Latin Soul

Went there for dinner on a Saturday night during President’s Day weekend. We went for the Brazilian Barbecue, just to see how well a casino restaurant could do it. There were many problems with their approach.
1. The restaurant also has a full menu which is separate from the rodizio. This seems to slow things down. There were long delays in getting meats as once all the meat on a particular skewer was gone, the meat would be «unavailable» for 20 – 30 mins because the kitchen was cooking more. It was as if there was not enough room in the kitchen to cook enough skewers at the same time.
2. Trying too hard with the menu. Instead of a normal buffet, included with the bbq were fancy appetizers, a soup/​salad course, standard sides of mashed potatoes, pao de quejo (which was more like a croissant than cheese bread) & grilled vegetables, custom side dish choices, etc. Since the appetizers had to be cooked, and the soup/​salad prepared, it took 40 – 45 minutes before we saw our first skewer of meat.
3. Poorly trained gauchos. They really didn’t seem to know how to cut the meat off the skewers. My wife ended up with this gigantic 10“x3″ slab of garlic sirloin instead of the normal small slices because the gaucho didn’t know how to slice properly. Other times wed end up with paper thin shreds of meat that would fall apart on the skewer and the gaucho would have to cut 2 – 3 times to get a decent portion. They also didnt bring the meat out in sequence. Picanha was brought out 3 times and we never even saw any chicken, lamb, or ribs until the very end when we were too full to eat them.
4. Poor execution with the meats. Of the meat dishes, the Picanha and Tri-​tip were very good and seasoned very well. The others were not so good. I could not taste any garlic on the «garlic sirloin». The chicken/​bacon tasted like cardboard.
The overall experience was so bad that one family became so irate with the slow service that they had to be escorted away by casino security.
The restaurant needs to decide if they are going to be a churruscaria or a menu-​driven restaurant. It clearly doesn’t work trying to do both.

If I could give no stars and write an official review regarding this place, I probably would have taken time off my very busy life and do it. What I faced here was not only a bad service or bad food but an incredible level of unethical conduct of business and probably a hidden mafia of staff against the new manger. Our night began by us arriving there for our reservation at 7:45 only to be informed by the hostess that we need to wait 45 minutes since they have no tables. When we asked what the point of our reservation was, she very rudely told us that it is not her «job» to answer us and she called up her manager to talk to us. The manager was very nice and gave us a table right away apologizing. However, the game just started. We chose the Brazilian BBQ. We live in Silicon Valley area and have been to this type of resturant three times and are very familiar with that. Our very rude server arrived bringing only two glasses of water for the party of six. Took her another 20 minutes to bring three more glasses of water and one of us never got one despite asking repeatedly. We «had to» request for the wine list rather than actually being offered. After choosing our wine and meals, the wait began. The manger delivered the wine and was very nice telling us about his nationality etc. However, it took 70 minutes since we ordered to get our appetizers and we had to ask for them. We had two young children in our party and by the time when our appetizers arrived one of them was half asleep. Then, the serving of meat began. They only offered us four types of meat out of at least 20 options that was listed in their menu for us. Repeatedly, the same meat was offered to us by 15 minutes interval. By then, we had reached to the end of our patience and on top of that had two very hungry kids and cold side dishes staring at us waiting for almighty «Brazilian BBQ» to grace our table. We called up our server and asked her why she keeps sending the same meat (which by now was not steak anymore because it was too cold and looked more like a case of roast beef gone really bad). She said she will get her manager. He was shocked our server never informed us that they don’t have most of the meat and was more shocked that another five to six types that they actually had never was served to us. By then, it was 10:15 and we asked for the check. This is where the best part began: our wine price was $ 60 which it was charged $ 80 in the check. This is pure stealing and there is no way to frame it as anything rather than
fact, the very rude waitress didn’t even bother to apologize. When we left the place it was the first time that We had paid almost $ 50 per person including wine and we all were really hungry. Working with few people in my professional career, it was very obvious to us that the staff specially the waitresses were looking for an excuse to get, Michael, the new manger fired. I have never been anywhere to see someone right in front of my eyes do something wrong and right away ask me if I want to see the
not wast your time, money and integrity to go there. We were a group highly educated and professional people who make critical decisions in our every day life and the staff in this place (I refuse to call it anything else) made us to truly second guess our judgment.

