Samba Brazilian Grill

I’ve heard people rave about Brazilian steakhouses, and I finally went with high hopes, but left really quite disappointed. My overall impression is that Samba is a steak and other assorted meats buffet, but a pain in the ass because you have to wait for someone to come by and cut off an appetizer-​sized portion of meat — and you pay through the nose for it.
The taste of some of the food is ok. You start with a buffet of salads, breads, stews. I got some chicken tort (not good), Wisconsin cheeses (good, but you can get them anywhere in the area for cheap), and cheese-​filled rolls (excellent). But you should probably not fill up too much, since the real experience is in the meats and pineapple that the servers bring to your table.
At Samba, you flip a big red/​green plastic thing to indicate when you want food. If you have it green side up, then servers will come by your table and cut off a modestly sized piece of meat or pineapple and so on, until you flip your thing back over to red so you can eat. The sausage was quite good. The leg of lamb was cooked well, but the meat was a bit too gamey for my liking. The top sirloin was disappointing as hell — there were a couple decent bites, but the slices I got were mostly overcooked and some pieces were loaded with inedible gristle. The pineapple has cinnamon and sugar, and just tastes like warm pineapple with cinnamon and sugar (assuming you get a piece with cinn and sugar on it, which only outside pieces have). I was greatly disappointed by a few of the meats, like marinated flank steak and honey chicken. With the exception of the sausage which was quite good but not special, I was overall pretty disappointed. I am not Brazilian and am not an expert, but I have had Brazilian food before. If you didn’t tell me that Samba was Brazilian, I would never have guessed it was supposed to be.
Critically: Caipirinhas are like the drink of Brazil, and the one I had at Samba was the worst one I ever had. That’s disappointing since they’re one of my favorite cocktails.
The service was sloowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. We were there at a 5pm on Thursday (they open at 5pm) and the place wasn’t getting full until we just about finished our meal, but it still took forever for our drinks to get refilled, get our bill, etc. I don’t blame our waitress so much, it seemed like she just had a lot of tables to take care of. I think if you’re charging $ 37 or whatever a plate, you can afford to hire adequate staff.
Overall, as many other Unilocal!reviewers have already said, the quality of food does not justify the price. My fiancé and I had two dinners, two Caipirinhas, and a fountain drink, which cost us over $ 100. And it was in no way worth $ 100, let alone even half that. If I were to ignore the price, I’d give Samba 2 Stars, but I can’t rate them at any more than 1 given the high price for pedestrian food.

What can be bad about all you can eat meat?
Seriously, we enjoyed our visit. The food was flavorful and plentiful. We ate four different preparations of beef, two of chicken, two of pork, one of turkey, one of lamb, and one of sausage. They have a nice salad bar with upscale items beyond the typical iceberg lettuce. Such as artichoke hearts, olives, cheeses, pasta salads; if you can’t find something you like here you might want to check your pulse. Side dishes can be found by the salad bar, ours included smashed garlic potatoes, rice, tortilla soup, and some other items that presently slip my memory.
We hope to go back soon.

Samba was the perfect date night spot. One of the pros is that they still take reservations, which is becoming rarer among restaurants these days. The wine list is huge, so many choices from different countries. Good for wine enthusiasts (but beware, some wines only come by the bottle). The salad bar was amazing. We were raving about it all dinner. The second course was also pretty great. It’s nice to be able to experience different small samples of meats in one meal to be able to taste everything. The pineapple was my favorite because it really cleaned the palette in between the meat and doubled as a dessert because it’s so sweet. Even if you’re not a huge fan of pineapple, try it at least once. Fortunately we had a groupon so we had a good discount but since you’re eating just protein, it doesn’t take a lot to get full so you don’t feel like you’ve eaten your money’s worth. This is a restaurant for a special occasion or when you’re feeling a splurge.

Don’t bother!!! Came here at 4:55 for 5:00 opening, the restaurant was COMPLETELY empty and they turned us away because «the whole place was reserved» with reservations for the entire night??? There was no mention online or if you called, only a sign on the desk when you come in and we drove 45 mins to get there. It was also a Wednesday not a weekend. Terrible business model and they were even rude when they turned us away, no apologies no explanation, just «no walk ins, next» just go somewhere else!

