Bombasha Brazilian Steakhouse

I want to give Bombasha 4 stars, but a few things just keep me from doing it.
First the good things: I really like the décor and ambiance of the restaurant. I don’t know what other reviewers were talking about but our service was fast and friendly. The meat servers were polite and helpful, as this was our first time there. I will say some of the meats were too salty (the ribeye hurt my heart as it is my favorite cut of beef) but I thought the service was great. I also enjoyed most of the food I tried, and my girlfriend really enjoyed her dinner. It wasn’t outstanding, but for my first experience at a Brazillian Steakhouse, this was enjoyable.
Now the bad. I mentioned the meat was a little salty, but that didn’t bother me much. I agree with the other commenters, the salad bar could be a little more beefed up. I get what they were trying to do and make it kind of upscale, but looks skimpy and then with things not being labeled, it’s hard to decide what you want or what everything is.
My biggest complaint is was the way the check was handled. I used a groupon and whether it was policy or not, the restaurant added an 18% gratuity for two people. While I realize you have a choice on whether or not to pay the 18%, I found it rather insulting. I typically tip 20% and my service was very good, but because I used at groupon you automatically add 18% to the check, thereby nullifying the purpose of purchasing the groupon in the first place. And in doing that, they short change their own servers a possibly higher tip, as I see no need to give more than the requested amount, especially since you «insisted» I pay it.
Overall, it was a good experience. The food was enjoyable, not great, and the service was much better than the reviews I read on Unilocal and urban spoon. I

My wife and I had a date night here late one February Wednesday. We were the last couple seated and the last to leave. We had never been to a Brazilian steakhouse before and loved the concept and the quantity. The setting was good and we enjoyed the ambiance and quiet.
The salad was decent (Christie enjoyed it better than me), the bread was good and the meat kept coming. Mostly the meat was average. The chicken was dry and the sausage was ok (which dropped the rating from 4 to 3). The grilled pineapple was a good addition and palate cleanser.
The top sirloin was really good and the parmesan beef (which I think was the top sirloin) was amazing… almost good enough to draw us back. If they are willing to serve chicken like that, I’m reluctant to give it another try. There are so many other restaurants to try.

I read mixed reviews and will place myself firmly in the middle.
Not the best place I’ve ever been, but not the worst either.
Our host and server, Sam, was polite, knowledgeable, and we received good service. The place was not packed, but he seemed to be seating and waiting all the tables.
I get the concept of all you can eat, but this place is a bit on the pricey side. I can’t eat $ 37.50 worth of food. Your money would go further at almost any establishment in the area. We used a Living Social for $ 35 and our bill still came to $ 76 for one sangria, one beer, and two plates plus the 18% gratuity management allegedly ads because we used a coupon. We normally tip at least that much, so no big deal, but I hate places that add mandatory gratuity without disclosing it.
The salad bar had a good Greek salad but was more of an antipasti all around. Lots of meats and cheeses, not much lettuce, not many vegetables.
You receive mashed potatoes, yucca fries, and fried plantains as sides. Rice and beans upon request. Yucca fries were the favorite.
The meat had a lot of variety but the pork was overcooked (kind of rough and chewy). I liked the beef options (a bit rare and salty, but I don’t mind) and chicken options better.
All in all, I’m not going to lambast this place, but I’m skeptical if they’ll survive given the other options in the area. It’s a unique experience. Bring your credit card. Probably won’t return of my own accord, but if someone else wanted to go, I might.