We really enjoyed our breakfast here. A break from the traditional breakfast norm. Here, most of the dishes have a Latin flair. Great value and very personal service. Worth the short drive from the large casinos. We’ll be back.

I found this place on Unilocal.Ehh it was okay. The hubby and i came for appetizers and drinks but the food just wasn’t as good as we expected and the drinks were okay. Service was great though the staff was very friendly

We did the Brazilian Barbecue, and it was excellent. Delicious appetizers and sides! The garlic mashed potatoes were incredible! My wife said she hasn’t enjoyed eating mashed potatoes that much in a long time.
Strategy: eat the beef! Rosemary rib-​eye and the sirloin were the best two. If I could just eat the entire rosemary rib-​eye I’d do it. The pork items weren’t nearly as good. Avoid the skillet items and stick with beef!
We’ve had breakfast here before and it was also great, and we didn’t even get the dulce de leche French toast. Not sure we’ll ever come to South Lake Tahoe without coming here. GO TO LATIN SOUL!

The service sucks. Just know that going into it and practice your deep breathing! Other than that the food is above average but not stellar. For SLT, the food is worth biting your tongue for the crappy service. Anywhere else this would be a fail.

Its a good place for breakfast. Restaurant workers are nice and work hard. Good service and even better food.
My fav for breakfast: huevos rancheros
Lunch: torta de Asada. Very different from your traditional Mexican torta but still delicious.
And for dinner I’ve personally have never tried the bbq, so can’t review on that. Always friendly

The restaurant is located off to the side of the casino. If second hand smoke bothers you, you need to avoid this restaurant. They try to cover it with the scent you smell in inexpensive motels.
The staff is friendly but when we asked what ingredients were in an appetizer, no one we asked knew.
The rice served with the pulled beef was crunchy. The pulled beef itself was ok but the greens on the side were very diner-​standard.

This review is for my visit on the evening of December 12^th.
My boyfriend had made a reservation for 8:30 and we arrived on time, and although the restaurant area is small inside this old casino, there were about three or four tables occupied in total. Maybe lots of tourists just decided they wanted to eat at their respective hotels? Who knows.
He ordered and old fashioned as a beverage choice, which, for $ 9 was in a child sized glass.
We chose the $ 34.99 all you can eat option. Of course there are plenty of fillers at the beginning, so we tried to choose the lighter ones and not fill up on those. I have to say the selection is pretty good and each of our appetizers was tasty (we chose options uno and dos), but the clam chowder tasted too salty. Also, and this was a bigger deal to me, was that the appetizer foods were not hot, only very faintly warm. Some of the cauliflower was even cold.
The meat options themselves were plentiful. I enjoyed the lamb and sirloins the best. The pork belly was good but of the piece I was given, the cube was basically just fat with a sliver of meat.
I would give three and a half, as the food was good, just cold. Maybe better luck next time.

I wasnt sure what i had in mind when i decide to go to a brazilian churrascaria at the middle of tahoe (inside of a casino). As a native brazilian and meat lover i decide to give it a try.
Poor decision. That was the worse Brazilian barbecue i ever had it over 30 years of eating on this type of restaurant.
Going direct to the point:
The red meats were dry and flavorless. ALL OF THEM. I had to use a lot of chimichurri to make it worth eating.
The guys serving the meat had no clue how to use the knifes and cut the meat. I literally had to help them few times as i was afraid they would cause an accident.
Not worth at all.

