Espetus Churrascaria

If you love meat, this is the place for you. All of the meat, chicken, pork, lamb, and shrimp selections were tender, juicy, and had the right amount of seasoning (the shrimp especially). The salad bar had a nice selection of veggies and beans and includes salmon. They also have a long list of desserts (didn't really care for the the Tres Leches cake though). As previously mentioned, our bill was astronomical as well. It's $49.50 per person for dinner. Thank god they didn't charge for my 6 year old.

Pros: Excellent service, great selection of meats & poultry.

Cons: Double P's-Price&Parking

Posted 03/25/09

The food tasted great, it was seasoned great, and the service was fantastic. The first time I ever had gone to a Churrascaria was 15 years ago in Rio -- the food and experience was awesome! Espetus brought me back there. I strongly recommend taking family and friends.

Pros: Service, and food quality, and taste

Cons: Can't think of one at this time

Posted 07/05/08

As a Brazilian, I have being to several "Churrascarias" before. In Brazil and in few cities of America. What I want when I come to a "rodizio" it`s a good variety of tropical Brazilian salads and some of it`s unique culinary dishes and all the tender and juicy at it`s flavor meat, good meat. How about a friendly, welcome whit a great smile in an ambiance of happiness. After a long day at work or a long weak, I, for sure, can find that at Espetus. Delicious food that worth every penny.

Pros: delicious food

Cons: parking

Posted 06/03/08

I love "churrasco"! This is the place in San Francisco to try the real " churrascaria rodizio", the way it's called in Brazil. The service is very good, but I think it's a little expensive if you take your whole family. My bill was astronomic...

Pros: Food & Service

Cons: Price!

Posted 05/20/08

Just came back from a holiday lunch with 35 coworkers at Espetus. I collected $31 including tax and tip from everyone. The staff had told me over the phone that drinks were extra ($4-$6 is what they said) so I figured we would just have water. They asked if we'd like sparking or still water so we asked for still water. HUGE mistake. Because I neglected to say JUST PLAIN TAP WATER, the bill arrived with a charge of $159.39 for bottled WATER. I suppose I should have asked how much for water, but I had no idea it would be almost $5 each for WATER!! C'mon people!! You're charging $23.95 for a lunch buffet (Double that for dinner)! Could you at least include the WATER or warn me that you charge $7 a bottle!!!???

Pros: Good Food

Cons: Too Expensive

Posted 12/06/07

We called to say that we were running late for our 7:00 p.m reservation on a Friday, August 10th as BART was running behind. We were told no problem. We arrived at 7:10 p.m., and we waited 25 minutes. I asked why were we waiting so long to be seated. The hostess said that we were 20 minutes late and they had given our table away. I said we most certainly were not 20 minutes late, that we had arrived at 7:10 p.m; in addition, we had called and were told it was no problem. Clearly my face must have spoken the anger I was starting to feel at the treatment because the manager came over and apologized but the damage was done. He bought drinks for my party of 3 and we were seated a few minutes later. As we had never been there before, we were uncertain how it worked. We asked a waiter what the process was and he explained it to us. Seems like that is something the air head hostesses could have done while we waited to be seated. We went to the salad bar and it was so so not much that really grabbed me. The meats and seafood were good but it certainly was not that much different than a normal buffet. The prices that I had seen on Open Table's website were clearly from a long ago time and our bill was 150.00 including tax. Way too over priced and pompous for my taste but my guests from DC enjoyed it and it was for them that I went. I personally will never return. The Bay Area is blessed with too many good restaurants to deal with one that gives a bad first impression!

Pros: Lots of meat if that's your thing, close to BART-civic center

Cons: pompous attitude from hostesses, OVER PRICED, no parking, noisy

Posted 08/25/07

This overpriced, over-hyped restaurant was a huge disappointment. Extremely expensive for what you get. Most chicken, lamb, sprimp dishes were overly dry and hard. Prices have definitely gone up since their first reviews. I was with a birthday party of eight, and after reading the reviews about the poor wine list and how extremely marked up the prices are, we brought our own wine. The waiter did not looked pleased when we produced two bottles to be opened. After we finished the two one more was brought out, only to be told that there is a two bottle limit for wine brought in. They then produced a wine list with the cheapest bottle starting at over $50 - Ridiculous! The bill for everyone( (without desert) came to $80 per person. Far too expensive for a couple of slices of decent beef and a side salad. Don't know why anyone would subject themselves to being monetarily taken by such mediocre food.