So, I’ve sat here for a while thinking about what to say about Bombasha. I could go on and on for pages and pages — but you probably won’t read all that. So, In short, what was my overall impression of Bombasha? Not good.
The only other Brazillian Restaurant I had been to was a place in Long Beach, CA called Green Field Churrascaria. So, I guess that set my expectations.
So, now that you know where this review is going — let me get the good stuff out of the way.
The server kept my water glass filled and the meat came out pretty regularly. And that’s it.
Now, on to the bad stuff.
The food. Nothing I had was very good. I love beef — but I’m not a fan of rare beef — and all the beef was very, very rare. They brought the beef right beside me and the dripping tray they carry under the meat was full of blood. Made my stomach turn a bit. The chicken and pork meats I had were very overcooked, dry and bland.
Along with the meat, they bring some sides to the table and you get access to the salad bar. The sides were unimpressive. I mean — they were OK — but, you don’t pay nearly 40 bucks for a meal and fill up on mashed potatoes or fried plantains.
The salad bar — was a bit confusing. It was split up — and there wasn’t much ‘salad’ to be had. They had only a bowl of romaine lettuce (no mixed greens) and 3 different dressings — a creamy Ceaser, ranch and some raspberry vinaigrette. The rest of the stuff was like smoked salmon, cut hard and soft cheeses and sliced tomatoes. The rest of the ‘salads’ were mayonnaise laced things like Chicken Salad (I don’t eat mayonnaise — just because I think it’s gross). I don’t think I’m that picky. I don’t like mayo and I don’t like raw meat. Is that super picky? Maybe for this place I guess.
And, like I said — the service was decent. But I was NEVER asked if I wanted something other than water. We had 8 people at our table — my friend and I arrived about 5 minutes later than most of the table. They had glasses of wine, soda, etc… but once we arrived — our glasses were simply filled with water and were not asked if we wanted anything different. I would have liked a soda — but, I was never asked.
Then, the real problem came at the end of the meal. We had called ahead — 4 of the 8 of us had purchased groupons. They said that the official policy is 2 groupons per table of 4. Since there was 8 of us — they honored it and worked it as if it were 2 tables of 4 — which was fine. The bill didn’t quite work out though. Somehow I ended up having to pay close to 60 bucks for a 37 dollar meal that I paid 17 bucks ahead of time for… and after they applied my groupon and brought me the check back — it was over 32 dollars??? They say it was due to tax and mandatory tip for tables over 4 people. That fine… but, still — didn’t make sense to me. I don’t know how they managed that — but I didn’t feel like fighting. We had been there for over 2 hours and by the time it took to get the checks back (nearly 30 minutes) — I didn’t care. I just wanted out of there.
I won’t be back. I’m usually buy groupons to save myself a little money up front to try some place I’ve never been before. This was not a saving at all. All in all — for a 37 dollar meal I paid, in real dollars, over 50. But you forget — I only paid 17 for the coupon. So, had I not — it would have been close to 70 dollars. INSANE.
I just was so dissatisfied with most everything — not being asked if I wanted anything but water, not being able to eat any of the beef (due to its rare nature), 1 type of lettuce and 3 dressings isn’t a salad bar to me — and the rest of it being lackluster at best… I just have no reason to return.

