Nelore Churrascaria

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We got the Groupon and decided to come give this place a shot. The Brazilian lemonade (not refillable) and the cheese bread are phenomenal. The salad bar wasn’t that big, but had a couple of nice options. Now for the meats. There’s not a massive variety like some of the bigger name places, but you have the basics. Top sirloin, house special, flank steak, garlic beef, etc. Nothing really stood out as exceptional to me. Probably wouldn’t come here if I didn’t have the Groupon. Staff was nice and place was decent. Have to valet though.

First item of note — Complimentary valet parking only.
It’s not my first time here, and I am afraid it may be my last. I purchased a Groupon and elected to come here on Thursday night with my family for a birthday occasion. Like most churascaria. it’s unlimited salad and table side carved meat.
Salad bar was not as before. It was sparse and a visible lack of higher end items such as artichoke hearts, hearts of palm or marinated shitake mushroom. The salad bar was not refreshed at all during our 2-​hour dining experience. Side dishes such a fried plaintain or yucca were unavailable for the whole time.
Only a few selection of grilled meats were offered (i.e., top sirloin, flank steak and bacon-​wrapped sirloin) over and over. Other similar restaurants would customarily offered a greater assortment for a lesser price tag. Some cuts were RAW, even if the gaucho presented them as medium rare.
Wine list was adequate and prices were reasonable, but the meal left a lot to be desired. In summary, I would patronize other places for the price. Even with Groupon, I am afraid it’s not worth the price of admission.

We came here for my boyfriend’s birthday dinner with our friends using a Groupon that we purchased. The food was absolutely delicious. The salad bar was extensive and the meats were never ending. We had to turn our cards to red a few times because we just couldn’t keep up with all the food. The service was also very on point– they were right there when you needed them and were very professional. We were also very impressed by the atmosphere. The restaurant is a converted house, and it still had the homey feel. The tables were very nicely set and everything was the quality you would expect for the price. Overall, it was an awesome experience and we will definitely be back soon.

This is around my 5^th time going and I am happy with my experience, Salad bar and meat is good.

To sum it up… It’s worth it if you get the Groupon deal, but definitely not worth the full price. I’m torn between 2 and 3 stars…
The good:
Super quaint and cozy restaurant in what looks like a converted home.
Service was quick, and all servers were very friendly.
The rolls were good.
The drink prices were reasonable.
Large selection of meats.
The bacon wrapped chicken and the house special meat were very good.
The bad:
The salad bar was sparse, and seemed very unsanitary to me. I don’t think the stuff was kept near the right temperatures, as all the «cold» items were pretty much room temp. Flys were around as well. The lettuce was all purple/​browning.
The meat was either well-​done, or on the VERY rare end of medium rare. I’m normally a fan of medium rare, but this was a bit too rare for my taste. The well done was extremely well done too.
It took a few times for the servers to understand your request for the «doneness» (not sure if that’s a word but you catch my drift) of the meat. I kept saying «Medium-​Rare» and they would shave off the «Medium-​Well» It took a couple of times correcting them for them to get it down.
The garlic beef was horrible. Huge chunks of fat throughout every piece, and it was overwhelmingly garlicy. I normally love garlic beef at places like this, but that was all you tasted here. It threw my stomach and taste buds off for the rest of the meal.
Again, if you buy the groupon, its worth a try, but it would definitely not be worth paying full price. I personally wouldn’t go back even with another groupon, but I think the place is worth giving a shot.

We had a reservation for 5:30 and ended up walking up to the building that was still closed. There was a huge crowd outside. They finally opened up the doors, and we were all seated. The staff is really rude and it is hard to get their attention. The problem arose when we got the check and noticed that we were charged $ 54 of gratuity for our GROUPON voucher that we spent $ 130 on (for six people). The check came out to $ 129 which included that gratuity as well as 6 drinks. We asked the mgr to split the checks and to remove the optional gratuity as we would like to pay separately since we did not have cash on us. He came back with just one check and said «there. I knocked the total down to $ 100» we told the mgr that we are still needing the check split up with the gratuity removed so that we can tip on our own as well as pay separately. He then process to ball up the receipt and told us not to worry about any of it and to leave.

