If you’re interested in visiting a Brazilian steakhouse like Texas de Brazil, you’ll want to come prepared. Not in terms of dress or anything like that – our dress code is quite flexible – but more in terms of expectations.
If you’re used to the American steakhouse experience, you might find the Brazilian version a bit of a culture shock. In an American steakhouse, it’s like any other sit-down restaurant. Waiters bring you drinks and menus, you pick a cut of meat and preparation, make your order, and enjoy your meal.
There’s nothing wrong with this style of dining, of course. But for Brazilians, the churrasco (that is, barbecue) experience is somewhat different. We serve our meat Rodizio-style. Rodizio dining is a relatively new invention as far as culinary traditions go, but it quickly became an iconic part of Brazilian barbecues and is growing in popularity in America and around the world.
So, to set the stage, let’s talk about what Rodizio dining is and how it developed in Brazil and spread to the USA.
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What is Rodizio?
Rodizio is a style of serving food that is popular at Brazilian churrascarias or barbecue restaurants.
A churrascaria is all about cooking delicious cuts of Brazilian meat on skewers over an open flame. Because of this cooking method, the meats don’t end up saturated in butter or sauces. Instead, they’re simply crusted with salt and cooked in their own rendered fat, making for a delicious and meat-focused flavor unlike any other form of steakhouse.
Rodizio serving means serving on rotation. To get a good idea of how it works, think about a buffet. With a buffet, dozens of dishes are set out in a communal serving area, where you can go and sample anything you like and go back for more when you want more.
Buffets have a critical flaw, though, especially when it comes to meats. It’s difficult to keep them up to temperature without drying them out or overcooking them, and they end up tough, flavorless, or slathered in a sauce to keep you from noticing. You have no way of knowing how long a meat has been sitting at the buffet before you get to it. It’s a big reason why, if something like a beef roast is served at a buffet, a waiter comes out to bring it fresh and cut slices for you.
Well, Rodizio solves this problem. Rodizio is the Portuguese word for rotation, which is what your waiters do with individual meats. The waiters – gauchos, in Brazilian terms, which means cowboy – are responsible for individual skewers of meat. They take it fresh from the kitchen and the flames, perfectly cooked and ready to enjoy, out to the dining room. There, they move from table to table, offering slices of their cut to anyone who wants them.
As a diner, all you need to do is indicate whether or not you want more meat (most churrascarias give you a small card or flag that is red on one side and green on the other, with the obvious connotations those colors represent), and when a gaucho stops by, let them know if you want what they’re offering. They cut a slice or two, you transfer them to your plate with a set of serving tongs, and enjoy them fresh from the fire.
If you want to know more, including the amazing benefits (and a couple of small drawbacks) of a Brazilian steakhouse, we have a deeper dive into the mechanics and practicalities of our method of serving in this post. Give it a read! Otherwise, keep reading here to learn about the origins and history of Rodizio.
How Was Rodizio Invented?
Pop quiz: if you had to guess, when was Rodizio invented?
- The 17th Century
- The 18th Century
- The 19th Century
- The 20th Century
The answer is, surprisingly, the 20th century. We said it was a relatively new development in culinary tradition, didn’t we? But, to understand it completely, we have to go back a little further.
Brazil has had a long history of ranching. Cattle farming, from European migrants and other residents of the country, was a significant industry. Cattle drivers and their humble meals actually form the origins of many of our favorite side dishes. While traveling the Pampas, or great plains of Brazil, gauchos (reminder: cowboys) needed something they could eat while traveling. Preserved meats, beans, and other stable food items ended up common staples.
When they had the luxury, these ranchers would dig pits for flames (to shelter them from the wind and prevent large fires) and roast meats over the fire. This was the origin of Churrasco, the method of barbecue that quickly spread throughout Brazil and became a beloved tradition.
As time went on, churrasco moved from being a method of cooking for rural ranchers and became a restaurant staple format. Using fire pits in the kitchens and skewers held high over the heat, gauchos could cook meat to perfection and bring a skewer out to a table for them to enjoy.
Where does Rodizio come in? Well, the exact origins are a little disputed. The story is the same, but the exact place it happened tends to vary depending on who is making the claim. You know how it goes with culinary inventions, right? So, some people claim it first happened at Churrascaria Matias in Rio Grande do Sul. Others, including the Association of Steakhouses in the State of Sao Paulo, place it at Churrascaria 477 in Jacupiranga.
Either way, the story goes something like this.
Sometime in the mid-1960s, when Churrascaria was a big hit but Rodizio wasn’t yet invented, some event or festival was taking place. Given that the restaurant was popular, the tables were packed, and people were waiting with anticipation for their skewers of delicious meats.