Reading the other Unilocalers’ reviews on here was very perplexing. And like so many others, I don’t see any possible justification for the low scores, so had to check it out.
Admittedly, hubby and I had never been to a Brazilian steakhouse before. Who are these other Unilocalers who have experienced so much that leave us lowly native Middle Tennesseans «in the dust» culinary wise I wonder? We’ve been to many places and experienced great dinners from all sorts of realms — so while this was new for us, it’s not like it’s our first dinner out.
We visited on Saturday night at 7 PM with reservations between Christmas and New Year’s. The restaurant had a few other guests, but not too many at all, and just felt «cool.» We were seated at a table where we could look out over Belcourt Avenue through the (permanently closed) glass-​paned garage doors, and it provided basically dinner and a show. We’re Cool Springs people… and couldn’t go over all the cabs dropping off diners for Sunset, Cabana, and here.
Note — very recently, like the past month, I’m told a second Brazilian steakhouse opened on Second Avenue next to Melting Pot. Don’t know if that means anything, but just thought I’d mention as a possible explanation for the low crowds.
Our very kind waiter explained the steakhouse what’s-going-to-happen, and brought us our drinks and beginning sides. The salad bar was very well appointed and presented well — all the items were in geometic, interesting bowls and perfectly-​molded together-​but-​crushed ice, it was really lovely. Nice greek salad, excellent smoked salmon, fruits, chicken salad, olives… I don’t know what more you could ask for honestly.
We finished our salads and enjoyed some absolutely fabulous rolls (small warm cheesey yet yeasty, yum!) and then once our waiter magically appeared at exactly the right moment with fresh plates, we flipped our little cards over to green. Within like 30 seconds, the first «meat steward» appeared with filet on a sword, and we took our little tongs to accept a slice, then steward #2 was RIGHT behind him with BBQ chicken wings he popped off his skewer. Not 30 seconds later, another meat steward with Parmesean Pork, another beef something or another, pulling right in like it was commuter traffic and there’s a guy with lamb and grilled pineapple — yum!
We immediately saw the value in pace of eating, so we flipped our cards to red to enjoy for a bit. The filet was excellent, BBQ chicken excellent, lamb excellent… was it the best ribeye ever? Not for my taste. There wasn’t any meat in the 12 courses we tried allowing for a repeat round of «visits» that I’d say we disliked, but we did have favorites. Our waiter checked on us periodically, and mentioned more than once if there was any specific meat we wanted to visit just let him know. A BBQ rib selection was a favorite as well, but honestly we were so full — the only repeat we asked for was the grilled pineapple for the «palate cleanser» appeal.
Our service throughout from both our designated waiter and all the numerous meat stewards was very good — we never felt like we were waiting for anything. The experience overall was very good, because honestly it’s something different. We can go have a very nice $ 100 dinner lots of places, but only here can you have multiple meat stewards come by with kabobs on swords and try a little bit of everything — and at this point in life we are all about trying something different.
We did use a Groupon for $ 35 discount, but our tab which included 18% grat (their norm when customers use a coupon) for the other dinner and three cocktails was $ 90. A little pricey, but not ridiculously so considering the uniqueness in my opinion. We would very well go back, probably for a special occasion and using a Groupon/​Living Social deal again since that seems to be easily done.

I’ve been to several Brazilian steakhouses, and I really enjoyed my dinner at Bombasha. We went on a weeknight, and I was a little disappointed because they didn’t have lamb but the chicken, beef, sausage and pork were excellent. Another review mentioned lamb, so maybe they only serve it on the weekend and/​or when it’s busy. The salad bar was great, and if you want the salad bar only (for $ 20 instead of $ 37), you won’t go hungry — there was smoked salmon, salami, a delicious chicken salad and a tabbouleh salad in addition to the typical array of fresh veggies and cheeses.
Service was good. Prices are more reasonable than Fogo de Chao and if you go hungry, you can easily get your money’s worth. We had to pay $ 6 for parking in the adjacent lot due to the lack of street parking, but we’re new to the area; maybe there’s another lot that’s cheaper.

Very impressed. We went on a Sunday afternoon and used a 50% off coupon. We sat down had a few drinks and ate our salads. Soon as we finished our salads we were bombarded with 7 different kinds of meats within 12 minutes, it was great. The service was right on point and we didn’t have any wait time. Great restaurant IMO. Oh, this was our first visit to a Brazilian-​style Steakhouse.

Let me start off by saying that if you have never been to a brazillian steakhouse before, you will think Bombasha is awesome. However, if you have ever been to Fogo de Chao, Texas de Brazil, or any other brazilian steakhouse, then you will not be impressed by Bombasha.
Because Bombasha is the only brazilian steakhouse in Nashville, I had to go there to get my fix. The brazilian steakhouse style is pretty epic if you are a carnivore– unlimited meat!
The service at Bombasha is just average. I have been there twice, and both times, there were not enough meat servers. This might be a ploy to limit the amount of meat that people eat, but nonetheless, having 10 minutes between each meat server that walks around is quite annoying. Also, the salad bar is just okay… much less selection than most brazilian steakhouses.
Make sure you order the rice! I am not sure why it isnt really advertised or mentioned, but you can request a plate of white rice with your meal in addition to the mashed potatoes and plantains that arrive at your table.
Our waiter was completely inattentive, and when he did stop at our table to check on us, he literally would run away before we could ask him to bring us more mashed potatoes or give us new plates. I called ahead to request a dessert to celebrate a special occasion, and they brought out the dessert before we were even done with our dinner!
Overall, Bombasha is just «meh.» If you want a good brazilian steakhouse, head to Texas de Brazil in Memphis or Chicago, or Fogo de Chao in Atlanta.