Cons: Far Too expensive

Posted 06/26/07

I went on a Friday night after hearing so much about this place. I was frankly disappointed. There were maybe 2 or 3 meats that were pretty good, but nothing spectacular. Just slightly better than cheap buffet quality. I found that most of the meats were dry or just weren't very good, and I have to agree with previous posters that the salad bar was better than the meat, but nothing exciting either. It was definitely not worth the $50 per as I could've gotten much higher quality meat for less at a better restaurant. Will not go again. Oh did I mention it was way too crowded and the wait was ridiculous.

Pros: buffet

Cons: so so meat, too expensive, too crowded

Posted 01/27/07

All-you-can-eat Brazilian barbecue plus a noisy, fun setting equals a culinary adventure. All-you-can-eat Brazilian barbecue plus a noisy, fun setting equals a culinary adventure.

Posted 01/14/07

Great Restaurant!
The food is great and the staff is very, very friendly.
Kepp up the good work.
I went to Espetsu on my birthday and friends had ordered a gift certificate over the phone for me. The staff there went an extra mile to so my gift would arrive on time for me. And what surprises me the most they did not charge for ship and handling!
I love this restaurant!!! :)

Pros: Service

Cons: Parking

Posted 01/01/07

A friend brought me here for my birthday. We enjoyed the food and spent a couple of hours eating and had no complaints. The tenderloin was fantastic. It was a bit expensive so make sure you go hungry and eat a lot to make it worthwhile.

Posted 11/23/06

I was pleased when I first visited Espetus back in 2003. The food was great - LOADS of meat. They did conveniently "run out" of the fried bananas when we requested for more but the service was excellent though. For a party of 7 i think we paid a decent amount for what we ate - steak, pork, even the chicken hearts were absolutely yummy! :) Came back a few months ago on a Sunday for lunch thinking that the price would be less since it's lunch time. Turns out they changed their policy and the price for buffet lunch on Sundays is the same as dinner. We ended up paying a little over $100 for lunch, which was a bit disappointing. Had I known this earlier, I would've opted to go for dinner. Overall, if you're terribly hungry and want tons of meat and don't mind paying over $50 for lunch, then this is your place. Dinner is much better, however.

Posted 11/03/06

I was overwhelmed with all the meats that came my way. They offered a tasty selection of different steaks, loins, and chickens. Everything was so fresh and tasted wonderful! They offer a small salad bar where you can get some starches and salads. The mango salasa tasted really good and complimented well with the steaks. The service was awesome and they were all very very attentive.

Pros: Variety of meats, cleanliness

Cons: Parking

Posted 09/27/06

This is a good place to try when you are craving for meat!!! You must go hungry, and do make a reservation!!! It's not in the best location in the city so hang on to your personal items. They do offer a salad bar so you could take a break from the meat feast. Remember to flip that card to the green side and the waiters will keep on coming with all types of meat. The hard part is to pace yourself so you could try everything, the biggest mistake we made was that we went after everything at first, so towards the end we were simply too stuffed to try other things. They usually have around 12 different types of meat, our favorites are chicken wrapped in bacon and the primb rib.

Pros: different types of meat

Cons: bad parking, bad neighborhood, small bar

Posted 08/04/06

A great dining experience, with a gourmet Brazilian buffet table and then excellent cuts of Brazilian barbeque brought to your table. A great restaurant when you are hungry and want to have a great dinner with friends. At the edge of Hayes Valley in the same block as Zuni Cafe and across the street from the new Caffe Trieste.

Posted 07/17/06

I loved this place! Tremendous, tasty food and a great atmosphere. A perfect kick off for a night on the town, but lunch is great here too.

Posted 06/26/06

Grossly overpriced!! Two of us lunched here in June 2006 and were very unimpressed by the flavorless meats. The salad bar was much better than the carnivorous offerings but hardly worth the $81 we paid! And that was with iced tea only and no alcoholic beverages!

Pros: Nice salads.

Cons: The meats were flavorless. The cost of the meal was stratospheric! Bring your 401K.

Posted 06/25/06

I couldn't believe it. One of the worst nights out ever! The service was disgraceful. The food was average. Not much value for what you pay. I'm still stung by the rudeness of the waiter....

Posted 05/23/06

Not worth the money or the headache. The game is to sit and wait for the nice cuts of meat. Skip it, even the best cuts of meat are tasteless and the service is horrible!

