Brasitas — Restaurant in Stamford

Hidden gem serving Latin American cuisine in Stamford. I’ve been here for lunch and dinner; the menus differ slightly, but there are dishes to love in both. The meal always starts out with yummy plantain chips and pico de gallo salsa on the house. They have a variety of delicious-sounding cocktails; I typically get their refreshing red sangria.

From their appetizers (in both the lunch and dinner menus), their empanadas are a stand out. The dish comes with three empanada flavors: beef, chicken, and pork. They’re cut in half and served with a creamy guajillo pepper sauce. So full of flavor. Another delicious appetizer (only available in the dinner menu) is the “pinchos de churrasco”, three grilled skirt steak skewers with chimichurri sauce.

In terms of entrees, the “bistec a caballo” (from the lunch menu) is a must-try! It’s a skirt steak that comes with caramelized onions and peppers, rice, black beans, sweet plantains, and a fried egg. The “churrasco gaucho” (from the dinner menu) is my other go-to. It consists of a 12 oz grass fed prime NY strip steak served with roasted asparagus, baby gold potatoes, and chimichurri sauce. These entrees are huge; I definitely recommend sharing.

For dessert, I’ve tried their crepes filled with dulce de leche and the tres leches cake, which is topped with guava sorbet. My preference for tres leches cake is for the cake to be very moist, so I found this cake to be on the drier side. The sorbet is quite sweet and tropical, so I wish the tres leches cake came with a different flavor of sorbet, or with the sorbet on the side. The desserts aren’t the most impressive part of the meal, but they’re still worth trying.

Service is fast and I love their interior decoration! The parking lot is quite small, but they have...

My boyfriend and I came to this restaurant on a Sunday. There were just a few more tables filled at the restaurant. They now charge for extra plaintains and salsa. The plaintains used to be fresh out of the oven, but now they are cold, dry, and stale. The salsa is the only good part of the meal experience. I hadn’t been to this restaurant in years, and will never come back. I grew up with Central American food on my mom’s side, and this restaurant lacks flavor and passion. The empanadas are the worst I ever had; seems to be the frozen kind. The filling appears to be grinded rice with meat; very small pieces and flavorless. The Ceviche wasn’t bad; good portion size with a lot of liquid; a little too fishy for me to eat. The steak texture was edible, but the diced tomatoes, pepper salsa that was on it taste and looks just like the “Stop and Shop” plastic container mild salsa. The fried yucca are tasteless small triangle fried pieces of blandness texture. The rice with beans has no salt; missing the bold rich flavor and taste old. The side potatoes are also old, dry, and no richness to it. We didn’t pack anything to go home, even though my boyfriend does not like to waste food. I feel bad telling my boyfriend to take me to this place because of the fond memories I had with my family. It has gone down hill and truly is an insult to authentic...

Had to update this review after last week’s take out experience. ALL the portion sizes were cut in half but cost the same $$. The most significant cuts were (1) the size of the Arepas de Pollo and (2) quantity of the Costilla de Res but even the serving of maduro was cut in half. I know times are tough but this was excessive shrinkflation. Likely won’t be going back for a while. Getting half of the expected portion for an almost $30 entree was a HUGE turn off. We understand but are not stupid. Note: The picture included is the normal potion size of the Costilla de Res.

Spring 2022 (4/5 stars): The food is absolutely delicious. The drinks and service are solid. I always get the Costillas de Res (braised boneless short ribs over risotto). Perfectly done every time. I love their complimentary plantain chips and pico de gallo salsa when you eat in-house. The only down side is that the appetizers are small. They’re delicious but not worth the cost in my opinion though my husband loves the churrasco pinchos and the arepas de pollo are to die for.

Pro tip: Go to the Stamford location. The Norwalk location has the same menus but the quality is...