I do not understand all the negative reviews. Bombasha went above my expectations.
Service was excellent from the minute we stepped into the front door. Seated quickly by hot hostess, and our server Darrell was on top of it. Great wine list and specialty cocktails. Salad bar is fresh, tasty, and different. The variety of meats brought to the table was fantastic. Chicken, pork, beef, sausage. Most everything was hot and fresh. A couple of the chicken dishes were a bit overcooked.
Tasty side dishes are also included: mashed potatoes, black beans, rice, fried, plantains, yucca. They also have a nice dessert list. We tried the Tres Leches cake and it was very well done. Price is a great value. There seemed to be a lot of kids in the place on this particular Sunday evening. This is a jewel in our town that is full of boring, vanilla chain restaurants.

Did not honor Groupon…
Purchased a Groupon for this place with the following fine print: «The Fine Print
Limit 1 per person, may buy 2 additional as gifts. Limit 1
per table, 2 per table of 4 or more. Limit 2 per visit. Valid
only for option purchased. Dine-​in only. Not valid 6/​17, 7/​4,
and ⁹⁄₃. Reservation required. Gratuity not included.»
We stopped in for a lunch on Saturday before a movie at the Belcourt. After we finished, we presented our groupon that said «Valid Friday and Saturday» with the fine print above. Bombasha said they would not honor the groupon for lunch. We paid our check and were told someone from management would call us back. No one ever did. We called back on Sunday, and the manager told my girlfriend she «was trying to cheat the system.» Superb way to treat new customers.
We told Bombasha we would make sure to do $ 35 dollars worth of advertising. You’ll be better off at a Fogo De Chao anyway.

I really wanted to like this place. I love Brazilian Steakhouse restaurants but this one was sub-​par. Valet was available in front which was nice.
Pro:
Valet
White Wine Sangria $ 10
Neutral:
$ 37.95/person
Service was ok; we had to ask for our cheese bread
Meat
Con:
cheese bread was not as good as other steakhouses.
fruit flies at the salad bar
a fly became our friend at our table
The garlic beef was chewy and the lamb which I read good things about on Unilocal was veryyyy gamey.
I was disappointed with the meal and will not go back even with a Groupon.

I was rather disappointed by Bombasha. The meat selection was good, but the quality was very hit or miss. For example, the first time the beef came around, it was excellent, but the second time, it was overcooked and very tough. None of the meat was up to the quality level expected by the price charged. You could very easily get the same quality meats for ¹⁄₃^rd the price at a typical buffet.
I will have to say the one thing that redeemed Bombasha was the salad bar. That was truly amazing and of the quality expected from the price. The bread served with our meal was also surprisingly good, as were the cocktails we had for dessert (can’t remember their name now).
I think I might try going just for the salad bar next time and see if that feels more like I’m getting my money’s worth.

I have to preface this review by saying that I have been to other Brazilian Steakhouse (Fogo de Chao, Chima, etc.) so the rating will reflect that.
I came here for my birthday celebration, a group of 8+ people. Everything was set up when I got there; service was on point. They were able to separate the check accordingly so we could use the gift certificate. Thank you for the great service.
The food as always at a Brazilian Steakhouse was glutinous. The season was decently good. The place was not busy so some of the variety of meat took awhile to come out. They don’t have lamb chop which was my favorite at Fogo, but the lamb leg will do. I’m not sure if it’s a Nashville thing but whenever I asked them for rare, it was barely medium rare.
The cocktails here were pretty awesome. I definitely tried a large variety and all of them were good. The white sangria stood out I think. I will definitely go back since it is the only one in town, but I’m ok with that.

