Sonora Prime — Restaurant in Shreveport

1st time at Sonora Prime & wasn't sure what to expect. From the outside it has an appealing outside dining area that is well lit. Once inside, there is a bar & dining area to the right of the hostess booth. We did make a reservation since this was a pretty busy restaurant & we showed up early. We were told no tables were available & they would call us. We had to ask if we could wait at the bar, should've been offered since I can visually see nobody sitting at the bar on the right. But to little did I know, we were led straight back to a larger dining area with a bar; in which we were offered the optionto eat there. Not sure what the significance of the separate areas are for. We sat down & was immediately greeted by their bartender, Tyler, who was on his 2nd day there. He offered us drinks & menus. There was a small refrigerator behind him with bottled sodas. I asked for a bottled coke & so did my wife. He only had a single bottle coke for making drinks & offered Mexican glass bottled cokes. I took one & my wife turned it down for coke from the bar well. In this large restaurant you only have one American plastic bottled coca cola. For a $50 price tag per head, you would think someone on staff can go next door to Brookshire & buy a case. As we waited for our drinks, we were served these little fried cheese puffs with dipping tray, these were very good. We went to the salad bar to make ourselves a plate, everybody just walked up & helped them selves as there was no real visible indicator on a line starting point. Upon inspection, it was a nice bar but I have seen & had similar options for sides & salads at casino buffets. We ate our plates & halfway through we realized nobody was stopping by to offer us any steak or meat on the skewers (if you have never been, waiters walk around with meat on a skewer & offer you a slice they cut off). The bar manager had to redirect them. They started to stop by & gave small slices that maybe 2-3 bites worth. After the first round of variety of meats offered, I noticed they stopped coming over there. I may have had the equivalent of a 6 Oz steak worth of meat. I've seen more meat on a porkchop from Waffle House. During this whole experience, I was having a epic swatting battle with a fruit fly or nat that would not go away. Tyler was constantly checking on us though & offered cocktail suggestions. He was very good & maybe one of the more redeeming qualities of the bar is his service. Because the way the waiters came up to the bar talking to him & his manager in front of guests was unprofessional, to gently sum up the interactions. Majority of the meats sampled were pretty delicious. Mostly served raw, I think there was only one piece that had too much blood dripping for me. As the dinner started to wind down, I had to ask for a dessert menu. None was supplied, instead a waitress came out & told me about the desserts. I chose a carrot cake with a chocolate sauce covering it (I know, I know what your thinking but somebody had to try it). I was thinking of a traditional carrot cake with some white icing & bits of carrot on the inside. Nope, it was like a small bundt cake with carrot cake batter & Hershey syrup poured on top with whip cream. Not bad, just not what I was expecting. Overall, the food was ok with the skewered meat being the best part but you don't get enough for the price tag. The bar was ok but Tyler made that experience better. The restaurant was very clean & not too bright as it was easy on the eyes. I wouodnt bring my kids here. This is a good place to take a date out to if your looking to impress someone, anniversary,...

So a group of us, 6 to be exact tried this restaurant for the first time tonight. I have been to a Brazilian steak house in the past in myrtle beach SC, and it was phenomenal. Today we gave this one a try. For the price tag for 2 people at 99.99. I figured it would be similar to how Mrtyle Beach is. (Granted I know it is shreveport) so we sat down with the party 4 of us were there pretty early and on time the last 2 showed a little late. We got sat in a table not really meant for six due to the wall being right against the table it made it very hard for the servers to be able to get to us. So when we get there our server was great, she asked what kind of drinks we wanted we order them, I ordered there senora old fashion.... (had to send it back. I know it's made with rum but it tasted like a rum and Dr pepper, more then an old fashion.) Ordered a regular old fashion came out perfectly so the bar tender he knows what he is doing. Service still going well. Finally the food starts coming out it's about 730 and by 8 we have sampled a good bit of food. But we are still hungry and 2 of our guests had to leave. When they cashed out this was the start to the end. About 830 came around we have had servers walking past us after making eye contact and not bring any more food over. We had to ask a different server for drink refills and more food. He replied ill get someone. Shortly after still nothing improved it's almost 845 and the owner manager came around and asked how it was, we told him the food is good has great flavor and very delicious, we are just waiting to be served again, they just keep walking by us, mind you we have 6 green coasters up. Shortly after that conversation they started stopping back at our table and food was fresh, cooked well and tasted great. I guess my issue is when I. Myrtle beach we had servings and had to literally tell people no to have a little bit of room for the plates and portions were a lot in myrtle here, I had to ask a few times to get another slice or piece. Same thing when we finally saw pineapple had to ask/Hollar for them to stop. After my drink, my gf drink, and the price of the food I should not have left still hungry. But trying to get more was like pulling teeth. Also it was an hr between finishing my first old fashion and being asked if I wanted another one. Their food was seasoned well and will recommend it but I don't think it is worth the price they ask if I'm still coming out hungry. Also they charge you about 3 to 4$ just to pay with a card fyi. I know it's still new and I hope it gets the small kinks out of the system, because I have high hopes for them to become a number one spot to go to I. Shreveport, we are lucky enough to have something like this. Just feel it needs to be a...

Let me preface by saying that I live in Dallas, and I love a good Brazilian Steakhouse. I attended Sonora Prime on Aug 2nd for my aunt’s birthday. Upon arriving in the “private room” she booked, there was no A/C (instead they had a loud industrial fan blowing) and we were sharing a room with another party.

Service was extremely slow and inefficient (bringing meat to our “private room” every 15-20 mins) and our main server was a young woman who was subpar at best. The meat servers coming around hardly knew how to cut or place the meat on our plates. I asked one server if I could have a medium-rare cut of sirloin and he looked at me like a deer in headlights. One meat server said that he can take all of the shrimp off his skewer, place it into a bowl and we could pass it around. HUH? Are you joking? For $50 plus 20% gratuity the service should be top notch, along with WELL trained servers. People might say “well the main dining room might be better”… why should it be??? When you have a party of 8-10 that you’re receiving guaranteed tips from (plus more if the service upholds). My aunt was so unhappy, but luckily once we left we ended the night on a high note.

The only reason this review isn’t one star is because the flavor of the food was great (when we finally did get meat). Salad bar was 6/10 (no labels on salad items and not enough options)… I highly suggest closing for a month, bring in someone well-experienced with Brazilian Steakhouses, re-train everyone from top to bottom (managers included)… and try again. The flavor lets me know that y’all could potentially have a great thing going. But as far as what we, as a collective, experienced, I’m never coming back. Take some notes from Texas de Brazil and...