Novilhos Brazilian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Bellevue

Wife and I ate here for the first time with great anticipation. It’s solid mediocre +, based on the below:

Value: we used a Groupon since we’ve been wanting to try this place for awhile and knew they usually had a deal. After informing our waiter of the Groupon, he grimaced with his eyes. Understand A-Z he probably thought we’d be bad tippers because we were using the Groupon (still left 18%). Even with the Groupon you’re looking at a solid $100+ tab. We ordered drinks but not dessert. They could have been more brisk with the service and bringing meats out though, and they didn’t bring the prime cuts (rib eye, filet mignon) until the very end. They started off with pork and chicken. To me $45/person would be more reasonable.

Variety and selection: the selection of meats was super solid, and my personal favorites were the Parmesan-crusted pork, the garlic steak, and the filet mignon. They also brought out several Brazilian signature cuts, lamb, sausage, and several sirloin cuts. Surprisingly the salad bar was excellent; they had a good mix of hot side dishes and cold salads, as well S a fancy charcuterie portion of the salad bar. Sadly we didn’t see the Brazilian cheese bread or polenta. I think that may be only a weekend thing.

Service: service wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t overly impressive either. It seemed like there was only one server for the whole section of the dining room they had due to COVID-19 and he was fairly busy. It didn’t help that there was a demanding and rude big top table next to us, but nevertheless the service was acceptable. The folks bringing out the meats were great however, and would freely offer additional slices off the spits or multiple sausages, etc. There was also a manager that assisted with our drink orders as well.

Sanitization protocols: excellent for the circumstances. Hostess checked our temps at the podium and they have us instructions for the salad bar - use alcohol sanitizer and the gloves they provide, take your food, and leave used gloves at end of table for disposal. Tables were also spaced apart to accommodate social distancing.

I believe part of what made our experience was the group of boisterous boozhee socialites dining at the next table and I don’t fault Novilhos for that. However, considering there are no sights to aid the atmosphere it’s up the guests dining there to be respectful of their dining neighbors. For the price I’d say the Grill at Ipanema is a Better buy since you have the...

I'm typing this as I'm falling asleep after a delicious anniversary dinner (annnd I woke up and hour later to finish this review).

Just so you are aware, prepare to spend a pretty penny here (worth it). It's $65 to dine, mashed potatoes,polenta, plantain and cheese bread are included. Drinks and dessert not included. Drinks are $17-25 per glass. 2 people could easily be over $200 depending on what you order.

Pros: *This is the most easygoing Brazilian steakhouse I've ever eaten at, ever. Feels like the meat comes out at a nice, manageable pace. I didn't feel rushed to wolf down my food to make space in my stomach or on my plate for more.

*Variety: They had over 10 cuts of meat from beef, chicken, lamb and pork.

*Recommendations: homemade flan, polenta, lamb, red blend, old fashioned (buyer beware, they'll use premium liquor without telling you. More on that later, but I still recommend it). The drinks were very good.

Ya gotta get some churrascaria too! It's Brazil's style steak. The fatty bits on the outside were SO good, I'm glad I got seconds before we tapped out.

*Stand out Gaucho (meat server): Patrick (he's got nice locs) went above and beyond to make our visit special. Everyone was generaly cordial, but Patrick was polite and engaging. He shared a little about his culture, and added he helped prepare food, so we got to try his secret recipe lamb and BBQ ribs. Omg. The lamb was amazing. If you happen to meet Patrick, ask him about the lamb!

Cons: It's not that we need to feel special, but we added a note when making the reservation it's our wedding anniversary, and no one said a word. It's really ok, but previous anniversary dinners we would at least be told that

*Up selling liquor without disclosure. My husband ordered 2 old fashioneds that are $17 each. When we got the bill he was charged $20 each. Apparently they use premium liquor without disclosure and just add it to the bill. Yes, it's only $6, but we should have been given the option. It isn't noted anywhere on the menu.

We asked the server about this before paying she said "you asked for it". When we told her we only ordered old fashioned she said again we asked for premium liquor. We decided not to contest it, but buyer beware.

Overall, it's high on the list of Brazilian steakhouses and we'll be back. For Patrick, if not...

General manager Diego is phenomenal. I was looking to make a reservation for a larger party of 7 and there were no available slots on Yelp, however there were openings for multiple parties of 4 and under. I reached out with a request to see if I could merge two tables or otherwise get accommodated and was promptly assisted, no questions asked, no difficulties.

On the day of, one person had to drop out and another was late, which led to us needing to delay a bit. I called in and they promptly accommodated us, pushing back our reservation 30 minutes without any trouble at all. Overall, service is fantastic.

I've been to a Brazilian Steakhouse before so I knew what was going on but my 5 peers did not. Our server, Braulio, was super open to explain but heard me explaining to my friends already and allowed me to continue. He was constantly checking in on us as well and filling our waters. This was a huge difference from my experience at other steakhouses where we need to flag someone down for water and they still forget. He even stopped by to ask if we wanted more cheese bread and of course we said yes. Braulio, you rock.

There's a 90 minute time limit that they don't really enforce, but you'll be well bloated by then. No worries about that.

Salad bar here isn't particularly special but I did like that there was tilapia. Other than that they have your standard hot carbs with rice and potatoes among other things, salads, fruits (pineapple and orange), cheeses, and deli lunch meats.

I will say, the quality of meat seemed to decrease over our visit as the cuts toward the end weren't seasoned as well. They were still tasty, but the bar was set from our first few pieces which definitely gets us craving more. We collectively agreed the second piece of meat we had was the best with an amazing flavor, but we didn't catch which piece it was and never got the same experience. I think it was just a really well seasoned and cooked piece and we probably tried the same cut, just not as good.

Desserts were fantastic as well. I highly suggest the Triple Layer Cake as it's the perfect blend of creamy, chocolatey, and nougaty goodness. The Chocolate Mousse was fine, but more of a standard in high end restaurants, so nothing special. Both were up to standard though, not your typical...