Pros: none

Cons: everything

Posted 04/30/06

We dined at Espetus for a birthday dinner with ten people and it was an overall outstanding experience. We made a reservation, which was very good because even on a Tuesday night it was a full house. The food was delicious, they had "10-12 different varieties" including chicken, beef, lamb. It was a completly different resturant then any other one that I have been to....You have to try it!

Pros: food, reservations

Cons: parking

Posted 04/26/06

My family was introduced to churrasco by our Brazilian exchange student. He thought it tasted just like home. We thought this place was wonderful. Good atmosphere and friendly servers.

The dinner was a bit too expensive for our large family, so we went for lunch. The 3 or 7 meat special was affordable & delicious!! Chicken and Pork are amazing. The Picanha was some of the best meat I have ever eaten in my life!!

This is a great place for a group because you don't have to wait for your order to be taken or hope your meals all come out at the same time and hot! The salads, rice and beans are self serve and the meats come out hot at regular intervals. The atmosphere is lively enough that well behaved children won't be noticed.

Will plan our next trip to SF around a meal at Espetus!

Pros: Great food, Great service, Great priced lunch

Cons: Pricey for families, Dinner expensive

Posted 04/18/06

We were amazed from the moment we walked through the door!!!
The hostess treated us with a warm smile making us feel very welcome! our server was great! reccomended an excelent wine and was always there with whatever u need! we dropped a fork and in 2 seconds there was another one right there! amazing!
The food was magnificent!! The meats were very rich in flavor and their salad bar was great!! All that for a very reasonable price!

Pros: Great service

Cons: Need more room!

Posted 03/26/06

The food is good but it is not out of this world. The service and value are ok. It is expensive but definitely you are going to eat a lot.

Pros: A lot of food, Service

Cons: Expensive, Bad Parking

Posted 03/22/06

The food looked interesting, but the host gave preference to friends and acquaintances when it came to seating. After waiting an hour and 15 minutes for a table we went elsewhere. The host didn't seem to care so you can expect to be treated poorly at this restaurant.

Cons: service, price, location

Posted 02/24/06

A friend of ours took us to this restaurant for lunch. We were a group of 5 and since our party loved to eat, this all you can eat restaurant was perfect! If you are a true Carniverous, THIS is definitely the place to go. Aside from the salad bar thats erved rice and fish, the meat was mmmmm....perfect! My favorite was the chickena dn the sausages. Every bite was barbequed perfectly and not one piece of meat was dry. We were eating so much that I was afraid that our party was going to get kicked out! But the service was great, the servers were nice and we left there barely walking...It was a fun place and the price was worth it!

Posted 01/30/06

To be honest, I didn't know what I was getting into. I've always seen the restaurant and finally decided to go with some friends. It was $30 a person..and it was only lunch too. I think that's crazy. The food was alright, nothing exciting. The only one I liked was the chicken and pineapple, all the other meats were pretty dry tasting. I would not recommend this place. I also "heard" that they charge an automatic tip no matter how small or large the party.

Cons: price

Posted 12/16/05

Nice place but expensive. Sometimes they do not have all the meats. I think they should so it worth for us to pay the amoint they charge.

Pros: Good food

Cons: Not all the meats

Posted 11/06/05

This place works in the same way all Churrascaria work in Brazil, pay a flat rate all you can eat, Your table will probably start out with less desirable cuts of meats i.e., chicken hearts, pork , sausages, then they will bring the red meat, If you are a true Carnivores you will realize nothing is close to the bone so no real flavor to the meat, , then the red meats will disappear, the waiter will come with the red meat cuts to tables around you but will never make it to yours, at this time your body is digesting all that meat you ate earlier and now you feel fool then its back to chicken hearts., You were just charged $36 dollars for $7 of meat. That's how Churrascaria make money, be wise say no to Non red meat cuts and you'll beat the game be patient !!!!

Posted 10/20/05

We went there with a party of 9 and found out they had reserved us for wed instead of thursday. they sat us after 20 minutes when they realized they booked us on the wrong day which was great. the food was very good in the beginning, soft and tender then got really hard and drive half way through.

Half way through, a waiter, not ours came by and asked if we could all move to another table because of a larger party. We said no. One of the servers while slicing off meat to one of us dropped a piece of meat on the table dropped a piece of meat on the table, picked it up and put it in my brothers plate. unbelievable.