Latin Soul used to be a reliable standby for dinner, not so much these days. After they removed the affordable standard Mexican fare from the sit down restaurant, I was disappointed, but at least the flavorful braised pulled beef brisket ropa vieja was there to fill the super mario burrito shaped hole in my stomach. And if a more specialized menu was to mean great food, I said bring it.
Unfortunately, every group I’ve brought to the restaurant this year was less than impressed by what they ordered. On my last visit I’m certain that the plantains got mixed up with regular banana. Plantains maduros is a lot sweeter than less ripe plantains, but this was definitely just banana. The beer I ordered at the beginning of the meal never came, but was still included on the bill. To their credit, that was sorted out at the register without too much fuss. Those road bumps combined with the embarrassment of having my guests be unsatisfied with their food makes me think it’s time to stop going here.

Latin Soul — Our «must go to» in SLT! With their sauces being the main attraction — tons of flavor, and some nice heat.
Ambiance.
— The restaurant is open to the adjacent sports bar & casino so it can get pretty noisy (especially when a game is on). And yes there is the smell of cigarette smoke, so if that bothers you then don’t go to a restaurant in a casino.
Service is laid-​back but fine.
Food.
— Delicious chips and salsa with, I think, a dab of hummus (which seemed odd at first, but it really works) precede the meal.
— The daily $ 5 taco plate lunch special is a steal: 2 delicious Beef Steak Asada Tacos with beans, rice and fixin’s — plus a soft drink!
— The red sauce chilaquilas are the best I’ve ever had — and only $ 4.99!
— Super Mario Burrito ($ 8.5): Super Big and Super Scrumptious. Comes with your choice of meat. I highly recommend the Beef Steak Asada. I do suggest asking them to hold the lettuce (I’m not sure how the trend of putting lettuce in a burrito began — but it needs to end).
— Chicken Chipotle Quesadilla ($ 7) — absolutely fantastic!
The only drawback — and a very minor one — is they are not really set up for room charges as the ticket does not have a place to list your room, tip etc.

I was surprised to find a Brazilian Churrascaria (aka meat buffet) at Lake Tahoe for $ 35. It was a good attempt at the churrascaria experience, but lacking in flavor. They provide 3 courses before you get to the all you can eat meat part in order to stuff you up.
Appetizers are grouped into 4 choices with 3 bites each. It was presented nicely, but the flavor fell short on 2 of the 3 bites. My husband had the calamari, which was cold, but loved the tacu-​tacu — huancaina. I had the soft shell crab which was good, but the stuffed mushroom was meh. There was a bug in my husband’s house salad, but my tortilla soup (soupa azteca) was pretty good. Do not eat the garlic mashed potatoes that they provide for free — it tastes like they used garlic from a jar vs. the fresh kind.
It takes a while for the gauchos to come around with the meat. We had to flag the manager in order to get them to serve us. The couple next to us waited 40 minutes to start their meat course. We went on a Sunday night, which is pretty busy and there were only 2 guys making their rounds. The go clockwise if you’re looking at the kitchen, so where you sit in the restaurant will determine how well done to rare your meat will be as they carve and circle the room. We were at the end of the circle and kept getting bloody rare meat. We asked our gaucho for medium rare and he came around with that kind of meat — at least they tried to be accommodating.
The best meat was the bacon wrapped chicken — you can’t go wrong with bacon because it seasoned the chicken very well and it was juicy. The other meats were not memorable and lacked in seasoning. Avoid the teriyaki pork belly.
It was a disappointing experience. Perhaps the regular menu food is better.