Always a shocker to see how much peeps can eat when it just keeps coming.
had a living social deal, salad bar, Ok, completely acceptable, lots of spicy pepers/​smokled salmon, beans.
Bread, funny little balls of god knows what.
Cocktails, friendly something, cachaca and coconut, delish — well at leas the first was. The second not so much, the third was a glass of ice — lamentable.
The meat was just average with the same spicy something on eveything, BUT there was lamb and mint sauce, yay, stuffed meself on this.
Service was ok.
would we go back without the voucher, hell no.

Summary: Mumin K is right — paying $ 40 to enjoy a salad bar is a ripoff. Go next door to Cabana or across the street to Jackson’s where you can get better food for half the price.
This restaurant needs better operational management. Booked a 8:30PM reservation on OpenTable. While at the movies, Bombasha leaves a voicemail stating that they stop seating at 8PM. When I got out at 8:10PM, I called to ask what my options were since my Living Social voucher expires at end of month and I wouldn’t be able to use it.
Hostess said to come on and assured me that I would fully enjoy and experience the meal as any other seating time. We arrived on time. While we got to taste all 10 pieces of meat, this was not a $ 40 dinner experience anyone should ever experience. As soon as the waiter finished serving us 1 meat, he was back within 2 min with the next one. At 1 point, he kept bringing meat and I had no room to put it.
Quality: The meat were way too salty.
1) filet mignon wrapped in bacon –might be the best thing until all the grease on the bacon caught up to me. Also, it had been sitting out so made for soggy bacon.
2) chicken wrapped in bacon — all you taste is bacon.
3) Bottom sirloin — way too salty. I had to spit that back out.
4) Sausage was good if you get it when it is hot. We had 1 serving hot and 1 at room temperature.
We sat at a table where employees eating dinner can see us from the bar. Entire time we could feel they wanting to urge us out as they kept staring at us. Couple that with the constant revisiting with meats and we felt rushed through dinner.
Management: 1) Why do you let OpenTable book customers up until 15 minutes before closing if you stop seating an hour before closing? 2) Why do you charge a la carte for soda? 3) Why do you automatically add gratuity for party of 2 (even when I use vouchers, it reminds us to tip off total so respect your customers and they will return the gesture)

This place is horrible compared to other Brazilian steakhouses. Many of the meats were overcooked and tough to chew. Very poor, if any, flavor. The sides were boing, the salad bar very limited. Our waitress was horrible. Not friendly at all, incredibly slow to bring any food or drinks. She hardly talked at all and didn’t explain the menu (even though we said we hadn’t been there before). Then after this awful service, she added 18% gratuity to our check, even though there were just 2 people at our table. The wine menu by glass is extremely limited and overpriced. Even a coke was 2 dollars for half a glass, which was somehow supposed to look classy.
The one thing we liked was the bread. Very different, but really good.
In summary, the food was bland at best, and you can get better service at McDonald’s. if you’re going to spend $ 90 on a date night, go to melting pot instead.

I really like the idea of a Brazilian steakhouse where you go and pay a fixed amount and eat as much as you want but Bombasha is just a very poor execution of this idea.
The variety of meats at Bombasha is very limited. I went there on a Friday night (supposedly a crowded night) and they kept bringing the same meats over and over again. I kept looking around with the hope that they will bring something new but nope, nothing new, same old, same old… They kept circulating the three three red meat options and the chicken leg option that looked so dry and some sausage that was absolutely tasteless. Not only they kept bringing over the same meats but at some point they were so dry and tasteless that I gave up altogether.
In addition, everytime I asked for something medium, the guy would cut and give me a piece which is well done, I was really tired of playing the game with the guys who were bringing the meat .
I think the best part of my dinner was the salad bar but I kept asking myself if I overpaid ($ 35.90) for a decent salad bar, I think I can definitely get better salad for much cheaper somewhere else. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying the salad bar was good, I am just saying the salad bar was the best part of my dinner. Nobody goes to a Brazilian steakhouse for salad … Overall, I paid well over $ 100 for VERY poor quality meat and a decent salad bar … I am never going back to this place.

