Bullvino's Churrascaria St. Paul — Restaurant in Saint Paul

I usually don't like to write critical reviews but I feel like I am obligated to in this situation, especially based on the price point they charge. We booked a party of 2 for 6:45 PM. We intended to go to Fogo de Chao but changed it in the last hour after finding out there was availability, but boy was I wrong. We arrived at 6:45 PM on the dot. Parking is limited but you can easily find street parking. There is also valet parking offered as well. Once we arrived, we checked in, expecting to be seated pretty quickly. However we ended up waiting for almost 40 minutes before we got to our seats. If we have to wait that long, why even bother making us book a reservation? The front desk lady did say there were a lot of big tables booked tonight but throughout the night I saw at least 2-3 tables that were empty. I swear some parties got seated before us, even though they arrived later.

Anyway, once we got to our table the waiter explained how the concept works. I've been to many Brazilian steakhouses before; Fogo, Texas de Brazil, Rio, even some of the local ones like Grill Hall. I wanted to see how Bullvino's compared to the rest of them. The price point for the top-shelf is pretty steep at $55 per person, almost matching how much Fogo would charge at $63. The selection of meats did live up to the price point, with some specialties including New York Strip, Tenderloin, Lamb Chops, and Beef Ribs. I'm a sucker for lamb so I was happy to pay for the top-shelf instead of the standard $45. The market table was pretty standard, it's just a single, double-sided table offering a mix of vegetables, fruits, charcuterie meats and cheese. The sautéed mushrooms threw me off, as I expected it to be served hot instead of cold, like how other Brazilian steakhouses do them. The table sides were also pretty standard, although we got cold mashed potatoes that was not very good. The cheese bread and bananas were excellent.

The meat had its ups and downs. The lamb chops, lamb steak, new york strip, and house special picanha were all delicious. Many Brazilian steakhouses, Fogo being the most notorious, oversalt their meats so it forces customers to drink a lot of water and alcohol, saving cost on meat. Based on Brazilian steakhouse standards, Bullvino's was pretty lenient on the salt which I appreciated. The saltiest meat was the house special picanha but it's tradition to serve that cut on the saltier side. My least favorites were the bottom sirloin, as it was really chewy, and the tenderloin was the toughest tenderloin I've ever had at a Brazilian steakhouse. This was a disappointment because as the most expensive cut on the menu, you would think it should be the best cut.

And then came the pineapple debacle. There's not many Brazilian steakhouses that serve pineapple but I swear it is one of the hidden gems. So you can guess I was pretty delighted to see that pineapple was being served on the menu. We got a piece at the beginning of our course... and then we never saw it again. I had to ask the waiter if he could bring over some, but we waited for over 20 minutes without being served any. I can understand if it's a new york strip, you need time to let it cook and rest. But this is just a pineapple. I didn't think it would take longer than 10 minutes to be cooked and served. The kicker is when my SO went to the bathroom, she saw pineapple being served on the other end of the restaurant. We waited another 10 minutes before giving up and asking for the check. Only after when I signed the bill, we spotted the gaucho with the pineapple and had to chase him down to get some slices.

Overall I have to give Bullvino's a 3/5. The meat selection is decent, the atmosphere is nice, but the service and lack of organization ruined it for me. The twin cities is a pretty competitive scene for Brazilian steakhouses, so with that price point I expected a pretty flawless level of service. I might come back at another time when it's not as busy, just to compare the experiences, but I was...