The format is the same as most every other Brazilian Steakhouse we’ve been to in the U.S. There is a set price which includes the buffet and all of the meats. Drinks and desserts if you choose to have them are extra.
We arrived fairly late on a Saturday evening. We had reservations and were seated immediately. Samba was busy but not crowded. Our waitress arrived shortly, brought a basket of yucca puffs filled with cheese, took our drink order, explained how it works, and then we headed toward the salad bar.
The salad bar has a good selection of both hot and cold items. I thought the swiss, brick, and blue cheeses were all top notch. There were regular and spicy almonds. Spinach, mixed greens, romaine were all available for making a cold salad. Marinated artichokes and hearts of palm made for some tasty and unusual ingredients. There was a chickpea salad, a curried potato salad, and a pesto pasta salad with sun-​dried tomatoes. A couple of soups were available and well as an incredibly delicious lamb and black-​bean stew which I devoured. This wasn’t the most extensive salad bard I’ve seen at a Brazilian steak-​house, but it contained a good mix of traditional american items with a good mix of Brazilian items to please all tastes. The hardest part about the salad bar is making sure you leave for all of the meats to come.
The evening we were there, the skewers of meats included, a sausage, mango chicken, garlic chicken wings, pork w/​Parmesan cheese, flank steak, sirloin steak, lamb and pineapple (obviously not a meat, but served like one). The lamb, sirloin, and pork were all delicious. They were brought around multiple times and you could have multiple servings each time if you so desired. The flank steak was a little tough and was not my favorite until I got some chimichurri sauce from the salad bar. Wow! This was great! I should have gotten this from the beginning. It’s a green sauce of parsley, garlic, olive oil, oregano, and vinegar. It really matched the flank steak and made it sing.
Our beverages were also very good. Cachaca and rum were the primary liquors. They were delicious, large, and priced as you would expect at fine-​dining restaurant.
We didn’t save room for the desserts. They are extra — in the $ 7 — $ 10 range.
This isn’t a place I would go every week. It’s just too much food and you are paying for it. But, I will definitely go back. Just make sure you are particularly hungry and hungry for a lot of meat.

Was expecting better!
The Meats. They come around every 4 minutes or so. Little slices are cut off for you to receive with tongs. Small portions. Only Half the meats were enjoyable for me. Not usually a beef fan but I tried anyway and Found both beef offerings tough and lacking in flavor. The Pork items were the best. All the chicken items were okay but a little dry, and the leg especially underwhelming.
The cold salad bar items were alright, a decent selection. I did enjoy the hot items like the butternut squash soup and the Brazilian stew. The staff (minus the hostess who was not at all welcoming) were pleasant enough, and the space itself was quite lovely. I would not say this experience was worth $ 37 dollars though, maybe more like $ 27.
I was most dismayed by the TOTAL lack of dessert at the Buffett! No sweets provided?!? Yes, all that $ and desserts are still extra!
:(
Would not recommend.

Since I was born and raised in Brazil, I figured I’d check out Samba to see how authentic they really are.
The concept (rodizio) is certainly Brazilian. The way that some of the meats are seasoned is «sort of» like we do in Brazil. The feijoada (black beans with pork pieces) is close enough to the Brazilian recipe, though not nearly as good as it could be. They have farofa (yucca flower with some seasoning) and it’s pretty authentic. The cheese bread «looks» Brazilian, but the flavor and texture were far from the real deal. I heard that people go there for the grilled pineapple, which is fine, but not great.
Now… The meat variety is extremely limited. That said, I did not expect them to offer as many cuts as we do in Brazil. I did, however, hope that they would be pretty close to what other Brazilian steakhouses in the US offer (I’m thinking of Plataforma, Fogo de Chao and Texas de Brazil). Samba fails miserably on this category (the most important for a «steak» house). Moreover, the Gauchos did not know how to cut the meats properly. For example, the top sirloin (picanha) is supposed to be sliced super thin… I got a couple of very thick pieces.
The buffet is okay… I guess it caters well to the local demographic. It does not stand up to Brazilian standards though.
The service was the best part. My waiter was very attentive, friendly and prompt.
Overall, Samba is «sort of» a Brazilian steakhouse. The food is not bad, but really nothing to write home about.