Stories differ on who exactly made the mistake, but as the story goes, a gaucho – quite possibly the owner of the restaurant himself – brought a skewer out to serve to a table, only to find that the skewer was meant for a different table instead.
Rather than take the skewer away – leaving one table taunted and another worrying about a pre-cut skewer and possible food safety concerns – the gaucho simply decided to offer the people at the table a slice. They then did the same with all of the skewers ordered by both tables, bringing them to each, in turn, in a rotation of delicious meats.
The end result was not dissatisfaction. In fact, it was quite the opposite! Both tables got to experience meats they hadn’t necessarily planned on getting, and the whole event fostered a sense of community and connection between disparate groups of diners.
Seeing that the idea was a hit, the restaurant decided to turn it into an institution. Diners, instead of ordering specific skewers of specific cuts of meat for their table, would simply pay the fixed price entry fee. There, the gauchos would bring around each skewer in turn, offering a few slices to each diner interested in having a taste.
Initially limited to a single restaurant – wherever that restaurant may have been – the concept quickly became popular with construction workers and truck drivers, who greatly enjoyed a variety of different cheap meats (since beef was abundant and cheap in those areas of Brazil). By their nature, travelers, the truck drivers, in particular, were instrumental in spreading the concept throughout Brazil.
These days, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a churrascaria in Brazil that doesn’t follow the Rodizio style of serving. It’s simply too much fun and too effective at satisfying the people visiting to go back to the old way of doing things.
Modern Expansions of Rodizio Dining
Over time, the format of the Rodizio and the food of the Churrascaria became inseparable. The format gradually crystallized into what we have today.
How it works today is simple. You pay an entry fee for your meal (and some places, like Texas de Brazil, offer a lower fee if you’re a vegetarian and plan to dine mostly from the salad area). Add-ons like drinks and desserts cost extra.
Once you’re in, you settle in at a table and wait. You’re given a card, as described above, red and green, to indicate whether or not you want more meat or you’re good for the moment. If you want non-meat items, you have two options. Those cards themselves are a more recent invention, a way to make a visual indicator that doesn’t rely on divided attention and eye contact or flagging down a gaucho. It makes the whole experience go much more smoothly.
The first is to visit the salad area. This is where you have a variety of options, from charcuterie-style meats and cheeses to Brazilian classics like feijoada and pao de queijo. If you want a bit of alcohol or a tasty dessert, you can ask a gaucho for those menus to make your add-on order as well.
From there, it’s all about dining to your heart’s content. Whether you’re enjoying a night out with a spouse, bringing the whole family, or joining a larger gathering of friends or associates, you’re free to take the time you want to properly enjoy your meal at your own pace.
It wasn’t actually until 1996 that the first Rodizio-style churrascaria opened up in the United States. That restaurant, one of our competitors, was founded by a Brazilian immigrant who was raised in Sao Paulo and moved to Colorado to follow his dream. He expanded his business after the concept found success, and other chains – including our own Texas de Brazil, which first opened in 1998 – have grown in popularity as well.
For our part, we built on the concept of churrasco and fused it with Texan cuisine. After all, there’s no bigger hub of cattle ranching in the States than in Texas! With unique flavors and preparations, we’ve grown from a small family-owned restaurant to a chain spanning eight countries. Whether you’re in the United States, in the Caribbean, across the sea in Seoul, or in the desert oasis of Dubai, you can find a Texas de Brazil close to you.
What the Future Holds for Rodizio
What will the future hold for Churrasco and Rodizio?
Well, we’re not from the future, so we can’t really predict what’s to come. We can make a few guesses, though.
For one thing, we survived the pandemic, a time when communal dining and in-person eating were both dangerous and frowned upon. That alone proves that there is enduring and reliable interest in the Rodizio style of dining and, of course, the delicious meats we have on offer.
You can bet that we’re always going to be looking for ways to bring more delicious Brazilian dishes to audiences around the world. There’s a lot on the average plate in Brazil that hasn’t made it up here yet, but we’re looking to change that, one meal at a time. Of course, some foods can’t be easily transported – you won’t find the cashew apple in America very readily – but others can make the trip quite easily, and it’s just a matter of finding the right way to introduce it.
And, of course, we’re always looking to expand to new markets and new locations, both in the United States and in countries around the world. Anywhere there’s interest in delicious beef, an innovative dining experience, and a great time, we’ll be ready to set up shop.
So, what role do you play in all of this? It’s simple. Start by finding your nearest Texas de Brazil location. Call ahead to make a reservation, or just stop by – but don’t forget to join our eClub for unique deals and offers you can’t get anywhere else.
Once you’ve experienced what Rodizio has to offer, just tell others about it! If you love what you have, if you love the experience, and if you want to return, just come on back with friends and family. We’d love to have you, and we’d love to keep you satisfied.
