Samba Loca

We love it here. Consistently good food, good service, well priced, great location. Great date night place, girls night out, or special occasion. Always have groupons available. The bread and dip they bring is out of this world. I love the avocado salad and add steak. They lay a 7oz steak on top of the salad for $ 13. You can’t beat it. My kids love the kids steak option and it’s always tender and good. The restaurant is clean and beautiful. Love all the wood work. You won’t be disappointed!

Love this place! My favorite dish to get is «On The Grill» grilled chicken with yucca sticks. Absolutely amazing! Atmosphere is great, perfect for fine dining. When the weathers perfect, I definitely recommend eating outside! Outstanding staff and service!

Will come back. The spinach empanadas, salmon chips and macaroni and cheese by far are awesome!!!
The atmosphere was nice where I could carry on an intimate conversation with my husband and not distinctly hear others around us.
Our waiter, Dillon was awesome and recommended great choices!
Thank you Samba Loca for a nice experience!

If you are looking for something similar to Fogo de Chao, look elsewhere. They do not serve gaucho style. Orders are off the menu just like a regular steak house. Service was outstanding. The server, Anna, was on top of everything and very friendly. The manager also stopped by and was nice as well. The food was hit and miss. The top sirloin (which is the signature cut of Brazilian steak) was REALLY fatty. So much that in some cases was hard to cut. However, the flavor was good so I’d suggest getting a different cut of steak if they use the dawn seasoning. Still, $ 22 for a fatty piece of meat was a little pricey. My wife got fettuccine with mushroom sauce. Said it was good, but a little bland. Stars of the show were the sides. Fried plantains were better than Fogo. Black beans and rice were good too. Could go back and just get those sides and be happy. Also had the smoked provolone which was really good with their fresh bread. They may have some issues as the place was dead at 7pm on Saturday. The place is small and they do take reservations. Take advantage of a groupon they sell them as you can easily spend $ 70 there. The menu is large enough that can try a lot of different things. Just stay away from the sirloin and ask for Anna.

Unfortunately, my boyfriend and I tried to eat here on my birthday, Nov 16, 2015 and they turned us away. I am not sure if it was because we are a racially mixed couple or what. I called and asked to speak to the manager who was not very concerned about what happened. He stated that he told the hostess not to allow anyone else in. It was around 7 pm. I told him that there was no offer for us to wait. He was still not very concerned. I am disappointed at how the staff at this restaurant treated us.

My husband and I recently found ourselves in Carrollton, GA at dinnertime and decided to check out somewhere we’ve never been. I had heard and read a lot about Samba Loca and the last time we were in Carrollton I had wanted to eat there but my husband insisted on another restaurant so this time I was determined to have MY way. It was around 7ish and they were about half full. The restaurant had low lighting, white table cloths, etc., so the ambiance was romantic which is good for a date night with hubby. We ordered a glass of wine while we perused the menu. They had a fairly good wine list which is always a relief. The hot bread they brought out was great so we were off to a great start.
My husband ordered the soup and salad and I ordered the short ribs with twice baked potatoes and side salad. The salads were good. My husband’s soup was called vegetable bisque. Correct me if I am wrong, but, I was under the impression that «bisque» is a cream soup with the vegetables pureed. What he got was a bland vegetable soup at best. The «broth», if you can call it that was runny and it seriously looked like someone had opened a bag of frozen mixed veggies and threw it in a pot with water and that was their bisque. Large chunks of serrated cut carrots and other rough cut veggies and no cream… Isn’t bisque supposed to have cream? At least they could have cooked it in beef or chicken broth to give it some flavor but no… just water and very bland. We could not detect a hint of any spices at all. Seriously, it was a very dismal soup.
Now, on to my dinner… The twice baked potato was large so I guess that was a plus but it was very dry and lukewarm like it had been left over from the day before or sitting out for a while. My «short ribs» were unlike any short ribs I’ve ever had in my life, but, not in a good way. They were tough, stringy and pretty tasteless. Being in the service industry I hate complaining or sending anything back but for the price I paid I truly could not eat them. I chewed and chewed but couldn’t even get it chewed enough to swallow. I seriously spit it out in my napkin because I couldn’t swallow it. I tried a piece from another one and still couldn’t eat it. I cut off a piece for my husband to try and he had the same reaction. It looked like they had taken spare ribs and cut them sideways across the bone instead of up and down like you usually would spare ribs. They did have a little spice but since I couldn’t chew or swallow them, it didn’t really matter. Most short ribs I’ve had in the past were moist tender and thick cuts of meat.
I called the waiter over (who was training a new server) and to his credit he did take the price of the spare ribs off our ticket but no owner or manager ever came by our table to see what the problem was and as they walked off with my plate we overheard the trainee ask «Do we always get this many complaints and returns?» to which he replied «We get a lot but not usually as many as we have tonight» which tells me there is a problem in their kitchen that sending food back is so commonplace there that no one from management even bothers to come to the table.
I really, really wanted to like this place and give it a great review (especially since I insisted on eating there) but I just can’t recommend it. Maybe it was an off night but from the waiter’s response to the trainee, I doubt it. Started off great but quickly went downhill. I can recommend the salad, bread and wine though. I guess it’s better than nothing.