I don’t believe I have ever been as disappointed in a restaurant as I was tonight. I really didn’t know it was possible to screw up meat so badly. The pork tenderloin was so dry it was inedible. The spicy beef tenderloin was unbelievably tough and was so spicy you couldn’t even taste the meat but maybe that is the point.
The flavor of the sirloin wasn’t bad but the texture was mealy. The flank steak was poorly marinated, one bite was all spice, the next was all vinegar and was also overly tough. The lamb was also severely over seasoned but could’ve been good.
The highlight of the night and the only reason I didn’t give Samba one star was the chicken legs. And the best item they serve, the grilled pineapple.
Seriously, you’re a restaurant that specializes in grilled meats and the only thing you do well is pineapple?!?
I really hate leaving a review like this but if you are going to charge $ 37 for a meal, you need to be able to actually make decent food.

I’ve been to Samba now probably a dozen times over the past 5 years or so and I always enjoy coming back. I’m not sure it can be compared apples to apples to a place like Fogo De Chao (like others might compare), because it is more costly ($ 50 per plate) and therefore the service reflects what you are paying (constant refilling of waters, a dirty plate never sits on your table for more than a minute, telling a server you want a fresh round of a certain type of meat at a certain degree of «doneness»). At Samba, you pay a respectable amount (I believe it’s $ 35) and get respectable service.
My most recent experience there was great. We went on a Wednesday night at 5:15, and were lucky enough to be one of only a few other couples, so we got a fresh round of meat constantly. It became crowded about an hour later, but the rounds were still coming around regularly. Our server was very nice and attentive, as well as the gauchos.
I like to have a few things from the salad bar, but not too much so I don’t get full quickly. Their whole selection of food up there is great, but I usually limit myself to a couple of cheeses, roasted almonds, and a mix of spring mix/​romaine lettuce with tomato vinaigrette and Caesar dressings (all delish).
I don’t eat pork or lamb, and limit myself to the beef selections (I’m sure their chicken is great but I gotta save room for the best part). They didn’t have my favorite this time (picanha), but they did have Flank Steak with a honey/​balsamic marinade which was superb, and may even be my favorite now! The tenderloin with pepper rub was very good as well. End the meal with the grilled pineapple (so juicy and flavorful) and you’ve got yourself a top-​notch dinner! Thanks again Samba for a great experience.

I have never been to a Brazilian steak house before. This was quite an experience. For those of you who don’t know what goes down at these places, let me enlighten you. Basically, people with two foot meat-​on-​a-​stick come to your table and cut the meat right off the slab for you. To me, it seemed a little barbaric and kinda gross. I couldn’t get myself to eat much of the different meats they had. However, they had this awesome roasted (?) pineapple on a stick that was so flavorful, it knocked my socks off. I mean, it was REALLY good.
They also had a impressive salad bar. The salad bar has every salad ingredient you’ve never heard of. So, for me anyway, since I didn’t know what 80% of the ingredients were, I ended up with a pretty pathetic salad.
They also had warm sides which included some pretty bitchin mashed potatoes.
Meh, I don’t think I’ll ever come here again. I’m glad I tried it though.

Ever since it lived in the Madison area I’ve been looking to stop here. If you’ve been to a Brazilian meat restaurant before, it’s a similar experience. You get a paddle with red and green. Green means to keep the meat coming. Red means you need a break.
The salad bar area had a nice variety of cold cuts, cheeses, salads, and other appetizers. They had roughly 8 different types of marinated meats. While there were a couple I didn’t care for, there were some that knocked it out of the park.
Come hungry because you’ll leave full! This is a nice date restaurant. Great atmosphere and service. This is worth the visit if you’re looking for something different in Madison!

One of my favorites in Madison! The meats are always cooked perfectly, and the salad bar has a great variety. The grilled pineapple is to die for! Try going for Sunday Brunch if you want to try the meat without the high prices.

The salad bar is very good! With a variety of food. The grilled meat are all very tasty (esp loved the lamb and tenderloin), and the grilled pineapple fits so well between every meat.

