Carnaval Brazilian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Wayne Township

If you’re heading to Carnaval, go with an empty stomach! You can easily eat your weight in delicious food if you can make room for it all.

The waitstaff are very friendly are more than willing to explain the whole process of the Brazilian “Rodizio Service.” They suggest starting with the salad bar and hot bar, but seriously, who wants to waste space on salads and veggies when there is a plethora of tasty meats that are constantly walking by? Cheese biscuits are placed at your table right away, and I’d suggest skipping those too. The texture was very odd, not how you expect a biscuit to be. We took a bite and passed on the rest.

Looking at the menu, we went with option 1, which is a little more expensive but includes four extra meat options: two kinds of shrimp, lamb and flank steak. Since there are 13 different foods that rotate around, I will make the reviews of each short and to the point. They aren’t in any particular order, just how they happened to be served to us.

Jalapeno sausage was like an upgraded breakfast sausage. Chicken leg had crisp skin but was moist inside. I could taste the acid of the pepper but without the spice. BBQ Pork was sweet. It was good but not my favorite. Parmesan beef had a strong flavor of parmesan and was a little chewy. Top sirloin had a worcestershire flavor and was a little chewy. Flank Steak was very herby, very tender. Lamb was tender, flavorful, but had a very gamey flavor that was off-putting. Spicy shrimp was indeed spicy but good flavor. Garlic lime shrimp had a light flavor. I could taste the lime but only got the essence of garlic when it initially touched the tongue. Beef wrapped bacon was very flavorful of the bacon. Parmesan chicken breast had a strong parmesan flavor. This flavor was very different compared to the rest of the meat. House steak had an essence of bacon. Finally one of the most delicious things ever, the cinnamon roasted pineapple. They have a hint of cinnamon and are very juicy. I always make sure to save extra room to have a couple servings of it! So I’m sure you’re wondering which we liked the best of all those delectable meats. We both agreed it was the Flank Steak. It was just so tender and flavorful. The only thing is that you will have to pay the extra amount to get it. But I’d say it was worth it for that Flank Steak alone.

With all that meat, we did wish that we had gone and tried at least one vegetable from the hot bar. It gets to be a bit much when all you’re eating is protein. If you happened to miss a meat/ pineapple that went by, you can always request from your waiter/waitress for one of the servers to drop by again. They were surprisingly quick to swing by after we requested a meat. Additionally, with menu options 1 through 3, you will be presented with a coin. Red on one side, green on the other. You are instructed to leave the coin on the table to be easily seen by the staff. Green indicates you want food. Red indicates you are sufficient with what you have. Be prepared to turn your coin to red, because otherwise those servers are constantly coming by. It can become a bit hectic if you forget and leave it up the whole time. I also kind of wish they had more plates you could use. Because I found that I started to get a bit of a pile up from bones, shrimp tails, and anything that I decided to pass on after trying.

The atmosphere is very nice as it should be for an expensive restaurant. They have live music Thursday through Saturday from 6:30pm to 10pm or so. The guy we heard was very good and he played a variety of different styles to meet the interest of everyone there.

You get a very unique experience and get to try a variety of delicious food. However, this is a place that we reserve for special occasions only due to the price. You’re looking at a minimum of $60+ just for two people and no drink. You will get your fill of many tasty foods though. So save up and at least give it a try once. If only for the Cinnamon...

New to the Sioux Falls area and we were really hoping this would be a new favorite place for us. Unfortunately, I don't think we will be back.

We had a reservation for 8:15. We arrived at 8 and went to the host stand. Three people were wiping menus and talking. We were immediately greeted, and the hostess said "let me go check on your table to see if its ready" and then she never returned. After standing awkwardly for another 10+ minutes we finally asked another hostess if our table was ready. She responded that our reservation was for 8:15, so we couldn't be seated until then. This was at 8:13. I'm not sure the difference two minutes makes, or why we weren't told when we checked in thay we couldn't be seated until 8:15 so we could have sat down instead of standing around, but ok.

We were finally walked to our table at exactly 8:15, and there were numerous tables and booths available. She walked us towards a table and I asked if we could have the clean and empty booth next to it. She said she would need to go check to see if the booth was available. I'm no genius, but if its clean, set, and no one is there, generally that implies "available" to me. We were never asked if we preferred a booth or table at any time.

We said the table was fine, and we sat down. The server came over quickly and was very pleasant. We ordered a margarita, the berry mule, and were told to head over to the salad bar. That was fine - food was good and nice selection. We were nearly finished with the salad bar plates and we caught our server to ask about the cards to flip since we didn't have any on our table. She returned with them a couple minutes later. No drinks yet.

We were never given tongs to move the carved meat, so one of the gentlemen serving the meat got those for us. The flank steak was great. Top sirloin and house special were very good too.

We were almost done eating meat and finally we caught the server again and inquired about our drinks. She said the bartender would be back soon. At that point we were nearly ready to leave, so we said to cancel the drinks. She said they were probably ready and went to check. Another few minutes went by and she came back with drinks. We took sips and looked at each other - the margarita was incredibly strong and the "berry mule" was just a glass of ice with ginger beer and a lime. We set them aside and tried to catch the server, but never saw her again.

Eventually the hostess came by and asked how our meal was. We told her the food was good but the drinks were not accepatable and our server was MIA. She took the drinks off our check, but offered nothing more than apology.

I can't say this was the worst service I have ever had, but its certainly the worst birthday dinner my husband has experienced....

An odd but interesting structure.

When you see or hear "Carnaval" you simulate that with "Carnival" and for whatever reasons our brain thinks there are going to be animals and acrobatics coming in (Its a Brazilian bar). In fact that's why, the full year ive lived in south dakota now, that I've never come in.

That said, the interior coming in was interesting... unique and different.

Reception was a little annoying. They basically wouldn't let me go anywhere until they obtained my phone number... maybe I Don't go to many upscale-ish restaurants, but I've never been pushed for a phone number at any establishment. I eventually told them I didn't have a phone and was ready to give them a scammers number if they pushed further. Unnecessary.

Sitting down, it was relatively pleasant. I noticed the sharks and fish on the walls yet nothing on the menus had seafood EXCEPT shrimp...

There's some beautiful looking fake artificial trees with green leaves. Though the one near the entrance can use a 6-12 inch lift because every tall guy walking through (including myself) has to dodge a jungle.

Not exactly a frugal or cheap or even respectable pricing. They hardcore on upscale pricing... though the staff look like they're dressed as pirates.

One good notable mention would be the food menus; they're leather covered. It's easily movable and moldable. I really liked that gimmick.

But sitting at the Cresent moon bar while it was loaded with customers let me know what the place really catered to... People that love to eat. Calories.

It's a meat shack through and through. I'm an omnivore so I'm not biased. I love a good steak. The people lined at the bar were obese at the minimum. I never understood how obese people live and like... when they consume things but usually, I assume, it's at home , but this was the one public place to engage openly with those mannerisms.

I ordered a total of 4 drinks (not driving) and watched as staff continuously walked by everyone at the bar and shred different meat onto their plates and then pineapple. Over and over and over. Unlimited meat with an Unlimited salad bar for ages.

Nobody looked happy at the bar. They were obese, coming in for a fix. Dropping ridiculous amounts of money.

It's a nice place okay. Nice atmosphere, nice bathrooms, but I'm someone who recognizes a place for its intention and...