Everyone told me I had to try the meat in Brazil, I had to have their barbeque. However, my first night in Rio and I was dining alone. Since this location of Barragrill sent a van to pick up guests from their hotel gratis, I decided to go there and keep it simple. The restaurant was large, with tables and boothes arrayed around the central feature of the main buffet.
Without any prior explanation of churrasco, I found myself muddling through dinner once again. The prix fisse meal included the salad and dessert buffet as well as all you could eat of the roving barbeque. The salad bar was fine -- fresh greens and cooked veggies -- but I was there for the main event.
Waiters walk around with huge skewers of meat and if you want what they have you motion them over, then as they slice it off you are supposed to grab it with your tongs. This took me a few go-arounds to figure out (the maitre'd had to come over and demonstrate). Then, I realized on my own that the choices cuts of meat are closer to the skewer (no one really wants the tough and salty outer part). Some of my favorite types were alcatra (sirloin), carneiro (lamb), frango (chicken), and coracao (chicken heart). I'm not a big meat eater on a good day, but it was impressive to watch the locals. They knew all the cuts by sight, and could tell you exactly where the piece of meat would be found on an animal's body. I didn't care it it was from the butt or the shoulder, it was all delicious!
The waitstaff was very kind to me, and kept coming over to try and talk to me even though we had very little words in common. Personally I enjoyed watching the dining families and couples, most of whom seemed middle class. There were other tourists there, but mostly the crowd was locals. All in all, Barragrill is a fine and comfortable introduction to the world of churrasco!