Driving up to Nelore, you get a feel of elegance and glowing ambiance from the large canopy guiding you to the door. Valet parks your car so you have that wonderful luxury. Walking into the doors of Nelore you immediately feel relaxed and important from the colors of deep red linens, nice table settings and from the entrance to be seated, you can see a gleaming salad bar with silver platters. The hostess was very professional and kind. The wait staff are all dressed in red or black button down shirts and black slacks. Atmosphere was very business casual. Restrooms were disgusting. The doors to each stall were installed so close to the toilet you had to literally stand beside the back of the toilet to be able to close the door. I’m a petit woman so, this would be harder for anyone else. The other stall was filthy with toilet paper all over the seat and water in the floor around the area. There was huge chucks of tile missing on the bathroom wall and just overall not what was to be expected in such establishment. Sitting down at the table, the waitstaff explained the salad bar and the side items on the opposite side which were to accompany the meat they would be serving. They explained the double-​sided card to insure them they were to continue bringing meat or to stop. The salad bar was pathetic. We had reservations for 8 in my party at 8 pm. There were 3 types of lettuce in which, only 2 were stalked and in that regard, it was iceberg pieces in one bowl and on a longer plate was what seemed to be a salad wedge? It had not been freshened up. It had maybe 6 pieces and not even a ¼ of a wedge. Dressing on it was only spattered and I didn’t even know it was a wedge until later asking the waitstaff. The salad dressings that were out were both white with no label. Thought one was ranch at least but instead it was Caesar and blue cheese. No Italian or vinegerette anywhere near. Moving down the line was sliced tomatoes, olives, cubed beets, taboli, pickled apples, crab salad, a fruit salad and several different types of cheese. There was fresh bread, highly doubtful it was homemade. The side dishes were not all labeled. There were black beans, an orange soupy side dish, a rice with meat chucks and peppers in it, mashed potatoes and plain white rice along with an Alfredo pasta. The meat began coming out on long hot skewers. Beautiful presentation and I enjoyed how you interact by helping the server in using your personal little tongs to assist in cutting the meat. Ribs were beautiful and shiny but loaded with fat and dripping with grease. The taste was ok but bland. Next was the lamb. Very fatty and no seasoning again. Parmesan crusted pork followed and was absolutely delicious. It was by far the best meat voted at our table. Sirloin steak or prime rib as the server addressed it was beautiful but again, had no flavor. The sausage was the next favorite at our table. We decided against the chicken but all indulged in the shrimp which actually was tasty but too salty. We each got 3 – 4 pieces but ended up trying to pass it from plate to plate because of the saltiness. At this point in our meal, we had a plateful of meat and all turned our stop or go cards over to stop. You get full very quickly and I asked the server if I could have a take home box for my unfinished items. He quietly said that due to insurance purposes, if we left with a Togo box of our food we had paid $ 39 a person for, and became ill from food poisoning, their insurance would not cover it so they don’t allow take home boxes. I was shocked because this was food you couldn’t just go to a buffet and continue to pile up and take advantage of. It is what it is though. Our bill was $ 340 for 8 people with 6 waters and 2 lemonade beverages. The table was full of wasted food! Service was fantastic, staff was friendly but the food was not worth the price considering the lack of flavor and the salad bar and side dishes were very lacking. Good meat has a great natural flavor without having to load it up with seasonings and sauces but this was not that at all. It has the appearance of fine dining but the flavor of a hospital cafeteria at best.

Didn’t make my Groupon valid, didn’t specify online what is a «national holiday» or «special event.» Why do they even have someone who doesn’t speak Portuguese as the manager? Meu Deus!

See my comments because I went on and on there and did not realize it. Overall we really enjoyed it. It’s not to big of a place, average noise, and family friendly. I would recommend the Groupon if available. The cheesy bread is good and the filet minion is the best piece of meat. I enjoyed a lot of things at the salad bar.

