Copacabana Brazilian Steakhouse - Vaughan — Restaurant in Vaughan

DON'T GO - NOT WORTH IT - READ REVIEWS HERE FIRST!! UPDATE - Credit card compromised here!!

DIRTY, RUDE, RAZOR THIN SERVINGS, OVERPRICED AND AN ADDITIONAL FORCED 18% GRATUITY ADDED TO EVERY BILL REGARDLESS OF THE SERVICE AND IT SHOWS BECAUSE STAFF AREN'T PLEASANT.

This restaurant has been a family favourite for our family celebrations over the past decade. Tonight (Sunday night) we excitedly went to celebrate our daughter's Birthday as it had been a couple of years since our last visit...

Made a reservation for 5 Adults at 6:15 - arrived at 6:05 and were bluntly told by the hostess we were early so we had to step aside. It wasn't busy in there - lots of open tables available where we watched them seat those walking in behind us without a reservation... but, okay.

We patiently waited.

Our reservation specifically asked to NOT be at a full booth, & despite only having a few full booths at the back of the restaurant, guess where they shoved us.

We took it though and didn't complain.

Table was dirty, it was missing a place setting. Two of the water glasses were dirty.

The food started to arrive and despite asking for the cutlery a couple of times they STILL didn't bring it, and our son had to use the serving tongs to eat his first serving of meat. Finally they brought him a fork before the next round of meat arrived.

Trying to order drinks means downloading the menu. When you go to order the drinks they require a credit card and in TINY writing with the box checked off they're subscribing you to some kind of a music subscription... I can only imagine the number of people who are unknowingly SCAMMED by this!! 😡 Update - A $40 USD charge appeared on my statement today!!

Decor is dirty and worn out. It feels dingy. The seats were all ripped up on the booths.

The meat was literally shaved razor thin, like little tiny scraps of meat rather than a normal serving slice as in the past. Less servers coming around with it.

As our son said "I get more meat in total in a Burger than what we have been served here!" He was still hungry after being there for an hour which he was disappointed because he has always been filled up there before.

At some points we were left waiting 10 - 15 minutes for them to come by which wouldn't seem like a big deal, but it has never been like that before and there is a time limit for how long you can be there.

We mentioned our daughter's Birthday and our server brought the cake, sang the FIRST line ONLY of "Happy Birthday" (Happy Birthday to you...) then left!! No smiles, servers seemed miserable.

At one point she had to excuse herself to go cry in the bathroom over her frustration and disappointment in the place. She said she was embarrassed because we brought her boyfriend and she had told him how GREAT the place was!

Prices have of course increased.

Understandable. With a $20 alcohol beverage it's about $100 per person. We expected to pay about $500 plus tax for our dinner tonight.

Bill arrived and there was an automatic 18% gratuity which was another $70.00 - for WHAT?!! Since WHEN has there been an automatic gratuity added to a regular sized table?!! They said it is added to EVERY bill.

No wonder the staff isn't pleasant - they don't have to be!!!!!!! They're guaranteed to receive a FORCED gratuity!! 🤬 THAT is when we FINALLY complained.

They argued with us on how it's mentioned on their website (never noticed it when I looked). It's NOT mentioned anywhere else, such as on the sign on the table.

They weren't going to refund it until we ALL started going through ALL of the issues we experienced, including showing photos of the dirty table and glasses - the manager was now outnumbered by ALL FIVE of us complaining loudly at him! Other people were looking our way because of it.

Finally he relented. He apologized, removed JUST the gratuity and blamed the change in quality on how the restaurant has changed several owners over recent years.

It is NO LONGER the same experience as before.

We're looking for a NEW favourite family restaurant for our celebrations...