Don’t get me wrong, the service wasn’t half bad at this place but the food was less then tasty.
We went in on Wednesday in the 8pm hour. We are from the bay area and the $ 34.99 Brazilian BBQ sounded appetizing and is relatively inexpensive compared to other places we’ve been. We asked the hostess how the Brazilian worked and she showed us a big menu. It’s a choice from 4 different appetizer combinations, a soup or salad, a side dish and then a good amount of meats. It seemed reasonable.
We were sat and I have to say, this restaurant is not really separated from the casino floor, you can smell the cigarette smoke and booze and overall casino smell. We got our drinks then chose our appetizers. Nothing on the appetizer menu really sounded great, so I just got waffles and chicken (weird for Brazilian). My fiancé got something else he said was ok. My chicken was so overly fried and the waffles were so crunchy I couldn’t eat them.
The soup and salad choices were weird, there was not just a regular salad. We both got the soup of the day which was minestrone, it was good but again a weird combination for the Brazilian.
Then they bring a plate with two caramelized bananas and two cheddar breads, a plate of garlic mashed potatoes and your dinner plate with whatever side you chose. The cheddar bread was like what I’ve had elsewhere, good and normal. The garlic mashed potatoes, and I absolutely love garlic mashed potatoes, were so garlicky, it was like eating a clove of garlic! Never in my life has a beautiful dish of mashed potatoes gone un-​eaten!
Then the meats started coming, which was the biggest let down of all. For one, you could tell it was all meat that had been reheated so many times. It was so dry, lacked flavor and juices. They showed us the menu with like 20 meats and we got only about 8 because you get whatever they have left (they failed to mention that of course) Most of it was pork, which I am way more of a red meat girl, so it just didn’t do it for me. The only meat that was decent was the tri tip which seemed a little fresher than the others.
Overall we left full of random foods and without satisfaction. I am truly surprised at how many good ratings this place got (maybe they had the regular fare and not the Brazilian?). If I would’ve known we were going to be so unhappy with the food I would’ve just taken my $ 70+ dollars to one of the nicer casino’s steakhouses and got filet minion. It was a real bummer especially since we had walked about two miles from our hotel to get there and walked back talking about how horrible the food was past all the casinos and other options we could’ve had.

Came here around 10 the place is so nice a Latin café.
The orange juice tasted fresh but not sure if it was. They have 5 breakfast for $ 5.99 we had the bacon and eggs with potatoes and toast. The potatoes are big and home made, bacons thick. We also order the chillaquilles they had fresh Mexican cheese and Mexican sour cream. The red ones taste better than the green sauce. The huevos Latin soul came with 4 pieces of bacon and lots of game. Fresh jalapeños and tomatoes.
The server was really friendly and answered all our questions. She checked on us and picked up all extra plates.
The only bad things is that the water taste like tap water and the salsa could be a little hotter other than that everything was great

This is a little bit of a hidden gem. There are no Brazilian Steakhouse/​BBQ restaurants to speak of in the Reno or Tahoe area except for this one. The Latin Soul is located downstairs in the Lakeside Casino, it’s in the corner across from the sports book. It’s not trendy or fancy but that can be overlooked.
We came here specifically for the Brazilian BBQ. First of all, I must say the little appetizer cheese filled bread thingy’s are worth the trip alone. I only wish there were more of them and that I knew what they were called. You get to choose your appetizer and side. I enjoyed most of the meats. I though the bacon wrapped chicken was dry, but the flavor was good and chicken does have that tendency. The sauces they give you to dip your meat in and good as well as the garlic mashed potatoes and the bananas.
The service was professional and steady. The water glasses stayed full and multiple staff checked on us frequently. The Latin Soul doesn’t really have the ambiance of most of the other Brazilian steakhouse/bbq’s that are out there but I though the food and service were solid. Since it’s the only one of it’s kind in the area it’s definitely a winner.

