Tchê Brazilian Grill by Rodizio Grill — Restaurant in Ammon

First of all, if you have any expectations at all that this is going to be anywhere close to the Brazilian grills down in Boise or Salt Lake City, they’re not even on the same playing field. This goes for both the salad, bar area, including the side, dishes, and the meat. Nothing even close to the variety, or quality, that you have in the other places.

Went there on a Saturday night, we were in and out of there in about 45 minutes. We had reservations, and we’re seated pretty much right after we got in the restaurant.

Not a big fan of having to go up and get your meat cut, with so much rather have them come around to the tables as an all the other ones that we’ve been to. Usually when you get your meat cut, it’s just a thin strip and less you ask for more. I went up there about 10 times for different meat, about five of those times there was not one person cutting meat just an empty station with people waiting in line. Another two or three times they only had two cutters with a huge line, The lines do move fast though.

Overall, the sides and meat were good, I don’t think they compare to the ones in Salt Lake City and Boise. Only three types of steak to choose from, they pretty much all taste the same.

The big issue this place has is with their staff. And, the way the restaurant works with the different employees. They have the people cutting meat going back-and-forth sometimes waiting a couple minutes before they come back to the station. They need to have runners for that. At least 50% of the time there was nobody up there cutting because they were too busy in the back getting something else ready.

I definitely would not go there on a Friday or Saturday night with our reservations. This place does not have their stations down as they should. We got there at 6:15, eight, and we’re ready to leave around seven, there were a few people that were just being seated, when we were leaving, who were also there right when we arrive. At the same time, there was a table next to us, behind us, and two to the side that were empty almost the entire time we were there. They had a ton of people coming in, and a ton of empty tables at the same time throughout our entire stay. They really need to get a handle on having more than just one person seating people.

The staff was great, very nice, the food was OK, nothing jumps out to make me want to come back soon. Would much rather have people walk to your tables with the meat, going up and standing in that line and waiting at a station for somebody to get there, just didn’t cut it.

Overall a nice place to eat it. Great place to bring a date, but it’ll be tough to go back until they fix the logistics of the two issues. One, making sure there’s somebody cutting that meat at all the stations so there’s no big lines. Create an extra station where they have meat runners so the people cutting the meat don’t have to leave. And two, get the seating logistics down. There were way too many people waiting to eat while there were many tables that have been cleaned and opened for 15 to 20 minutes straight.

So, for two people, no alcohol in the drinks, it was $89. That was $74 for the bill, 20% tip. We each had the Buffay, and 2 lime aids. Speaking of limeade, I would recommend the coconut limeade....

It was good.... and that's about it. For the price point, which was $1 less than the full Brazilian churrasco experience at a Tucanos in Boise or Salt Lake, I felt the offerings and service was a little lacking. It was fun, but I'm not sure I'd run back any time soon. I thought this would be basically like Tucanos except you go to the gauchos to get the meat instead of the gauchos bringing the meat to you, so the price point seemed worth it.

Sadly, that was not the case. There weren't nearly as many side dish offerings as I imagined there'd be, not for the price, and they didn't seem all that well maintained. We had a 4:45 dinner reservation because we had some Littles with us, so it was not very busy. In the hour that we were there, the rice, which was all but empty when I went up to the tables at the beginning of our meal, was never refilled. I'd wanted to try it with the steak and mushrooms, but there wasn't enough rice, unless I wanted to scrape the sides. The side dishes and salad that I did have were really good, but I just thought there'd be more options.... similar to the full Brazilian churrasco.

I will say, it was really nice to be able to walk up and pick your meat selections at will. Sometimes at a Tucanos or other churrasco dining experience you wait and hope the gauchos will see to bring your table some delicious meats. At TCHE, the meat really was delicious - tender, juicy, deliciously seasoned. The coconut fish was amazing. The chicken offerings were also really good. (The grilled pineapple was underwhelming, sadly.) However, the gauchos at TCHE were often standing and chatting with each other and you had to wait to catch their attention or interrupt their conversation to get some delicious meats.

The servers were friendly and attentive, kept our Brazilian limeades, which were absolutely to die for (the raspberry...ah!), filled up and our used plates cleared.

All in all, if you're carnivorously minded and want to enjoy an all you can eat meat buffet with a handful of interesting and delicious side dishes, and don't mind paying a premium price for it, then TCHE is the place for you. If you want an all- you- can eat buffet with lots of options that won't break the bank, look elsewhere. If you, like me, imagine the full Brazilian churrasco experience (a la Tucanos) with plentiful sides and options, but with the added benefit of being able to get your meat at will, you will pay for that privilege and enjoy about half the number of side dish offerings... for almost...

Updated: Went back for a second visit and the experience was significantly better than the first. Our server, Frank, was awesome. Friendly, prompt, and took great care of my family. The three carved meats (sirloin, peppercorn sirloin, and i recommend the garlic beef) were all cooked to perfection, medium to medium rare depending on the thickness of the meat. Great chicken selection also (highly recommend the parmesan chicken and the chicken etouffee but all the ones I tried were good). They also had the ham and pork again. The salad bar was fresh with mutiple salad types (romaine, mixed greens, caprese, strawberry and more) with a good selection of topings and dressing. I've been going low carb and this was perfect. In all I sampled three types of beef, four chicken, two pork, three cheese, and added eggs to my salad for a total of 13 different protein options plus the salad garnished with pickles, onions, and olives. Thanks for taking my feedback, and sorry I never reached out to you after my last review but I'm not one of those to complain in order to get a free meal.

If you've been to Braziliam style grills in other larger cities you'll probably be disappointed with the style and selection. First, as opposed to traditional gauchos that bring the meat selections to your table you need to self serve buffet style meaning that you may have to wait in line, they may not have all the selections when you are there, and like the other buffet dishes you'll be self serving with common tongs (no hand sanitizer at the buffet). Secondly, the meat selection, particularly the beef, is sadly lacking. When we were there they had several selections of sirloin they would cut for you, but not much else in the beef category. They did have a beef and mushrooms dish which looked great but was a very tough cut disguised in an otherwise delicious sauce. The pork selections consisted of ham, which had a tough skin on the outside, and pre-sliced sausages...again disappointed they didn't have other pork cuts. The mac and cheese was absolutely delicious, but when you go to a Brazilian grill you expect the meat to be the star not the pasta. The service and atmosphere were more than satisfactory. It was fun to try once to say we did it but probably won't be back. Rather hit up Rodizzio next time...