Carnaval Brazilian BBQ — Restaurant in Winnipeg

I'd been wanting to try this restaurant for years because the concept at least sounded amazing. I hadn't heard many first-hand accounts as the price is no doubt a barrier to entry for most, so it was up to me to test the waters. I imagined a more luxurious interior than the merely functional surroundings but I couldn't complain because I enjoyed the open view of all the meats roasting on their rotisserie racks as the chef prepared them.

The main draw is the unlimited servings of meats of various types and cuts, all sliced before your eyes by a dedicated carver. Once you signal for them, the meats come up at you fast and furious and the restaurant at least gets full points for presentation. I thought for the most part, the taste and selection was pretty good though what doneness you get seems to be luck of the draw. Fortunately I didn't get too many dry or overdone pieces and if you wait long enough you'll have other opportunities to get something a little more rare. The main problem taste-wise was that several meats were way over-salted and that when similarly over-seasoned, it's hard to tell the difference between several cuts. I found my appetite declined quickly and everything tasted overly rich and same-y before long. It's a good thing that there are plenty of sides to choose from to cut the high fat and salt intake. They're nothing to write home about but they get the job done. I just pity the vegetarian that has to dish out $40 for merely passable sides.

Drinks were also way overpriced for what you got. I don't know if all of the normally $15 cocktails were as small as the one I got on special, but I would exercise caution. Service was really good though. Servers were attentive, readily checked in to see if I had everything I needed, and even humoured my outlandish request to determine which cuts of meats I hadn't yet tried by process of elimination.

I'm not the biggest eater so maybe I'm not the best candidate to judge but I feel like after $100+ I paid nearly double what my meal was actually worth. It was okay just have a unique and captivating experience just once but I can't in good conscience recommend this restaurant to those who value quality as much as quantity, or are more budget-conscious for what they actually get.

(3.5 stars rounded down due to...

I keep seeing reviews on how wonderful the service is here… My group personally did not experience good service. The way things were explained to us is that we could order as many sides as we liked because they came with the meal. Each couple proceeded to order their preferred sides but the server only brought out one tiny bowl of salad or cheese balls or mashed potatoes or dips or fries…. to be passed around the 8 of us and shared family style?! The 4 sets of couples ordered 4 salads to share between them and you bring us one dinky little bowl? This is definitely not right. So we had to keep ordering salads (and other sides) and every time there was a long delay in getting it. So ridiculous… you really should have just given each couple what they ordered. It actually caused a lot of confusion at our table because everyone was looking for the sides they ordered but we were served only one small bowl to be split 8 ways! Part way through my meal I needed another drink because the meat is EXTREMELY SALTY but couldn’t track down our serving person. I asked several other staff close by. It took me 30 minutes to get a pop! I could have walked in the kitchen myself and gotten it quicker and to top that off the pop cost a whopping $4.75, talk about gouging the customer!! Initially when ordering our drinks our server made us yell across the large table to her rather than walking up to people at our table and that definitely wasn’t appreciated. I found some of the meat to be tough, burnt and chewy and for the price we paid for our meal, it plain and simple should not have been. They also cut off unmanageable sizes that were hard to cut through. We also didn’t get to try all the various varieties of meats despite asking several times when something will be available, as well as being there a long time so there really was no excuse for this. At one point I felt like our service was terrible because our server was guaranteed her 18% tip because we were a group of 8, so therefore she didn’t have to put as much effort into serving our table. This place has a hefty price point and it’s not...

Great place to go, had a wonderful time on my first and only visit.

The food was amazing! All of the meats that came around were seasoned to perfection. I knew I was coming to a restaurant with a better reputation but I was still expecting the meat to be cooked as they usually are at all you can eat joints, Medium+ and dry. Boy was I wrong! Everything that could be was on the low side of Medium-Rare and it was juicy perfection. Everything was prepared just how it needed to be to make me want more. I had to be convinced it was time to flip that little card over to red. :(

The atmosphere was pretty good. When you first walk in, you are greeted with the smell of grilled meat and a slight smoky haze. It made me smile. It is a nice open concept floor that allowed you to see what was coming around the room at any given time so you knew what you were in store for. It also allowed the wait staff to be aware of what your needs were before it became an issue.

The service was really good. Our personal server was a very friendly guy. Friendly to the point where on occasion he did get caught up in conversations at other tables, stalling his rounds to everyone. But the entire staff worked together to make sure that no tables were left wanting which was great. Our guy suggested a great wine to go with our meal, wish I could remember what it was cause I would definitely get that again next time. When our order of after dinner drinks came, one of them was missing the mint leaves (pretty important in a Mojito) so instead of putting it back in the queue to get made again, he personally went down to the bar and made a fresh one himself.

It is an overall great place that I highly recommend trying out if you love eating copious amounts of...