Ok fist things first. You start at the salad bar. What was supposed to be a salad bar.lol. there’s no easy way to put this but the salad bar was a complete joke. The only salad thing at the salad bar was a dried up wedge salad, but it was the saddest little wedge of lettuce I’ve ever seen and there was no blue cheese or bacon.
Ok now for the MEAT. Clearly this is what it’s all about. The huge array of meat that is brought to your table and cut to perfection onto your plate was absolutely mesmerizing. All of the meat was cooked to perfection and perfectly seasoned. You can eat as much as you want.
Although we did not save room for dessert at the table next to us they ordered three or four deserts and they all looked really amazing and the table seemed very pleased about the desserts.
The bathroom needs a complete renovation for such a Swanky seeming place the bathroom is utterly awful.

Awesome food awesome service I really enjoyed the house cut meat which was a top sirloin very tender. I was also very impressed with the signature drink the capiriniah (lime) very tasty and they used a Brazilian rum

I really enjoyed this place. I took my son and three other boys as a reward for doing some work. Ages 16, 16, 15 and 14. All big meat eaters. We all loved it.
The service was excellent. We were constantly being checked on and our waters were kept full.
This is a smaller churrascaria. Smaller in comparison to a Fogo de Chao and not as high end. But, very enjoyable.
We all ate a ton. The salad bar was descent. I love the dipping sauces. The bread was amazing. We kept having our basket refilled. The meat came out at a steady pace. We were never waiting very long for the next cut. My favorites were the top sirloin and bacon wrapped filet.
The Malbec went perfectly with the meal.
The restaurant is very warm and homey. I will go back.

My wife and I had dinner here last night on the recommendation of a friend. Before coming I read reviews on here and was really excited to try it out. The staff were very pleasant, our waitress was wonderful and the gentlemen walking around with the meat was friendly. The salad bar was okay, I couldn’t stop eating the smoked Gouda. They give you a basket of cheese bread and it is the most delicious bread! The meats we ate were absolutely fantastic. Perfectly cooked and seasoned. Top sirloin and bacon wrapped filet were my favorites. I was looking forward to trying out the chicken but they brought it out so late and I was already stuffed. For dessert I had the Crème Brûlée and it was amazing, one of the best I’ve had. My wife had the flan and she loved it as well. All in all it was a great experience and we cannot wait to go back again. To us, you get your money’s worth of food. It is pricey but I would recommend it for special occasions.

Expensive place + average food = I’m not coming back. In addition to that, the server really gave us a bad service; if I’m coming out to spend 100 bucks for me and my wife to eat, I expect way way better than this.

It’s a good deal to go with groupon! Came out to be around $ 32/​person.
It’s a very romantic cozy restaurant! The food tastes ok. It’s not Chamagaucha for sure but the price is right!
It would be a very nice place for a date! Much much better than Angus Brazilian steak house for groupon user!

Had a groupon for here and was unpleasantly surprised several times during my dinner. First, there weren’t as many different meats as the website had showcased. The salad bar was ok — kind of expected higher quality food for this price. Imitation crab meat? There was no feijoada, which is a very classic Brazilian dish that I saw in every churrascaria in Brazil. It’s like, as classic as rice in a Chinese restaurant. Service was alright; I asked for tiny pieces, but they were all huge. I guess the servers were just trying to be generous. Ladies’ restroom was ok, but my date said that the mens’ wasn’t. There weren’t paper towels, and tiles were missing from the floor. Additionally, I was not aware that desserts were an extra charge. Referring back to the website, it never explicitly said that desserts were an extra charge, and I thought at buffets, it’s assumed that it’d be available with the dinner price. In any case, I wasn’t particularly pleased with the 18% mandatory gratuity that came with my deal either. With the deal, borderline worth it. Without, definitely not.

