seen. The margarita had ice cubes in it, diluting the drink completely. Now for $19 for the margarita, you guys putting ice cubes in it (which I have never seen in the 100’s of margitas I’ve had in my time) tells me that the staff member making the drink has no idea how to make cocktails or needs to do another course in that area as that was poor. Do not take on a cocktail menu with that pricing, if you can’t make them.The food then started to arrive. The first dishes we received were salads, sauces, and some sides, which were good, so no complaints there. We then received a huge bowl of chips in a plate, which seemed overly large and the presentation itself was sloppy (not sure if the idea was the compensate for the lack of variety of meats you offered, but I will get to that shortly). The meat then started to be served, and we started to notice the lack in variety and flavour in what was being offered. The garlic beef, was extremely tough (my jaw was physically hurting trying to eat that) and lacked any flavour what so ever. There was nothing brasilian about any of your dishes with the exception of the rump steak. The dishes tasted more Indian than brasilian, which tells us that the chef has no real knowledge on brasilian cuisine (by the way peri peri chicken is not brasilian). You served some green marinated thigh chicken breast which we had never seen in a brasilian restarant before which was actually undercooked, and some of the chicken wings were pink inside, which actually caused my partner and I to have some stomach cranks soon after that meal. There were no desert options and if there were, we were not told about it from your staff. After a while the meat stopped coming to our table and it was clear, that there was no choice in what was being offered at all ( you offered two types of wings, and sausages when you didn’t need to double up on that and instead could of offered alternative red meats such as lamb or another seafood dish like prawns). The grilled fish that was served, was extremely salty and had a very strange flavour to it (possible Indian fish masala?, not very brasilian). Tacky presentation like a...

WORST DINING EXPERIENCE EVER! We booked a table for 2 with a pram, when we arrived we are coupon for $35pp they told us that only is valid for week nights, no where on the coupon or the website when we booked was this stated, so we paid our $49pp and 2 cocktails, $130 in total. They took 10 mins to seat us but when taken to our table they decided it wouldn't be convenient with the pram, 5 mins later they're still trying to decide where to put us, it took myself to point out a table, asked them to move it an inch back and I could slide my pram next to the other pram and not be in anyone's way. 20 mins later we're still waiting for the drinks. We go over the buffet and the food didn't look impressive, it looked bland and cold, and it was just that. 45 mins later still waiting for some meat to be served, we noticed that everyone was at the buffet and that's probably because they were so hungry, I started thinking that they're doing this on purpose so that you get full on the side so that they don't have to bring out as much meat! Some meats were going out to other tables down the other end of the restaurant but you could tell not enough meat was coming out and we never got to see any of that meat come our way and I noticed a lot of table would get skipped. So now it's been an hour since we've had any real food, this is not the experience I was expecting having been to other Brazilian restaurants that have never disappointed. By this stage we had truly lost our appetite and we asked for a refund plain and simply. The lady in charge said that they bring meat out constantly and we just had to wait as this is how it is done and by looking at our plates we had eaten!!! She was quiet rude and tried to say well we'll get some meat out for you now but by then we we're so upset that we just walked out and left our drinks 3/4 full. Before we left I said to her look this isn't the way this is done and you will not be getting good reviews from customers by the end of the night, I'm saying this to help you with your business so that it can become better, her reply "we never get bad reviews". Ha! well maybe they should look on Eatability and these Google reviews to see what they're customers really think. Also there was no air conditioning, it was so hot in there and really noisy, it felt like you were in a chicken coup. Overall service was poor, quality and quantity of food was poor, and the value for money was very poor. Not the Churrasco experience we're used and highly recommend you do not go here!

