Rio Brazilian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Vancouver

Writing a negative review isn't something I embrace, especially when the people are so nice. I do, however, feel that as someone who will read reviews, it's important to write them also.

The staff are great. Nice, friendly, and helpful. They greet you and make eye contact and they display a genuine desire to make your visit positive and memorable. Three different staff members also went out of their way to invite us to ask for anything we might like. The front-of-the-house staff were some of the best I have seen at customer service.

The food was so very disappointing. Granted we haven't been here in a long time. We are making an effort to reconnect with restaurants we haven't been to in a while and decided to visit here. The last time we visited the food was great. In this type of environment, you are not expecting prime but you are expecting enjoyable.

Commercial kitchens have many tricks to add flavour and make meat more tender. I really hope Rio does some online research into ways to achieve this. The New York steak was so tough we both had to grind our way through what we had to avoid leaving too much on the plate. The rib eye was also tough but less so. The sirloin was also so chewie my jaw was sore by the time we left. That is not hyperbole. We actually ended up with sore jaws and gave up before we were quite finished. This was by far the toughest New York steak I have ever seen and overall the beef was tougher than I have experienced at any restaurant. The flavour wasn't bad but it was also marred by a large amount of gristle. This is disappointing at a restaurant as you can't chew it up effectively and swallow it and you feel rude spitting it out all the time. Because of the nature of rodizio and soft light, you can't see it in advance to cut it off before you eat.

The chicken was good. The drumsticks were cooked perfectly and the BBQ flavour was good with the juices sealed in. The chicken thighs in bacon were a little dry but had excellent flavour and still were easy to eat.

The pork while we were there was just pork sausage but my partner had one and enjoyed it but found it a bit dry.

The tables are not crowded together and you don't feel people bumping your chair every time they get up which was nice. The tables were well laid out and felt clean when we sat down. The windows were unfortunately disgusting. It appeared as if they had been wiped down with a greasy cloth and dried. I am not talking about cleaning streaks, I am talking about view-obscuring smears. So much so that we were alarmed about how the washrooms would be and if the uncooked food was washed properly. The washrooms were pretty normal for a restaurant and we had no issues with the uncooked food but seeing such visible film right beside the table concerned us and did have an effect on how we saw the restaurant's sanitizing practices.

The salad bar and hot food bar were plentiful but odd. I got some coleslaw but when I cooped it on my plate I saw it was dry. Not light on the dressing, dry. I looked in the salad bar for coleslaw dressing but all I could find was thousand islands. That's just an example. It was disjointed and while not lacking in items, it was lacking in usability and flow. The hot food was fresh when we arrived. It was prepared well and fresh but quite bland. There was no au jus or dip at the salad bar or table.

Lastly, they do not publish their prices on their website. Only for takeout. You are left to look for reviews and comments online to get that info.

To sum it up.... Fantastic staff. Plentiful food that you may not want to eat. Don't look out the window or you may lose...

If I could give this 100/10 stars I would! I have so much to say. so please grab a coffee and enjoy.

In my entire life living in Vancouver, I have never received the kind, generous, and warm hospitality that I did at Rio. It was a dining experience like no other. The variety of salads, hot buffet foods and meats is impressive. The food is always a perfect temperature, fresh and most of all flavorful! I never thought I could fall in love with rice and beans but trust me once you have tried the rice and beans at Rio you will never want regular rice and beans again. It was even approved by the Mexican boyfriend, he said it tasted like home - and trust me we've tried a lot of Latin food places. So if I am raving about something as simple as the rice and beans you can't even imagine how delicious the meats were! From New York sirloin steak with garlic butter, to the most amazing brisket. The best part is you get to try a little of everything and can figure what you like The presentation was beautiful, you have servers coming around and cutting slices off of the meats on swords and every single one of the servers were so friendly, kind and happy! It's rare for me to find restaurants where the employees are happy so you know it must be a good establishment that cares about their staff. ** Not to mention it is very affordable for how much food you get!!!!

They were a bit busier than usual so I believe they did not have all their servers but you know what they did? Their managers and owners were seating and serving people!! That is something I hardly see in customer service or food industries! I was so impressed and humbled that their own bosses were serving and helping out too.

Our servers made our night extremely special as it was our first anniversary and brought us out a delicious and refreshing sangria not too sweet or too tart and surprised us with some of their appetizers. Let me tell you I will never eat a banana that is not deep fried ever again! It was amazing. The servers were so much fun to chat with and learn about Brazilian culture, they made the environment extremely warm and it made me feel like I was part of a family!

At one point of the night, our server was the owner! What an incredible and kind human being! We chatted about how they've had this place for over 10 years now and how it started with him and his father to now him and his sister. You can tell how passionate he is about food and people. There is just something so incredible when you get to meet the people behind the business that made it much more of a personal connection. It was honestly such a beautiful experience and made our special night even more special.

I write reviews when an experience moves me and I honestly don't have enough words to really encapsulate what an amazing dinner it was!

So please, if you are ever in the need for some amazing all you can eat BBQ and want to support an incredible locally owned business you need to come and dine here! And you MUST try the Cinnamon Roasted Pineapple!

Thank to the entire staff at...

So, I’m from out of town. But, I have a deep love for this style of restaurant and have never been to this location before for obvious reasons (I live across the country).

We arrived early (4:15pm) and came to find out (through a quick call) that they don’t open this particular evening until 5:30pm.

Once the doors open, we were informed by the hostess that they were fully booked until 8:30pm with a large function.

Now, you’re probably asking yourself, “why is this review 5 stars?!”, and you’d be right to do so. The hostess who answered the phone never mentioned a reservation when I called, and we waited for over an hour just to be turned away. So how do they “deserve” 5 stars?

The answer is EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE. I called the restaurant after we left, and asked to speak to the manager because I was quite disappointed about the lack of information provided at the outset.

We had a pleasant conversation, and he was beyond apologetic for the confusion with the first phone call and not being able to seat us when we arrived. Our call ended, and that was that.

Shortly after we had departed, my phone rang. It was the manager. He had had a reservation possibly cancelling and wanted to offer us the table if they did. Way above and beyond what I ever expected from any establishment.

The reservation didn’t cancel. But, In the end, in true Canadian style a gentlemen celebrating his child’s birthday, had extra seats in his reservation and offered us a place at his table. A great end to a night that started oddly.

Food was excellent (my mother had never experienced Brazilian BBQ), the staff were fantastic, I met with the afore mentioned manager and thanked him for going above and beyond and truly had an unexpected night to remember.

Highly recommended (remember to call ahead and make...