I really wanted to like Bombasha. There’s so much win in the formula: a Brazilian Steakhouse where the food keeps coming, carved off skewers by a wait staff wearing an amusing Brazilian cowboy outfit. The most complicated thing to figure out is turning over a card on your table: green for «bring it» and red for «stop, I’m full»! How could this get screwed up? It’s a formula for success.
We walked in on a Sunday night at 8:20. Granted it was a little late so maybe the hostess was doing something. Uhm, where did she go? Eventfully a waiter seated us in the corner by large windows. It was cold, so we moved. We were given the basic instructions on the red/​green card for food and then headed to the salad bar. Uhm, was it supposed to be so sparse? There were a few run of the mill items there. No problem, I figured. I’m going to wait on the main course.
Goucho 1 serves us a little piece of chicken. Uhm, now what? Are there sides? We stare at this little piece of chicken on a large plate. It’s uncomfortable. I notice the silence. Where’s the music? It felt odd. Goucho 2 shows up with a piece of top sirloin. A cheap cut, but it was nicely cooked (medium rare). Wait… damn it’s salty. Well, it was carved from the outside part, so maybe that’s it. The garlic steak is next: a solid piece of grey shoe leather. Yuck. Oh where’s my glass of water? I need it now. Oh, yea, it was left out as well. Finally some sides, including an incredible fried potato, called a Juca, I think.
Goucho 3 shows up later when our cards were red. No one paid any attention to the red/​green thing it seemed although it was supposed to be the big gimmick of the place. He was totally amusing, smiled, laughed and made us happy to be there with his positive attitude. He offered the driest pork of all time that was covered with Parmesan cheese, acting as a desiccant, further drying it up. It was inedible. But he made us realize that everyone else was just not happy to be there. Perhaps they were aware of the quality of the food they were serving for $ 35 per person?
We were offered desert. I chose the flan. It arrived as a solid mass, covered with the traditional caramel. Isn’t it supposed to be wobbly, like jello? All the flans I have had were. This was more like a piece of cheesecake. I remarked that flan is typically gelatinous and the waiter said «well, have you ever had a Brazilian flan?» Why not just take it away without making the snide comment?
So here it is. What a waste of a good place. Terrible ambiance created by cold windows and the long silence in between occasional songs. Mediocre service marked with lack of attention (except for gaucho 3). Cheap cuts of badly seasoned meat. And lastly, a bad flan emphasized with back talk suggesting that the problem was me.
Let’s end on a good note: the bread was awesome and the Jucan fried potatoes were to die for.

I’ll admit a Brazilian steakhouse is fun — having the «gauchos» come around to your table with different kinds of meats. Other than that aspect, I really wasn’t all that pleased with Bombasha.
The only comparison I have is to Nashville’s previous Brazilian steakhouse, the Fire of Brazil, which closed several years ago. The selection of meats seemed to be endless — the «gauchos» appeared with one meat after another after another. Also, the salad bar — really, the «salad» bar, as there was an intense selection of smoked fish, olives and more — was very large and very interesting.
Jump to Nashville’s most recent Brazilian steakhouse presence, and I’m not feeling the same excitement. I thought some of the meats were tasty, but there were only a few selections. And the biggest disappointment was the salad bar — it was sad. This really was a bar with salad on it, plus what seemed like a lot of canned artichoke hearts and hearts of palm. There was smoked salmon… the most adventurous of items.
The experience can be fun, but I feel that’s the only thing Bombasha has going for it

Don’t go here…
They use the cheapest cuts of beef, pork, and chicken they can find. Quality never enters the equation, which is ever so evident in the salad bar, that dedicates 25% of it’s space to bottled — low quality — salad dressing.
Go save dollars and have the same quality of food at Logans.
If you don’t heed the advice here, make sure you go at night so you don’t sweat to death, as they are too cheap to use the a.c.