Now just a word to the owner Kathy, please don't bother writing a response as reading everyone else's reviews and your responses, I see that you clearly take no responsibility for the state of your staff and food. As Gordon Ramsay would say "you are delusional and just don't care". You tell people if they have a problem to ask for a refund, well we did that a quarter of the way through our meal and you were simply arrogant and denied us that refund. You do not take criticism well and if you just stopped for a minute and listened to what the customers are saying you would realize that quite possibly we may all be right and maybe you would look at the way you were doing things and try to improve the quality of every single aspect of your restaurant, from service to food and very importantly to the attitude of the owner. You have a fantastic location with a real chance to make this the best restaurant in Parramatta, it's an opportunity that a lot of people don't get and you're just stuffing it up. Wake up, listen to what your customers are telling you, go to another Brazilian restaurant for a day and talk to the owner and get them to show you how they do it, where they get they're produce from and really look at they're standards, then take that with you and make your restaurant be what it should be. Re-adjust your attitude towards this and you'll be seeing 5...

(Full review on Zomato)

Had a much better experience than expected!

We were gifted two vouchers for the regular banquet. Looking at the reviews here, we were expecting a pretty bad experience, but we turned out to be very pleasantly surprised. So, although we didn't ourselves pay for this meal, we would have happily and will most likely come again.

Ambience: At first it felt a bit awkward, since we were the only ones in the restaurant at 7pm on a Friday night. To be fair though, it was summer and still light outside and the other Church St restaurants weren't exactly swinging yet either. Over time (around 8 o'clock), the restaurant did fill out a bit more with more tables joining, which improved the atmosphere.

The decor is a bit dated and doesn't quite fit with the general vibe of the Church St restaurant precinct. I think some quick wins could be had here by lowering the lighting a bit and reducing the number of tables set out if the restaurant isn't expected to be as busy. This would help create a bit more of an intimate atmosphere, which Brazilian churrasco dining is known for.

To be honest, I don't think the entertainment the restaurant sometimes has is really necessary (dancers and DJ). I didn't feel like were were missing anything when it was cancelled for the evening. Again, the atmosphere and experience would benefit more from a more intimate, relaxed setup.

Service: The staff were really friendly and professional and greeted and served us wonderfully. This included (we're fairly sure) the manager, who throughout the evening seemed genuinely proud of the establishment and eager to please.

Food: This was the highlight of the evening and what we were most pleasantly surprised about! Some of the criticisms that have been levelled are technically true, but perhaps the harshness is a reflection of past experiences that people have had here. I get the impression that the restaurant has changed management, because things like only getting one type of meat or the meat being overly salted simply wasn't the case in our experience.

After ordering drinks, the first thing you are served is your cold sides. Nothing spectacular, but nice to have a bit of fresh greenery and pretty consistent with what we've been served at other Churrasco restaurants (and the potato salad is great!). We were missing the cassava flour though. :(

Next you're brought your hot sides. Here is where some will be put off. You're served a HUGE plate of chips (fried potato chips as you'd find in most kebab shops or Lebanese/shawarma restaurants), garlic bread (dinner rolls cut in half and spread with garlic butter), cheese bread balls (authentic Brazilian!), big bowl of coconut rice (didn't think this was a Brazilian thing but apparently it is?), and a biiiiiig bowl of black beans. This is all fine and could actually be what Brazilians have as sides.

Which brings us to the main event: the meat.

The meat was amazing.

It started off a bit slow, but picked up and soon were were getting all kinds of skewers of meat coming at us: Beef, lamb, pork neck, chorizo sausage, chicken wing, chicken breast, Portuguese chicken, beef rump steak... We couldn't fit it all in! I don't buy the claim that they are trying to fill you up on sides, they were PLENTY generous with the meat! For the most part it was juicy and tender with a beautifully charred rub/marinade on each. A couple of the meats seemed slightly overdone, but this was probably due to the cut of meat and the way it was seasoned.

By the time dessert (deep-fried banana and grilled cinnamon pineapple) came around, we were absolutely stuffed.

In short, there is certainly room for improvement, but I would absolutely recommend Rios to anyone (except vegetarians. Honestly, what are you doing going to a Brazilian barbeque restaurant if you don't eat meat?).

Thank you for a very...