Flama Brazilian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Leisure City

Flama began operations started on the heels of the COVID aftermath (2021), and I assume are battling the food shortages, staff concerns, and of course, the lack of patronage that COVID brought the food service industry. The restaurant had beautiful decor, was extremely clean, and offered a very pleasant environment for a mid Saturday lunch. It was obvious to see the effort was clearly there to make this business great. However, let's talk about the food. We arrived shortly after opening and we're among a few people already dining. The salad bar was clean, with more salads items than other meats and things which is fine. Their "fresh" mozzarella was less than fresh and pretty dry (this dryiness will be a trend in the food). Everything else at the salad bar was fine for what it was. Their card flips were pretty cool, giving you the option to choose your meat temperature beforehand and the meat servers see it as well. Our selection was medium-rare (lowest they offered btw). First serve was the Calabresa (Brazilian Sausage), mine was a bit dry but my wife said hers was ok. The flavor was decent, but it wasn't worth the repeat play on the next pass. Next was the Fraldinha (Flank Steak). The initial go-around for this was pretty good, it had excellent flavoring, the temp was slightly over medium-rare, but nothing to concerning, and it had a great salt season to the outside; overall it was pretty good. The next several passes of this meat left alot to be desired. From the meat being DRASTICALLY undercooked (symptoms of being cooked over too high a heat and not being temp checked during the cooking process). As a family who enjoys their cows almost with a slightly beating heart, this was really cutting it close. The flavor was lost and it was disappointing. This never got better after 3 more rounds of this meat. Moving to the Picanha (Top Sirloin). Where the Flank was drastically under the needed temperature, this was just a bit overcooked for a medium-rare temp. It really had no meat flavor and was just not that satisfying for what is typically a house special in most Brazilian steakhouses. After 3 rounds it also never improved. There was also a Frango com toucinho (Chicken w/Bacon), dry, limited flavor. Hard pass for me after the first round. However, this offering is typically a difficult meat to get done well at Brazilian steakhouses, I'm not sure why these restaurants chose not to brine poultry (particularly the white meat cuts). There were also a few other meats and pineapple passed around I opted out of, as they really didn't look appealing or I just wasn't interested. Finally, the heart of the matter. The New York Steak and the Filet Mignon (neither of which were listed on their website at the time our our visit). They both came out on the same spit (weird) but the filet (tenderloin in shape) had a VERY strange DARK, and I mean DARK red color to it. Now I have eaten steak from around the world, cooked in a variety of ways from a multitude of different types of beef, but this had to be the strangest I had ever seen. This is also my wife's favorite cut and she immediately questioned this meat. It was again, very rare (no, it was raw) and it's texture was the most bizarre texture I had ever tasted. It was not succulent nor juicy (even for being raw it was like it was bloodless, absolutely weird). The New York was, at best, a select grade cut that was seasoned with Grill Mates Montreal Seasoning (no hate for seasoning, just saying) and was so overcooked, chewy, and dry I felt as if I was chewing the hide rather than the meat of the animal. -Sides: The cheese biscuits were decent, could have had a bit more of the cheese flavor, but glad they were well cooked. The sides of the cinnamon bananas were excellent. -Sauces: Sweet Jesus, please get horseradish. I have never been to a steakhouse that didn't have this as an option, even a Brazilian one, they always have it. Please do the same. Sauces, especially in the south are key to...

We went for the first time yesterday. Place is nice and food is good. Now, it was not a good experience with the waitress that helped us. We told her it was our first time there and I guessed she thought it was our first time in a restaurant ever, because she was trying to be slick. When she asked what we were drinking, my wife asked for a caipirinha and she asked me if wanted wine and said no, I asked for sparkling water, then she asked AGAIN my wife if she wanted to order “anything else” to drink even though she had already ordered a caipirinha. My wife said no, I’m good, she insisted, maybe I can bring you some water? Waitress said, so my wife consented to “some water”. Up to that point, I didn’t realize what she was doing, but once she came back I understood what was going on. Since I didn’t order wine which is more expensive than what I ordered, she was trying to make up for it by bringing the priciest items. She brought the largest bottle of sparkling water she could find, it could easily be used for a whole family of 6. For my wife, she also brought a bottle of water, I thought maybe they serve only this type of water here, but then I noticed they’re serving water by the glass to other tables. At that point I didn’t feel like having desert anymore, so I just asked for the bill. I was thinking I like the place, food is good, if she removes that water from the bill we’ll be back. When she came back with the bill, I was going to ask her a question and she didn’t even let me finish and she replied: “no, the tip is not included” I told her that was not my question. The whole time she is thinking about the money, and I understand, we all go to work for the money, but at the same time, if you treat you’re customer right and do what is right for them, customer will most of the time treat the server good by leaving a good tip. When I asked her why she brought a bottle of water when other tables are getting water by the glass, instead of apologizing, she had the nerve to blame my wife. She could’ve just apologized and remove the item from the bill, but no, she had to blame my wife. That bottle of water wasn’t going to make me any poorer or the restaurant any richer, nor the difference on the tip was going to be significant, but the fact that she did not take responsibility really bothered me. I don’t know if they’re not paying well to to the staff, but the restaurant is not cheap therefore I’m positive the servers make good money on tips, so I really don’t understand. Anyways, they lost a customer ( and gained a bad review) from now on I will drive the extra ten minutes and go to El Toro...

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I recently had the chance to dine at Flama Brazilian Steakhouse, and the experience was truly excellent. The restaurant offers more than 12 different cuts of meat, including Argentine-style morcilla (blood sausage), which is one of my boyfriend’s favorites. It was such a pleasant surprise to find it here, and they prepared it for us perfectly — a small detail that we really appreciated.

The quality of the food overall was outstanding. Every cut we tried was flavorful and well-prepared, and I would rate the food itself a solid 100 out of 100. The price was also very reasonable. For two people, including the 18% service charge, our total came to $120, which we felt was excellent value considering the quality and variety we enjoyed.

The restaurant itself doesn’t have a great view from the front, but it does have a back patio that overlooks a small lagoon, which adds a nice touch to the atmosphere. The appetizers were also excellent, which made the experience even better.

The staff was very friendly, though not always as attentive as they could have been. Currently, they use the traditional orange-and-red paper cards: red meaning you’re done, and orange meaning you’d like more meat. While this works, I personally think they could improve the system by adopting the light indicators that many other steakhouses in the city use — when the light is on, servers keep bringing cuts of meat, and when it’s off, they stop. This would make things easier for both guests and staff, since servers could see the signal from across the room instead of checking every table individually.

Another plus: the restaurant offers free parking, which is always a nice convenience in the area. And if you happen to visit, I recommend taking some time afterward to drive around Homestead — there are many farms and fields nearby, and it makes for a beautiful and relaxing experience.

Overall, I highly recommend Flama Brazilian Steakhouse. Between the excellent food, fair prices, and warm service, it’s a place I would gladly return...