We used a Groupon as it was our first time going here. The salad bar was smaller than other Brazillian Churrascaria’s, but lets be honest, you usually don’t go to a Brazillian Churrascaria for the salad bar, right? What they did have was ok though.
The meats were delicious! Our only problem with this place was more service related. We were frequently passed by when our card on the table indicated we wanted meat service. Several times we had to wave at someone to come or say «excuse me» as they passed us by to get them to stop at our table. We spent half the time with an empty plate waiting for someone to stop or waiting to ASK someone to please come by our table.
The wait staff wasn’t any better. We had to ASK for drink refills then wait quite a while before our cups were re-​filled. I eventually began pilling plates up on top of one another because they wouldn’t remove our dirty plates. The wait staff would walk by our table, see our empty plates and us waiting but never offered to have someone with the meats come by. Towards the end of the meal I asked our waiter to please send someone by, it took 10 minutes before someone arrived. By the time our 1 hour 30 minute dinner ended we had waited almost half the time for service to be given.
The meat was good, but with the poor service we received we will not be coming back. When you are expected to pay premium dollar for dinner the service should match.

Not impressed by their service. Definitely below average dining experience. I couldn’t even get my water refilled at a reasonable time frame. The salad bar was limited and not as good as that as Chauma or Fogo and their bread was tough.

A bit pricy but SO worth it. We were visiting the area and were so glad we dropped in: in a nutshell, this place has an unlimited salad bar and unlimited meat; basically a classic all-​you-​can-​eat Brazilian steakhouse on steroids. I didn’t weigh myself after leaving, but am pretty sure I got the Nelore 15 after.
Unlimited salad: not just your typical lettuce and tomatoes. Also a ton of cheeses, cole slaws, grains that I don’t know the names of, mushrooms, and strawberries.
Table bread: better than Olive Garden’s for sure.
Meats: lamb, pork, beef, sausage. We went during a weekday for lunch, so the waitstaff came seemingly every 5 minutes and (since we were churrascaria newbies) told us what we had to do and explained what everything was. These are skewered!

With Living Social deal this meal was a steal. All you can eat salad and all the meats you can handle.
Food was delicious.
Service was great!
Wine was awesome.

Full disclosure, my friends and I only decided to dine at Nelore upon realizing Fogo de Chao and Chama Gaucho did not offer a lunch buffet on Saturdays. As a frequent patron of churrascarias in Houston/​Dallas and a dedicated meat-​lover (carne-​sseur?), I was curious to see how it compared to its high-​end peers.
The skewered meats– including lamb, pork, and beef– and the salad bar together evoked a resounding «meh.» Most of the cuts were passable at best and tasted dry/​bland at worst; the picaña, typically the crown jewel of the kitchen, and the garlic beef were particularly disappointing. The two notable exceptions were the sausage and the lamb, which were hands-​down my favorites.
The salad bar was far less extensive than its equivalent at other Brazilian steakhouses and lacked some of my go-​to items (heart of palm, smoked salmon, etc.). The marinated mushrooms and hard cheeses were the tastiest of the salad bar options in my opinion.
If I’m shelling out $ 30 for lunch, I expect a knock-​out meal. Nelore certainly wasn’t bad, but the meat wasn’t as flavorful or tender as I have come to expect from similar establishments. That being said, the service was prompt and responsive and the quaint, homey setting was a nice change of pace.
Definitely glad I checked it out at least once, but unsure if I’ll return for a second go (unless I’m craving meat again and Fogo and Chama are closed, of course).

For the groupon price of $ 35, this has got to be the worst Churrascaria I’ve ever had.
Let’s start with the major problems:
1. Selection is horrid, too much bacon wrapped stale meats, sausages, and only 3 types of beef??? Did I tell you, THEY REFUSED TO GIVE ME A MENU OF THE MEATS THEY SERVED??? WHAT???
2. Taste seriously needs some tuning. Top sirloin had almost no salt on it, and tasted like biting into raw meat. The garlic pork was just doused in garlic powder, and had almost no other flavors.
3. The music. Oh dear, the music. The music was terrible, it was just random people screaming, and sometimes «live performances» would be played, and you could randomly hear the crowd cheering.
But there was only a single redeeming quality that garnered a single star:
Service was fast, and the servers spoke English. That’s the only positive thing I have to say about this junk.

DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY OR EVEN PURCHASE A GROUPON ON THIS PLACE!!! My husband and I went here last night for the first time and it will be our last. The food is bland and terrible. The servers were also rude and terrible. Unless you had a large party they would frequently serve at those tables rather serve couples tables. When they did the meat was cold. All I can say is it was a bad experience overall. The only thing I enjoyed was the cheesy bread. The main meats they served was pork and chicken. The only beef they served were mostly fatty parts.

For $ 20 I expected a plate of decent vegetables, but apparently even then my standards were too high. When you walk in the door, you are immediately greeted by the putrid smell of stagnant air combined with a hint of talcum powder. Canned beets, steamed chewy old carrots, tasteless sauces, too old, too cold, too bland. Just gross. Spare yourself the misery and opt to fast instead. I’m disgusted that this place has the audacity to charge the amount it does.

This is a solid churrascaria. To begin, the salad bar is not as big as some of the other very high end places in the city, but it is high quality. The meat is also very solid. My wife and I have been here about a ten times over the past five or so years. We have found that going on a busy night (Friday or Saturday), the meat is best.
Last time we went, they didn’t have garlic beef, but it very tasty. They did make us some chicken hearts which are equally awesome.
I will say that the wine is pretty over priced; much larger mark-​up than other restaurants.

I’m not one to plop down five stars just for any joint that flutters their eyelashes at me but brother, Nelore’s is one of those hidden, locals only kind of gems that you just have to try out.
I’ve been here 15 – 20 times and this review is long overdue. If you like good churrascos, Nelore’s is easily the best house in town. The meats, unlike most places, come out hot and fast. My friend, if you flip your disk to green get ready to flip it back because Nelore’s believes in feeding you!
Let’s talk about the salad bar. To be honest, it wasn’t until my third visit that I even knew they had one. But it is amazing with a lovely selection of sides, veg and cheeses, carefully and craftfully designed to fill you up before you get to the meat. Its that good. They could just dump the meat and open their salad bar as a buffet and they would do well.
If you respect your waistline at all you need to turn down the «cheesy poofs» (sorry, went all Cartman there) bread they plop down on the table. Jesus, do these delightful plods have crack in them? OMG they are so good!
Ok, here’s the bad. The wine list is crazy overpriced. I’ll make it easy for you: just order the house cab. Still pricey ($ 9) but always good.
Best secret: they almost always have a groupon. Dinner for two for 52 bucks! Score!
Enjoy. If you see a fat, bald old guy sitting at the four top in the corner with a cowboy that’s me. Say hello.

Food: mediocre. Most of the meat were over cooked and rubbery and I wasn’t full but got tired of chewing. I had to get full of cheese rolls. The salad bar was also mediocre … I actually saw some fruit flies at the pasta salad bowl. Yuck.
Service: the servers came out pretty quick with our meats and was pretty good on making revisits. We only saw our waiter once … And I had to track him down to get our water refilled and more bread. Another waiter had to step in to pick up our plates and serve us our check. We requested to speak with the manager and his answer to our neglect was that they are short staffed, and offered us a discount for the next visit or a free dessert. We took the free dessert since we won’t return here again.

I really love the layout of this restaurant; it is classy with a bit of a home-​touch to it. The seating is a little close together which makes the setting more cozy and intimate. As for the food, they have a pretty sizeable salad bar; my only complaint is that all of the salad is «sauced» and there was no fruit available.
During lunch, it costs $ 35 per person, and they have 10 meats available: Filet Mignon wrapped in bacon, chicken wrapped in bacon, top sirloin, bottom sirloin, house special, chicken leg, sausage, ribs, garlic beef, and parmesan pork.
My favorites were definitely the top sirloin and garlic beef! Could not get enough of that. But I felt that overall, all of their cuts seemed to be pretty fatty. There was extra fat on a lot of what they gave us, and the meat itself seemed to be incredibly oily. Thus, eating a lot of meat that’s fatty&oily pretty much makes you feel like death by stomach explosion real quick. Delicious, yes, but you’ll probably regret it.