Don’t be put off by the location. This is absolutely a hidden gem. Nestled into the corner of the Lakside Casino, this place has by far some of the best Latin food in the area.
I went for a late lunch with some friends and we were able to try a wide variety of their menu.
First off let me say the chips and salsa is addictive. The chips are fresh made (white and blue corn tortillas) lightly salted. Salsa is also made in house with just the right amount of bite that anyone will enjoy it.
I had the chicken flautas. The chicken was mixed with an amazing combo of cheese and spices, then rolled into large tortillas and fried. Topped with tomatoes and avocado slices and their amazing red and green sauce and some cotijo cheese crumbles. There was no rice or beans with this, but the 2 flautas were large enough to fill me up.
I did manage to sneak in a few bites of the friends plates as well:
Chile relleno: outstanding! The chili had the perfect egg batter with the cheese filling mixed perfectly. It’s all about the cheese with these, and they hit it right on the nose.
Cebiche agua??? Ensalada (forgot the rest of the name on this dish, lol): this is a shrimp, jalapeño and avocado ceviche. The spice on this has quite a bite with the jalapeños. It comes with a basket of chips and crackers. Very tasty.
Cochinita Pibil: this dish is super hard to find in the area. So I was really excited to see it on the menu. My husband really enjoyed this. He described it as pulled pork with a Chipotle flavor and sweet onions. He recommends it to anyone.
The pricing for the food is very reasonable. The portions are on the large size, so go with an empty stomach and you will not be disappointed. Just don’t filll up on the chips and salsa in the beginning :)
The service was good, but she did seem to be a bit overwhelmed. She and her team always had a smile and were very pleasant.
I saw on the back of the menu that they do also have Brazilian style nights where you can get the meats on a skewer brought to the table. Also worth noting they serve breakfast.
Overall I really enjoyed my meal here and will definitely be back with my family and friends anytime we are in the area.

This review is solely for the Brazilian Barbecue. So I’ve tried many a places similar to this style of restaurant. Texas de Brazil, Nelore Churrascaria, Fogo de Chao, and Latin Soul’s version has got to be in last place.
I feel like they should just stick to one thing: either their latin fare, or the Brazilian Bbq. They seemed disorganized, overwhelmed, and unprepared. I felt like they were trying to rush their cooking, so some of their meats didn’t have a sear on them, it was almost like the meat was slow cooked.
Service was nice, apologetic.
The cheesy bread that comes with it was still frozen in the middle. The soup/​salad/​appetizer/​accompaniment was decent. It was a nice touch that you could order as much as you wanted. But be aware, they won’t bring out the meats until you finish ordering and eating all of the above, so if you don’t have room for any of the BBQ, that’s on you. They gotta make money some how.
Most of the accompanying sides taste good. Except for whichever one I ordered. It’s the exotic one that has a hardboiled egg in it. It is the most disgusting side dish I’ve ever tried. It was almost like this dry grain dish that was so devoid of any moisture it was like eating sand with a hint of turmeric. Please don’t order.
The meats were okay. Most of the ones that came out were either super rare or medium rare. The Plus One can only eat medium well to well. Most other places that I’ve tried can cater to him but it was difficult for these guys to. When I asked, they kinda tried carving the pieces that might have the most char but it was still pretty bloody. Then they would come back out with the same cook on it. The lamb was tasty. The pork belly almost seemed slow cooked. No more char or crispy top that my sister had tried a month ago.
She said that a lot had changed within the month that she came (then recommended) a month ago from the menu to even the price ($ 5 more).
It was a little lackluster. Meh. I wouldn’t come back for the Brazilian BBQ.
The sangria was large and delicious though!

Great food. Their menu has a selection of different dishes from around Latin America, very interesting. I had the tops vodka (Cuban). It tasted great, the plantains were fried just right, although they did not put black beans and the menu said it came with them.
It is the most unsuspecting location, located within a small locals casino, and it is small no special décor but don’t let that fool you the food is great! Give it a shot I’m sure you will love it.

Yum, this place was so good, my mouth waters just thinking about the pulled braised beef I had! We rolled in a little after 9pm so no more Brazilian barbecue, but we did order two wine flights to share — $ 12 for 3 3oz pours, not a bad deal! After a day of wine tasting I was pleasantly surprised by the nice selections offered, and a waitress came by specifically to ask us what we thought of them. The food was wonderful — my husband got the cebiche mixto, a plate of three kinds of spicy seafood. He likes spicy but his plate was a little overwhelming with the heat and could have used another element to cool it down, but overall everything was well-​prepared and tasty. The service was good. I would definitely return to Latin Soul, it might just be a hidden gem in a town with few fine-​dining options.