I had the gnocchi and my husband had the brick chicken. They were both lackluster. The crème brûlée was good and service was was great. We love Leopoldo’s next door, which I understand is owned by the same person. Thought this place would be over-​the-​top good but was disappointed. I would give it another try some day.

I’m Brazilian and this was literally the worst Brazilian food I’ve ever had. Don’t get me wrong the abeyance of the place was nice and very clean. But the food was not Brazilian food at all. If your looking for traditional brazilian food don’t waste your time here. The cozinha was the worst that I have ever had. That was also one of the very few Brazilian plates that were available.

Loved the food here, the staff was very nice and very attentive… we will go back here
You have to try the mussels… incredible

First customers of the evening. The staff was attentive and service good. Loved the Mac and cheese side dish. Yum! Steak was good, nice flavors!

Nice place but the steak was extremely chewy and fatty. Not enough salad and the parsley sauce was plain Jane.
The atmosphere was very nice for special events and it is priced reasonably.
Not sure if I would return or not.

Outstanding meal and the drinks were incredible. I enjoyed the sangria and my honey had a fresh handmade margarita. Yum. The ambiance sitting out in the front patio on a spring day was perfect !

Honestly didn’t have anything special that gives it a true flare. Apparently Brazilian refers to more of a «Favela Bland.» It really is just another restaurant on the square when compared to Little Hawaiian, Corner Café, Plates, and The Pub.

We ate lunch and another time for dinner.
Food excellent both times. Atmosphere was great, warm and clean .
Service excellent, pricing fair and great lunch specials. The sign out front should be richer looking to invite people in. Need more people to know what a great restaurant and local… Will eat weekly there now.
High grades of fish and meats and good chef.

This review is a little late been looking for time to write it, but I ate there last week. It is a wonderful restaurant, maybe my favorite in Carrolton! Lots have complained online about the service, but my service was amazing. The atmosphere is great. Tall booths and comfortable lighting with like décor makes it a romantic hot spot! There are TVs and a bar for those looking for a more casual feel, but the high booths makes it where you can tune them out for the romantics here. The food here sealed the deal. This restaurant earned the right to call itself a steak house. High quality ribeye for the price you pay. Excellent marbling as well as tender makes it incredible. It’s paired with an in house made herb sauce and lemon to add tang to the steak, and wow is all I can say. The Caesar salad is made in house, dressing and all, making it a must.
Final Verdict: Great atmosphere, excellent service, the food is incredible. Order the ribeye and use the lemon and the herb sauce, it takes it too the next level!

The new location is wonderful. Wonderful new menu items. Wonderful new staff. And busier. I think I’ll have my birthday here. I better plan ahead. Now located right on the Square in downtown Carrollton.

Stop here for dinner before I leave the town. I am really happy that I stopped and eat. I’m happy for what I paid, and satisfied with the service! It’s a nice little place to have food.

Came on a Sunday for lunch. Place was basically deserted — perhaps two other tables occupied. Unilocal had a 5% check in discount.
Generally the service was kind but lacking and extremely slow. We waited forever for our food — must have been close to 40 minutes. They apparently had a booming night the day before and were out of first choice for many of our family. We were disappointed that they didn’t have the fun little Brazilian rolls you get at other Brazilian places.
Good food: Little Chicken Thigh (coxinha) is tasty and clever. Beef Stroganoff was the best we’ve had anywhere and would definitely get again. Fettuccine sauce was good. Plantains were moist and flavorful.
Bad food: We thought the kabobs were really average and dry. Chicken in our pasta dish was really off — they said it might be the marinade. Sweet potato puffs were horribly disappointing — seems like they came from a bag in the frozen food section at Sam’s.
We would give them another chance but not before we check out other options in Carrollton first.

Had a great lunch here when we were in town visiting family. The lunch menu had plenty of items less than $ 10. I had the kabobs and they were very flavorful. Others in the party had a hamburger and brazilian specialty sandwich. We also had a sausage appetizer that was good.
We went on a Satuday. The service was pretty slow, but the atmosphere was great.

Tried this place on a whim, thanks to a Unilocal deal offer. We ordered the meat special, sweet potato balls, plantains, soda, cocktail and dug in.
The meat was cooked well — flavorful, plenty of it, and a good variety. The side dishes were ok, the sweet potato side tasted a bit like tater tots and bland, but overall both were good.
The cocktail was nice and strong and the service quick. If you are looking for a slightly nicer than usual place in the area, check it out!