What a huge disappointment! I have been to Copacabana in Toronto, in Niagara Falls, and now in Vaughan, I can't help but notice how it went from great to mediocre. The name is Copacabana Brazilian Steakhouse, right? Meaning "unlimited, table-side service of various meats carved directly from skewers. Customers use a GREEN-ON-RED card to signal they are ready for more meat or need a break, while they also have access to a SALAD BAR AND various SIDE DISHES". Who had the great idea of turning a Brazilian steakhouse into a sports bar, with huge TV screens and unbearable noise? If I want to watch the game, I go somewhere else. A sports bar "is an establishment that caters specifically to sports fans. It usually has TVs with big screens. Sports bars often serve snacks and light meals". If you are smart enough, you know there is a HUGE difference. Mixing both concepts? Awful, total failure. I was wondering why we did not get the green-on-red cards at the table. My answer came later. We booked a reservation for 2 at 8:00 pm (anniversary dinner, what a mistake!); we had clear that you have a 2-hour limited time to eat. Everything was going OK (I will go into the OK details later) until 9:00 pm, when ALL the servers suddenly decided to IGNORE us as if we were invisible; they simply stopped bringing food to the table. After waiting for more than 30 minutes, I called one of them and complained. Then we were served again. If you are reading this, you probably figured it out as I did. They REMOVED the green-on-red cards so that you don't have a choice! If they stop serving you, you are not longer allowed to decide whether you want more food, or you need a break. And what happens if you are eating and take a break? It allows your brain to receive the satiety signal, which takes about 20-30 minutes, helping you eat less food. Yes, you got it. When they began serving us again, we were full, had one or two more pieces, and that was it. Exactly what they wanted, you stop eating, you are done. And what about that fantastic salad bar they had? Inexistent. They now "sell" you the idea of unlimited side dishes. First, they are tiny (calling them "single portions" is an understatement). Second, good luck with ordering the side dishes again: it will take forever to bring them to you. Now I will tell you what was OK: the food was OK, it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. Entertainment was OK: oh dear Lord, I felt so bad for the guy who was trying, trying so hard to sing. How could you have someone singing live, and then not turning off the background music, so that you could at least appreciate his effort? It was torture, from beginning to end. The background noise was so loud, we were not able to hear if the guy was singing in Spanish, Portuguese or English. Piece of information: I speak those 3 languages fluently (I am not being presumptuous here, just showing you how awful it was). And the garotas or Samba dancers? In the past, the show with the garotas was the best attraction at the restaurant. Do you want to know how long was the show this time? 5 minutes (I counted). Remember I mentioned it was an anniversary dinner? When you book a reservation, you can add a special request: I asked for a drink. And yes, you guessed, it never came. The cherry on top: They had the nerve of charging 18% auto-gratuity (you learn that at the end, when you are presented with the bill). They don't deserve 18, 15, 10, not even 5% gratuity: average food, mediocre service, awful environment, disturbing and annoying atmosphere, poor entertainment, and worst of all, being completely dishonest in the way you sell this place, and what really has become. Fortunately, not all people are stupid and can see when they are being fooled, as I could see it clearly. Fool me once.... Not anymore. Mr. Volodymyr Zhuravel, allow me to give you an unsolicited advice: If you had something to do with this downfall, do something about it. More and more customers will realize that it is not worth it, and will never come back, as...

Please note: Birthday person does not eat for free anymore! No one will remind you until it is time for you to pay. Then they will say happy birthday to you. The pandemic has changed our lives meaningfully, and AYCE restaurants were no exception. Rising prices are palpable, and I get it. Even with this challenge, many places still offer a great experience, and unfortunately, this place does not. I visited with my friends to celebrate a birthday. The person who booked us did not inform us that the birthday person could no longer eat for free. Also, there were no dancers anymore, and we were not impressed. The waitress who seemed to be the main server for our table was insincere and rarely visited our table. She hardly cleaned our table and never really tried to get new plates when they got dirty or offered dessert when I clearly said that we were ready for them. We were not having a good time and never bothered to ask for the birthday celebration with the cake I brought. So, I asked her to bring it back to us at the end of the meal. She did not even think twice about putting it on the dirty table, where many servers had dropped steak slices and other food particles. We had to ask her to put it on the seat so that the birthday person could bring it back home without making her hands dirty. I found it very inconsiderate and not deserving of the 18% tip included in the meal. Besides the waitress, other male servers who carved steaks tried to chat with us and asked us what we wanted to eat. Even though visits were noticeably fewer, they increased the variety by introducing lamb and short ribs. Lamb was all right, and short ribs were a decent distraction if not over-seasoned. They now grill the chicken perfectly, then serve it in a bowl instead of overcooking them on a skewer. I think the grilled shrimp, top sirloin steak, and grilled pineapples were just like how I remembered them. One downside was that because the serving cycles were infrequent, we actually could not try all the meat options they had on the menu. There were steaks wrapped in bacon that I saw served after our 2-hour seating at the table had passed. As for the sides, there were no more salad bars. You have to use the QR code to see the menu and then verbally request them to the server. Since our waitress never visited us, we had to grab other servers who passed by our table. It was inconvenient because the menu used Brazilian words and did not explain what they were with explanations or pictures. We got grilled mushrooms, grilled potatoes, and mashed potato cakes. They were made to order and tasted good. I wanted simple condiments like olives, pickles, and pickled peppers. However, I could not readily find them on the menu and could not order them. The desserts were overall let-downs in terms of quality. Mini churros were smaller than a pinky but still had good flavour. Berry cobbler was like a berry cake, and the gelato tasted more like ice cream. When I ordered gelato and cobbler simultaneously, I noted that they put one scoop of ice cream over the cobbler. However, my friend who just ordered gelato got a bowl with three scoops. Overall, I could see that the restaurant changed dramatically for the worse. They kept the quality of some of their signature offerings. However, the drop in frequency of steak slices made it less of an AYCE experience and more of a food ration experience. They removed their signature token, and I could see why - there were not enough visits in the first place to need a stop sign! The poor experience with the waitress was the final nail in the coffin for me. The restaurant fixed the tip at 18%, which I thought was very high. There was no quality control in service. I would not be coming back and cannot recommend this place to my worst enemy. Considering that we almost paid $100 per person, I would wait for others who can afford such luxury to write favourable reviews before...