personal review of the flame brazilian steakhouse. a few days ago i decided to finally try out the new flame brazilian steakhouse. i am not new to churrascaria, having tried restaurants in at least 4 other states, all of which i have had great things to say about. naturally i was excited when i started hearing commercials on the radio for the new flame brazilian steakhouse at the grand casino in shawnee, oklahoma. unsure why the restaurant was 6-month delayed opening from the original "coming in spring 2014," and now that they have officially been open for their first month, it was time to try and see how oklahoma does churrascaria.
i did not make reservations, but i did check opentable online reservations before making the 15-minute drive over to the casino. all of the time slots were open, so i thought a reservation would not be necessary. when i arrived at the restaurant i was asked if i had reservations and when i answered, no, i was told it would be a 20-30 minute wait by the hostess. okay i thought. i started thinking about the open time slots i saw on opentable and took out my iphone, opened the app and booked a reservation for five minutes later. i showed the hostess, and she seemed perplexed, said she would be right back to check on a table, and two minutes later, i was seated at a table.
a waiter greeted me within the first seven minutes of me being seated. i ordered an iced tea, was given instructions on how the restaurant was setup. i grabbed a plate and went to the salad bar area. the selection is the smallest i have seen of the churrascarias i have eaten at. but the food was fresh, and what they did have looked delicious. the blue cheese grapes and tuna fillets were a favorite of mine.
twenty minutes after my waiter took my drink order, he returns with a cup of iced tea and mashed potatoes, bread and fried bananas. i still haven't seen a gaucho let alone have one stop by my table. i have an empty plate on the table i keep for when the gauchos come by to fill up full of meat. the waiter asks if he can take away the empty plate and i explain what the purpose was for, and mentioned that i still haven't seen a gaucho. i eat my first plate from the salad bar. i eat the mashed potatoes. i eat the fried bananas. i am so hungry, i even eat the bread. ten minutes later, it's all gone, even the iced tea. i go get another plate full of blue cheese grapes and tuna, because well that's about all there is to eat right now.
it has been exactly 60 minutes and i start to complain on my facebook and tag the restaurant in my post, along with a picture of an empty plate. obviously the manager of the restaurant monitors facebook more than he monitors his gauchos, because not two minutes after my post, the manager is at my table and i explain that i have been at their restaurant for an hour, and while i enjoyed the tuna and the blue cheese grapes, what i really came here was for the meat, and that my plate had sat empty for an hour and a gaucho has yet to make contact with me. i have seen two gauchos across the restaurant, but they never come to this side of restaurant which i am in, and several other tables seem to be experiencing the same frustration with the concept of the gaucho. the manager says "well be prepared, i am sending the gauchos your way!" the manager refills my drink. this is the first refill i have received. he also refills the mashed potatoes, bread and fried bananas.
true indeed, five minutes later i spot a gaucho. he brings me a pork barbecue rib. like something you would get at the rib crib or swadley's, maybe even worse because the barbecue sauce reminds me of heinz bbq sauce. i have never been offered a pork barbecue rib at any other churrascaria. he only has one rib on his skewer, so i only get one rib. another gaucho. this one offers pork sausage. i take three. i didn't come here to fill up on pork sausage. there is a lull in service again. another manager comes my way and asks for my opinion of the restaurant tonight. i tell it like it is and express my disappointment of the lack of gauchos coming to my table. she apologizes. we are now about 80 minutes into the dining experience since being seated. the waiter comes by and refills my drink. this is the second refill. it's been empty for the past 20 minutes.
more gauchos come. this time parmesanchickenbreast. i pass because i don't care for parmesan cheese. oh, wait he has more of the pork sausage. okay, three more sausages. these aren't like bratwurst size links, more like little smokies sized links. now that i think about it, they may have in fact been little smokies. beef, i now see beef! i think the gaucho says rib eye flanks, but yes, yes i want! he slices me the thinnest possible slice of meat. i ask for more please. i get another slice, just as thin. very disappointing. the meat tastes good and is gone in two bites. i want more. we go through another lull, finally some bacon wrapped fillets. yes please! he has four bite sized fillets on his skewer, i take them all prisoner. they are all mine, mine, mine! another gaucho comes by with the parmesanchickenagain and i pass. lull, where's the beef, lull. pork sausage... again. they really like to push the pork little smokies. i work on the mashed potatoes, fried bananas, and bread. i am waiting again for the beef to make another round. it's closing in on 2 hours. the waiter refills my drink, and asks if i am ready for my check. i do a quick check to see if i can spot a gaucho on the floor. i do not, so i call it quits and to put me out of my misery, i get a check for $44 and change. i am still hungry. i want more beef than 4 little cubes and two thin slices of beef. they advertise, "seasoned beef, lamb, pork,chickenand brazilian sausage." i got the sausage... yeah they push the little smokies really really hard. i got the pork rib, they did offer onechickenselection, and two selections of beef. i never saw anything that had lamb in it.
so that is my review. if you want to check out the flame, i suggest you do it soon, because i can't see repeat business keeping this restaurant open for very long. the meal is $39.95. i left a standard 15% for gratuity, and my total was just north of $52. i dined between 7:00pm and 9:00pm. i would also suggest making reservations. i would also suggest waiting for the texas de brazil that is opening soon in tulsa, and in 2016 at penn square.
oklahoma city finally has a churrascaria, however this is not the churrascaria we wanted. oklahoma city foodies, you deserve better and demand better.