Went there for the first time this weekend, and overall it is a good restaurant, great food, but my total was still $ 77 + $ 12 tip! So, $ 35 Groupon + $ 22 + $ 12, for only 2 people, no dessert, no drinks. VERY Pricey if you compare to Rodizio (Milwaukee), and Fogo de Chao (Chicago). The only thing I didn’t like was at the end, where the server reminded us to tip on the overall total before she added the Groupon… I thought that was kind of rude.

Refreshing to find a brunch with these types of quality selections. Bowls full of veggies, fresh greens, fresh chimichurri sauce, baked goat cheese, fresh baguettes and so much more. Yes, yes there are eggs and bacon also. Then comes my favorite part, servers offering endless slices of traditional Brazilian rotisserie treats! Marinated flank steak, Linguica sausage, succulent ham and, the to die for whole grilled pineapple. Top it off with a mimosa and that makes a Sunday fun-​day!
Great price, great atmosphere in a beautiful historic building!!!

If you’ve never been to a Brazilian steakhouse before I’m sure you will love Samba. However, it’s not as good as many of the other rodizio places I’ve experienced.
The salad bar is lackluster. Most places offer crazily stocked salad bars that could get me full for 3 days before ever touching the meat (shrimp cocktail, cured meats, you name it!). I usually have to restrain myself. Here, nothing is all that enticing. The cheese balls that are my favorite thing ever at these types of places are often cold or run out.
The meat is fine but also not as good as at other similar restaurants. My favorite is definitely the prime rib. I wish there were more really good meats (lamb chops, more steaks, etc) and fewer items like buffalo chicken. That’s not why I go to a Brazilian steakhouse. They do bring out the most delicious grilled pineapple ever.
Service is hit or miss. I would go back for an occasion because it’s all we have in Madison, but I definitely recommend going to a Fogo or a Texas de Brazil for a higher quality experience.

We had reservations for Valentine’s Day. I know it is cliché but we celebrate Valentine’s once every 4 or 5 years. Since it was a Saturday and my husband works nights all week, we typically eat like 2 ships passing in the night. Friends suggested Samba. They aren’t right in their suggestion.
We arrived at 5:50 for a 6pm reservation. Another couple arrived behind us, a second behind them. They were both seated ahead of us. Now maybe their reservation was for earlier, but that means they were late. No one makes a reservation for 5:55pm. they were seated in the main dining room. They called my husband and I, we were taken to our table. It was in a back room, in a corner, against a wall. The temperature in the room was very chilly and the room itself had a very «cold» feeling to it. I asked to be switched to another table, this was unsatisfactory. Ok, they moved us. To a smaller table, right next to the doorway… we were told they were completely booked solid and that was the only other option. Fine, whatever, at least we were now in the actual dining room.
We were told to help ourselves to the salad bar, they explained the red and green paddle, which we already knew having been to other Brazilian steakhouses. We go the salad bar. There in the center of the dining room were 4 4 top tables, set up for 2 people. Ok, mental note. We help ourselves and the salad bar is truly less than impressive. The cheese bread was stone cold, the beets were not good. It was very small. Again, ok, you really aren’t going there for the salad bar. So easy to overlook that if the meat is good.
The meat was fair. The gaucho with the pineapple stopped at our table at least 5 times. Garlic bread once, we actually had to ask our waiter to find him. Turkey wrapped in bacon, we never saw that. Sausage, we were all set to call it a night when he showed up. Flank steak, most of the meat was gone and we were offered barely the tip, smaller than the tenderloin and it was well done. My husband enjoyed the mango chicken, I thought it was ok, just could have been a lot warmer. The parmesan pork, licking sand in the Sahara would be more moist. The whole experience gets a «meh». I won’t go back.
Here’s where it gets fun… when the waiter handed us our check… Those 4 4top tables set for 2 that were in the center of the restaurant… They had only JUST been seated for the first time. At the end of our meal, they sat empty for our entire visit there. So much for completely sold out and no possible room to put us elsewhere. Don’t BS a BS’er… I do plan on calling management tonight and voicing my displeasure, although I am certain it will fall on deaf ears.
Oh the survey question «Has TV»… They say no on their website. But get that chilly, cold back room that looks like an after thought and you can have a 50″ television hanging over your head. Private lot parking… We did get the one and only open spot in the parking lot. Ok, it is small, we were in the middle of downtown Madison, parking is a premium. I always make mental note of vehicles around me… Same exact cars still there when we left. Obviously the «customer only» parking should say «Lucky customer, employees will grab all the spots first» parking.