Posted 09/22/05

I tried this place twice, the first time, it was great, matter of fact, perfect !
great taste, fresh meat, good service. we were there early, on a weekend, packed with a line, but food is fast and wonderful, many to chooce from. so good that we went back again on a week night, and it was the worst !! a total opposite.
so i guess if you are planning to go, go on a weekend when there is enough people to have a nice flow of food.

Posted 07/18/05

food was great - excellent variety (of meat, meat, and more kinds of meat) and a great mix of flavors and choices. the layout and style make this great place to go with a medium to larger sized group. about the only con is the noise, making this not really a romantic place for two, but more of a festive place for a group!

Pros: great food, fun atmosphere, good value

Cons: loud

Posted 07/17/05

How can a place that specializes in meat get it so wrong? Many varieties we tried were inedible. Bite after bite of the fatty gristle ended up in our napkins. Only one, the garlic sirloin, was decent. The lamb actually made me gag, and I adore lamb. It was flabby and cold and just plain revolting. My husband said after a bite of prime rib this is going to turn me off meat forever.

I told the waiter that we were pretty disappointed by the meal and he understood completely! He explained that by the end of the night the meat is pretty bad and many complained about it. He suggested next time we come between 5-7 for better quality.

The bill for this mess was about $150. A tip of 15 percent was already added in very odd for a party of two.

Posted 07/03/05

This is my third time eating a this type of restaurant, once in Brazil and once in NYC.

I went with a group of five people. We all throughly enjoyed the entire meal from salad bar to dessert and coffee.

We all felt that the meat was excellent and so well flavored.

We had a total of 3 different desserts and they were all excellent and well flavored.

The service was excellent.

I would highly recommend this restaurant, especially for special occasions.

Pros: Excellent service, excellent food, not too noisy

Cons: none

Posted 04/04/05

Perhaps we are spoiled, but just because the food is all you can eat does not make Espetus a good value or a good place to have a meal. We loved the Churrascarias when we were traveling through Brazil, but found SF's first to have flavorless side dishes which were poorly presented. The meat was good, but did not measure up to steaks that can be found at other places.

Pros: only Churrascaria

Cons: side dishes

Posted 02/11/05

Came here last night to celebrate a birthday, the restaurant is long and narrow with wooden floors and a spartan interior. We went for the BBQ Meat special while my vegetarian friend just did the salad bar. For those of you who haven't tried a churrascaria, waiters come to your table with a long skewer of meat and keep on coming until you tell them not to with a little red/green disc. The top sirloin, parmesan chicken, prime rib were great. The buffet has a variety of Brasilian cold plates and some fish/paella, all decent. Service levels were very good, noise levels a bit high and the buffet got backed up due to poor design. Overall a fun and tasty spot but a little expensive for what you get

Pros: Great Meat, Good Service

Cons: , Pricey

Posted 10/29/04

The only reason the editor gave this restaurant a 'Recommended' rating is because there aren't any other churrascaria-type restaurants in the bay area yet! I am a seasoned veteran when it comes to churrascaria cuisine and Espetus is a poor excuse for a restaurant. They probably should have let us cook our own meat since they only brought out meat that was either raw or overcooked. Don't let the above average ambiance fool you - give the people what they want! good food! On top of all of this, our reserved dinner party was charged for a few people that did not show up. Perhaps that is $150 the restaurant may have lost out on that night, but they lost my future business.

Pros: a bay area first

Cons: , raw meat

Posted 09/01/04

I had high hopes after reading the positive reviews posted here. We brought a group of 30 people to this restaurant, which ensured the restaurant a tab of over $1,000. Because 5 people didn't show up, the restaurant still charged us for those people. This is ridiculous and they obviously will never get our service again.

Eater beware - the food is not worth the price. Better spend your money elsewhere and leave the restaurant happy.

Posted 08/15/04

This is the best Brazillian food in Northern California. Rei Do Gado (San Diego) takes top honors in my book. I recommend Espetus if you are in the Bay Area. Although the selection of meats and salad bar weren't as extensive as Rei Do Gado, what they did have was prepared well and tasted great. Save room for dessert & coffee. The Tres Leches is to die for and the coffee is smooth and taste great black. I usually use cream & sugar, but this coffee is really good on it's own. Although Tres Leches is traditionaly a Mexican dessert, the way it is served here is the best I have ever had in my life! Salad bar could use a little more fresh fruit and more variety.

