Rainhas Churrascaria — Restaurant in New York

Arrived excited, left disappointed. My family and I came to Rainhas Churrascaria to celebrate my mother’s 60th birthday. She was looking forward to coming here as her friends recommended it all the time. We were a big party with a reserved table and upon arrival at around we got seated promptly as the restaurant wasn’t busy. We were all excited since it was our first time dining here. We first got introduced to the buffet section full of sides, salads, rice, pasta, fruit, etc and was told a ROTATION of various meat and beef cuts would come out shortly for the Rodin portion of the menu. We all headed to the buffet section to get food and went back to our seats. After 20-30 minutes of eating buffet selections, we inquired about the rodizios as we haven’t been served anything yet at the time. The servers then came around and started serving us chicken, bacon wrapped meat, sausages, ribs, and brisket consistently (mostly protein that they would chop up on a cutting board not protein served rodizio style). We then asked again about the premium steak rodizios specially asking for steaks such as picanha where the servers then told us steaks and various beef cuts weren’t available at the time and we would have to wait some more. An hour later after having dined at the establishment we have yet to see any steaks or beef cuts and were told the steaks were still cooking. We continued to pick off the buffet selections and after another 30 minutes we FINALLY got offered steak rodizios; please keep in mind we’ve been there for some time and this is the first we’ve seen the premium cuts. Most of the party noticed that those sitting by the kitchen were quickly served steaks since they were closest to the kitchen , whereas we were seated on the opposite side of the restaurant. From the food that we did get to taste it was good and flavorful. However, it was the QUANTITY of food we DID NOT get to enjoy that disappointed us. Unfortunate to say we won’t be coming back as it is not worth the time wasted for an establishment that’s suppose to be a PREMIER...

2/2/2024

This marks the last time we will come here. They have 2 different types of meat. The old for certain customers and new fresh meat for whoever they choose. They will skip certain tables when they have the new or old. We got sick yesterday from the food. No more. Calling management and this is a warning to all customers not to eat here.

A slight update: my friend and I both got food poisoning. We shouldn't have eaten since the meat was grey. We learned our lesson. We called the manager but they don't want to call us back.

11/24/2023 update:

We noticed the restaurant empty for a Friday night... Maybe because it is a holiday weekend. I've been here many times and this was by far the worst tasting meat of all visits. The quality of the meat was disgusting, all the meats including my 2 favorites, the churrasco (skirt steak) and the picanha had a nasty aftertaste, I mean like the meat was probably rotten inside. We told the guy that brought the meat but we figured he has no control over the quality of the meat besides cooking it. Something was definitely up tonight because even the usual pineapple cinnamon thing had some gue on it, gross. Also had too much salt (added at the kitchen... We saw that) The server guy was nice but I figured he had nothing to do with the food besides bringing us drinks. So I just wanna ask management what happened with the quality of the meat and why it was so bad..? I mean.. bad bad. Like I spit a lot of it (sorry to write that here)

7 months ago review:

The grilled pineapple was a wonderful dessert.

The picahna was amazing. I noticed they didn't come around too much with it and sometimes skipped us especially after the first round of everything. But we kept calling to get more.

Overall amazing food...

Revisited Rainhas for a small birthday celebration! My boyfriend and I were served by Isvely and Johnny... and to be honest, I have the WORST memory, but when I visited years ago with my friends, I remembered Johnny because of his service (along with the delicious pineapple he served us).

SERVICE: Both Isvely and (again) Johnny were wonderful. Isvely made sure any requests were addressed, and she often visited to make sure our waters were full, no matter how busy she became. Johnny, was also exceptional, remembering the meats we were interested in and returning quickly to serve it to us, suggesting a sauce with a meat we really enjoyed (which made for a delicious pairing), and was overall friendly and attentive!

Both Isvely and Johnny work hard and care for their customers, and it shows in the way they treat us. (And based off the other reviews, Johnny is consistent and seems to be the restaurant celebrity! Hahaha!)

FOOD: there is a salad buffet among other buffet foods. The deserts and drinks are extra, so it is not included in the price you pay to eat. My favorite (which has been for years) is the pineapple. MUST TRY. Served warm, is sweet, but not too sweet. Absolutely delicious. I also loved the pork rib (Did not need to use my hands as the meat just easily fell off the bone... mouth-watering..) and the tenderloin? Ohh boy... Tender, juicy, warm, and cooked just right.

PARKING: Valet is included! (Of course, we tipped the valet to our liking).

Photos: 1st my S.O., with Johnny serving tenderloin 2nd me, super excited with Johnny again with the pineapple 3rd my friends, 4 years ago, also with Johnny and...