Went on New Year’s Eve, was seated immediately with no reservations. They had complementary glass of champagne with dinner.
Went to salad bar, grabbed a few items and turned the pillar to green– food immediately showed up. Surprisingly I enjoyed the duck (never had it before. Had my reservations.) We also had the alcatra, fraldinha, linguica, file mignon, picanha, bacon wrapped turkey and pineapple. Picanha and turkey were my favorite, but they were all very tasty.
The pao de quiejo (cheese bread,) WI cheese cubes and the seasoned nuts were fantastic. I really liked the beets, sweet potato salad, feijoada stew, and fried shrimp. The salads were flavorful and veggies well prepared. Basically everything was awesome.
The price for what you got was very reasonable. I believe less than you would pay at a Fogo de Choa. Nice dark restaurant that looked like it used to be a theater and some people got to sit on the «stage.» This is the type of place you only go to once in awhile. But it was a great way to end the year!
Will go back again.

Easily a 4-​star experience. Probably closer to five, but not quite…
Our group of 8 arrived at around 5:15pm for a few drinks. Reservations were set for 6:15pm, so we had a little time to kill.
+ Cool space; I like the multiple levels and segmented seating areas. My coworker informed me there is a room that you can reserve/​rent for bigger events, and if you’re really ambitious, you can rent the entire space out.
— Semi-​limited wine menu, especially for glasses of wine
+ Wines were nice, but a bit «single-​sided» in character
+ Decent mixed drinks
+ Decent tap list
+ Reasonable prices for drinks
+ Coat check!
We were promptly seated at 6:15. Score.
+ Super helpful and friendly waiter. He was *on top* of things for us. Shared all of the details about the meats, the process, and what to expect. He got us another round of drinks while we were up at the salad bar.
+ The salad bar. Wow. I love how it’s square and floating in the middle of the restaurant. The ingredients and offerings were all stellar. Artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, almonds, typical salad fixings, non-​typical salad fixings… all were excellent. The star (for me) was the chicken fajita soup. Wow. Was also surprised to see lasagna and a few other unique offerings on the salad bar.
+ The gauchos. These guys are like protein-​delivery-​ninjas. They appear from nowhere and offer you unlimited quantities of super succulent, extremely flavorful meat. My favorites were (in this order): bacon-​wrapped turkey breast, flank steak, sausage, mango chicken, sirloin, lamb, tenderloin, pork tenderloin, pineapple, and garlic bread.
+ Pro tip compliments of my coworker/​foodie advisor (@beefballard): finish your salad, turn-​in your plate, flip the marker to green (signaling for gauchos) and then b-​line it back to the salad bar for a fresh hit of the garlic mashed potatoes. This was an invaluable bit of advice, and I suggest you follow it as well.
— Garlic bread was surprisingly dry and lacked flavor. The tenderloins (both pork and beef) were quite tough and overcooked. Pineapple left much to be desired… it was juicy, but meh. Everything else was *outstanding*.
I would go back without hesitation. Great experience, great space, and awesome food. Well worth the price of admission.

From my first experience, I was super excited because this place is so different from what I usually do. And meat. Of course, I was excited for mass amounts of meat. This may be the one place where it is ok to have an entire meal on just meat.
After a few visits, it kind of has lost it’s appeal, but do not get me wrong, This place still has its time and place. First, it is rather expensive, even with the groupon (on a teacher’s budget, most things can be considered expensive I guess…). But the food is unlimited! With that being said, I went through, had a salad, some bread, a curry salad and cheese prior to eating any meat. I was full just from the first round… I stuffed myself with meat and was miserable for the rest of the night, by no means was it not worth it though. The meat does taste good but most of the time, I just do not feel I eat my money’s worth.
The service. The way this place works, you have stoneage mallot like things. When you want meat, put the green side up. They come and go when the green side is up. They are usually pretty quick but because they are continually visiting tables, the servers seem like they just want to get you the meat and move on. I did not feel a lot of energy or engagement.
Long story short, I think there are other places to go when we want a fancy-​ish dinner that has more personality. It is worth to go once or twice for the experience but after that, find another option.