Pros: Tres Leches (dessert), Coffee, the meats

Cons: , salad bar, variety of meat/fruit

Posted 06/25/04

I love having a churrascaria in SF and really wanted to like Espetus. I made a reservation early in the week for 2 people. We got there at 8 and were not seated until 9:30. The host came to the host stand twice in 90 minutes.

Have just returned from several months in Brazil I was disappointed by the quality of the meat. The service was just bad. After waiting for 90 minutes and being very cool about it and speaking some Portugese etc we still got bad service

You would think there would be some Brazilian music playing in the background no matter how softly...none. In the bathroom you would think there would be pictures of Brazil or Rio or something...nope Cape Cod.

This place will last about a year after the gimmick wears off. It was mostly birthday parties who had fun blowing the big birthday horn.

Posted 06/12/04

My husband, 2 children and I went here for dinner on a Saturday @ 5pm and had an absolutely wonderful time. I think this restaurant is one of the best ones I have ever been. The service and food were excellent. The host was so wonderful to my little boys that by the time we left both were saying "Obrigado!" "Thank you!" in Portuguese/Brazilian! To those who complain that it's too crowded....what do you think happens when the word gets around about a great place???

Pros: GREAT FOOD, GREAT SERVICE, A LOT OF MEAT!!!

Posted 06/04/04

Fun place with a unique service gimmick. 7pm reservations and waited quite a while before the gauchos started serving the meat. Went to the buffet for starters, but had to wait a long time after that before the main event. Initially what was served was OK, flavorful but overdone, dry and not really exceptional. As time went by the selections got better and better. Guess the first selections were leftovers from the night before that had been re-warmed and therefore overcooked. By the end of the evening the meat was succulent, juicy, very tender and flavorful, but we were almost too full to enjoy it! Make 8pm reservations so you miss the leftovers and get the fresh stuff! Molten chocolate cake and Pava and strong dark coffee were delicious. It was full by 8 or 9 and got noisy. It was hard to carry on a conversation.

Pros: Unique

Posted 05/18/04

gringos need not apply, if you've been to brasil and argentina, you know the concept, service is brilliant and helpful, very accomodating, throwing down on the portuguese will get you far. definitely more south brasil, uruguay, argentina presentation and cuisine, but awesome eats, they even have schincariol beer. bring an empty stomach and smile, as in brasil, they'll fill you up with a friendly face.

Pros: service, authentic, innovative for sfo

Posted 05/04/04

I'm so glad that a churrascaria finally opened in San Francisco. I particularly enjoyed the garlic sirloin beef - it had just the right saltiness to it, and the bacon-wrapped turkey. The only drawback is that the restaurant space is small, and not very conducive to larger groups. Our set-up for a party of seven had us bumping into our neighbors or vice versa every time either party had to get up. The meat carvers also had a hard time serving our table. I'm sure that a smaller party of four will be just fine. The dinner cost is not inexpensive nor is it overly expensive either considering the amount of meat that you'll be eating. Lastly, the noise level was loud. If you are looking for nice conversation, you'll have to pretty much yell above the din. My suggestion - sound baffles!

Pros: Good food

Cons: , Noisy, Space limitations.

Posted 04/13/04

We went on a Saturday, made a reservation a week earlier, but it didn't matter since host was going off a pad of paper he was scribbling on. Basically, you have to put your name on his list when you get there, after which he tells everyone "Be another 5 minutes." An hour and half later, we were squeezed into a small table in the front, crammed against people waiting at the bar. Since we were in front, most of the food is gone by the time it gets to us. Waiter actually came to our table with one tomato on his sword. The kitchen is probably in a frenzy, so as a result everything is dry and overcooked. Service is bad. The staff is clearly out of their league. Wait awhile for the fervor to die down on this place, then maybe things will be worth the expense.

Pros: All you can eat, Trendy

Cons: , Service, Crowded

Posted 03/27/04

If you have never been to Espetus you should do yourself a favor and go. Coming from new york I did not expect to find such an exciting dining experience. Not only do you have a truly magnificent time but the food there is fresh and delicious. The skewers of meat do not stop coming and each cut of meat is better than the next. If you're not a meat person, not to worry because the salads are wonderful. Although I've had rice and beans a million times, these rice and beans were as good if not better than my mother's. Word to the wise, Come with your appetite because not only are you going to want to eat, you're going to want to eat A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!

I give this restaurant 5 stars

Posted 03/23/04

The food is average, should go only if you are very hungry. The concept is new, similar concept to a brazilian restaurant in San Diego. Same experience, average food there too.

Posted 02/13/04