Went to dinner last night for restaurant week however we all decided to do the top shelf option which is the reg all you can eat price. Everything was good, how ever because of it being restaurant week and a weekend, it was super busy. We first was sat at the round table right as you enter and in the walk way. It was awkward being there, sat right as there’s traffic in and out and servers walking through. Congested and people all around you. So we asked to be moved. Our server Joaquin was top tier!! He explained everything and he checked to see if we could move. He came back and said he found another table for us. When we got to the other table he explained we could upgrade to top shelf meats or do the restaurant week pricing and not get the 4 bottom options cuts of meat. Again, we all upgraded. Right as he was explaining everything the rest of the party arrived, two more. So there was a total of five of us. Once he took our drink orders and placed them in, he went back to his section. Let’s just say our table had no idea who our server was the whole time sitting there until we had to pay. It was annoying bc I had to keep asking for cheese bread, they brought it once and never came around again. When I asked to whom ever came over to bringing the meats or asked how things were, they would say yes. 30 mins later is when I asked a 3rd time and got them shortly after. Some of the cuts of meats never made it to our table, like the pork ribs and some of the sirloins. We didn’t get to try the cheese with honey either. Before we left we had to request for the grilled pineapple because again it never made it around to our table. My favorite cut of meat tonight would have been the garlic beef, tenderloin, and ribeye. I had the cap of the ribeye!! My favorite part. Also I enjoyed the Alfredo at the hot food section of the bar a lot. I went back for seconds however when I went to get a small week the second time, I wasn’t as good as the first time. I’m guessing they refilled it bc that time it didn’t taste a flavorful as the first time. Three of us ordered drinks, I enjoyed the spicy margarita but the house drink, Caipirinha was very bitter. I couldn’t drink it because of the bitterness from the limes. I did force myself to drink it because I’m paying for it. Will not order again. Overall experience, everything was good. I wouldn’t come back during restaurant week or peak hours. I only wished our server at the new section where we got moved would have came to our table and introduced himself and took care of us. Like I mentioned before, none of us knew who our server was, for a minute there we were still waiting for Joaquin. Lol. But I had to think about that we moved sections and he was no longer our server. Although we didn’t know our server and who did serve us, we still all tipped our part and I myself walked over to Joaquin and gave him a tip myself for being so awesome, attentive, and engaging. One of the best servers I’ve had at a Brazilian steakhouse. Hoping to go back and sit in Joaquin’s section. I know he will definitely take care of us and...

I saw a lot of polarized reviews of this place around the time I visited. I'd say more negative reviews than positive. Of course, everyone compares this to Fogo in Minneapolis. It was booked on the Saturday we wished to go, so I decided to try Bullvino despite the recent negative reviews. If you've been to Fogo recently, I think you'd agree that lately its much more crowded, seems like Fogo now packs tables close together, and it is very loud and the non-meat bearing servers seem more overwhelmed. The service at Fogo has gone down for these reasons I believe, also prompting me to go for a change.

Food at Bullvino: Despite some reviews, the meats were not overcooked. Meats were tasty particularly enjoyed the pork ribs! Great selection/variety and I was asked at least 3 times if I had any requests for particular kind of meat, rarely was I asked this if at all, over at Fogo. My wife commented that she preferred the meats at Bullvino over Fogo. Salad bar- I agree with some reviews here, not as good as Fogo. Salad bar was good, I wouldn't say it was great or amazing. But it was a solid good!

Gluten Free: I am a symptomatic celiac, so absolutely need to be gluten free. They had a allergy menu showing various allergens in their salad bar items and meats. Following the guide, I had no issues at all with gluten. I was disappointed to see most salad dressings not gluten free. Desserts were also a bit disappointing on the gluten free front, but not a big deal.

Service: Excellent. I feel like since the pandemic, getting a high level of service even at expensive places is getting rare. Bullvino's has the level of service you would expect for the price paid. To me its not anything above expectations, but it SEEMS to be above and beyond these days! Again, its service as I would expect, very attentive, water glasses being refilled promptly, other drinks checked on and asked if more was wanted... bread and other 'starters' also checked on and filled back as much as we wanted. As mentioned above, I was asked multiple times if there was any meats I had not had and wanted, if there was ANYTHING I wanted and did not get... bang on service as expected when I am tipping 20% on a $150 bill.

Atmosphere: It was clean, tables set nicely, nothing deficient that I noticed. Overall look of the place was upscale, but wouldn't say that it made me feel particularly special. I didn't feel that there was any particular theme to it. It was almost too open, it didn't feel quaint I guess. Maybe a benefit of this was it was nowhere near as loud as it gets at Fogo, this was highly appreciated. There was nothing special to the overall look. You could see out into some spaces in the surrounding area, but there is nothing that interesting to look at. Again not a big deal, focus on your dining...