We arrived 8:30 pm. It was disappointed. Food is really not good at all~ salty! Cheese breadwas cold and salad bar food is old and dry, and tasted funny. But we’ve received a great service from those meat carrier. Since there were not much to eat that we left in 30 minutes and I was only full from the ice tea.

Cute business, nice parking behind the restaurant, and pretty front room with all the windows to look out on the street. We had some communication problems, because the waitress and the host neither spoke good English. I’m usually really good with accents, but they were simply difficult to communicate with, as though they didn’t understand what I was asking for when we ordered sodas.
Then the guachos came – the meat looked amazing and it smelled wonderful, but… it tasted weird. I love meat. I love BBQed meat and smoked meat and I really love the Brazillian steakhouses with the skewers and open flames. I’ve been to several restaurants like this, and I’ve loved them – but there was just something that tasted funny about their meat. I don’t know if the meat was bad, or if maybe they use a marinade or a basting sauce that I don’t like, but it wasn’t just me. My entire party agreed the meat was just ‘off’ somehow.
The salad bar that goes with the meat was beautiful and really well appointed with plenty of options from which to choose, including the huge fresh asparagus, but they didn’t cut the ends off them. Then there was a cheese block, a huge hard cheese block, in the corner that looked like it had been sitting there for months. It was cracked and dry and gummy all at the same time. i avoided that.
Other than that, the place was clean and the salad bar was good. Sodas seemed to come from a can. The seating was nice and restaurant was pretty enough, but when it comes down to it, when you can’t eat the main food that the place serves – the meat on the skewers that is what this place is all about – there’s really no way to give it a great review.
We won’t be back. We have found a Brazilian steakhouse in Clear Lake that is closer, cheaper and much, much better.
As for accessibility, they are acceptable if you sit in the section upfront. It’s a little tight if you try to go through the back dining room. I didn’t get a chance to look at the bathrooms.

I didn’t really hear what the valet was saying but it is my understanding that there is no real other parking than valet parking. It is free, but of course you are expected to tip.
My friend and I found a groupon — $ 45 for two people, 18% gratuity is charged automatically. With expensive drinks each I think it came out to just under $ 80. So do not be fooled, this is an expensive place.
Just as you walk in there’s a well-​stocked bar to your right. To the left is the actual dining area where there is a salad bar/​buffet type thing. There is a large variety including salads containing garbanzo beans and salads with just cheese and tomatoes. You can also choose from a small selection of warm sides. They’re all very good — but I don’t recommend trying all of them because a LOT of meat will be coming your way very soon.
They also give you a bowl of bread called pao de queijo which is this brazillian bread with cheese baked into it — very good.
If you’re not familiar with the concept, a Churrascaria is a South American style rotisserie. This means that several busy-​bodied men will be coming your way holding scary looking knives and huge poker sticks with various types of meat cooked in various ways.
They give you a little coaster looking thing — one side is green to indicate that you want meat, and the other side is red to indicate that you’re full for the moment. Typically a server will come and ask you in person anyway, though.
The types of meat are:
Leg of Lamb
Lamb Chops
Top Sirloin
Bottom Sirloin (Flank Steak) — not very well marinated in my opinion
Picanha (Rump Roast) — the absolute best meat here. Don’t be fooled by the excessive amount of fat — chomp away at all of it and you won’t be disappointed. Its soft and delicious.
Garlic Beef
Filet Mignon
Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon — perfect blend of bacon and meat.
Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breast — very good but heavy and a little salty
Parmesan Pork — surprisingly not disgusting. The parmesan doesn’t really overpower the pork taste at all
Chicken Drumstick
Sausage (Pork and Chicken) — delectable, not too spicy
Pork Ribs
Rib-​Eye
Beef Ribs
You can ask for different cuts based on how cooked you want your meat to be. If you don’t see anything well enough done you can request that they go and cook the meat further and bring it back to you. They also give you little tongs so you can take the meat from the server while they slice it off.
The service was very nice. Everyone is pretty friendly and willing to do what you need in order to have a pleasant meal.