Via Brasil Restaurant

The feijoada is the best. My girlfriend and I probably come here once a month and the servers are all super nice: if you try to order in Portuguese and sound like a complete idiot they will not judge you. Be prepared to take a nap after you eat here because you will no doubt slip into a food coma.

As a frequent customer of this place, I can without a doubt tell you their food is DIVINE!
They have mainly traditional Brazillian dishes and drinks. The staff is super friendly! They always recognize me and greet me with enthusiasm.
Depending on when and what day you go is how crowded it can get. They are also usually open most holidays. During the World Cup, they would host «events» where they would screen the games on a huge projector screen and it got pretty crazy and packed in there.

I was greeted by a friendly and smiling host and owner. We were seated immediately and our server was kind enough to make recommendations. The chicken risotto ($ 16.95) was ah-​mazing and very filling. I was so impressed. Wow! The chocolate mousse was great too and reasonably priced at $ 6.50. Beautiful space, loved the white piano. It’s definitely worth a trip!
Note: Very quaint bathroom stalls

We stumbled upon this place for lunch because the place we were headed was full. This was across the street. When we came in we were one of 2 tables. When we left it was packed. We decided to try it out because of Unilocal reviews.
Great food. Great service. Awesome atmosphere. Definitely try the Sortidos via Brazil — appetizer sampler. We asked the waiters favorites and got those. Go for the Caipirinha! As you can tell we really enjoyed this place!!!

Great food!!! As a Brazilian must say that is the best Brazilian restaurant in manhattan …

This is a diamond in the rough of a Brazilian restaurant. Great service and food plus live music. Keep in mind they close very early as this is a commercial block.

A brazilian friend recommended this place and the main course, picanha. It was a good choice, although there was too much meat. But, this is US (I’m European). For starter, I had mussels. Both I and my husband liked the sauce very much.

Very friendly wait staff.
Lively atmosphere.
Live music!
Good food.
Definitely worth a revisit.

Service was great, thank you Wellington! Jack had the beef stroganoff and I had a Brazilian version of chicken Marsala. Both were served with rice which was perfect. I also had a wonderful Caesar salad which was lightly dressed, just how I like it. Jack had a side of vegetables, broccoli, zucchini and carrots which were fresh and expertly steamed. We only wish that we had shared an entrée and dessert like the table next to us.

Completely approved by my friends at the table who are Brazilian. The food was delicious and the dishes were very well served. I enjoyed a caipirinha along with my dish and ended my meal with a dessert that our entire table loved: the caramel pudding. I would only complain about the freezing temperature at our table, which as at the back of the restaurant, just sit closer to the door and you’ll have an awesome time.

Visitei em 07/​08/​2015, bom atendimento, um pouco barulhento por parte dos clientes que estavam neste dia, boa caipirinha e gostei da comida.

This place is brilliant. I loved the food. What a find. The Feijoada Completa, ‘national Brazilian Dish’ was so good. I will be dreaming of this and the white fish (add the grapefruit) it will take it over the top. Great, friendly fun service with fab food. You will not be disappointed (imo).

Excellent food, excellent food, we stayed for hours on a Saturday night and were not rushed out — and we had many teens with us. Great place, very reasonable prices.

Did they change the menu and the chef? Because my experience last night at Via Brasil definitely did not meet my expectations compare to the last time I ate here. It was almost night and day. I felt the menu options are much more limited than it used to be and I really had trouble picking out a dish to eat. I ended up ordering the grilled salmon with pineapple sauce and requested for a medium well done. But when I got the dish, the top part of the salmon was a little burnt and they definitely cooked it all the way through. The pineapple sauce was a little strange and it just didn’t seem to marry well with the grilled salmon. Other people at my table ordered the Churrascarria style and they said the meat was too dry and it didn’t taste like anything they had last time. Meanwhile, I found our server be a little annoying. He kept coming back to our table asking if everything is ok every 10 minutes, as if he is rushing to push us out. The restaurant wasn’t even crowded that night so I don’t know what’s he in the rush for.

Great steaks and grills. Ordered all the 5 on the menu. Steaks were awesome. Chicken and pork were a bit dry.

Not an all you can eat churrascos, but it’s quality over quantitiy here.
Started with the Xingu Black Beer. Good stuff.
Had the Linguica Frita Mandioca (Fried Brazilian sausage served with manioc fries) as an appetizer. The best yuca fries I ever had.
For the main course, had the Rio Grande Churrascos (a mixed grill of Brazilian sausage, beef, chicken and pork). Served with rice, beans, farofa (roasted yucca flour) and a vinaigrette. Excellent.

Great place! Been here many times over the past 15 years and they NEVER disappoint!
The wait staff is always very friendly and the food is delicious! The only thing I would say as a negative is that it’s a little small inside the dining area. Other than that, I look forward to my trips to NYC when I get a chance to visit Via Brasil!!!

If all of Unilocal’s reviewers were required to drink several rounds of truth serum before writing their evaluations and opinions, Unilocal might soar off into unexpected new dimensions.
In Brazil, the caipirinha (k’eye-pier-EENya), made with sugar cane brandy, limes, lime juice, sugar syrup and pure water, is nicknamed «truth serum.» Under its innocent influence this review is written.
Strangely, the very best truth serum publicly available in all the world, including in Brazil, is exclusively found in the heart of New York City (34 West 46^th Street, a few blocks from Times Square) at a perfectly small (less than 100 seats), well established (1978) restaurant named Via Brasil.
The Via Brasil caipirinha is not at all fancy or frothy or bubbly. It is served in a sparkling clean lowball glass with fresh muddled (the perfectly apt word) limes, sugar syrup, and Brazilian cachaça in just the right ratios and served over ice cubes.
To tell the whole truth, I was once upon a time the acting bureau chief for the New York Times in Rio de Janeiro and I have a fair knowledge of Brazilian drink, food, music, beaches, poets and people. I’ve seen caipirinhas do their lofty work, and at times the result may be a bit embarrassing, but while the truth may occasionally pinch, it’s often very funny and tender. Rarely does the caipirinha result in a headachy hangover. Brazilians are rather fearless and jaunty about facing the truth and that’s mostly because of the caipirinha.
If you are of the age and attitude to appreciate the virtues of caipirinha, then Via Brasil is the best place to enjoy them. The kitchen is down-​home Brazilian, with a range of well prepared tastes from exquisite pineapple and delicate shrimp, to cod fish balls that swim down your gullet on a stream of caipirinhas, to finely grilled beef steaks, with local Brazilian dishes, and the colorfully traditional feijoada completa, with white rice (the Christians), black beans (the Moors), collars greens (the jungle), oranges (the sun), yucca flour (a slave’s sustenance), pig’s ears, pig tails, jerked beef (what the slaves got fed by the landowners), fermented red beans (tumult), and fabulous hot pepper sauce (sex). One portion of feijoada easily feeds two, and you can order an extra caipirinha for good measure.
It pays not to forget to order a Brazilian coffee with a twist of lemon rind, and the signature chocolate mousse.
A disclaimer is probably required in this day and age. I have been a fan of Via Brasil for 36 years and have memories of delightful dining with scores of good friends and associates at tables round the room. (Somehow in all that time I’ve never sat at the bar.) At the white piano on the tiny bandstand I’ve heard some of the coolest and hottest small band jazz ever. One night the piano was covered with gourds, sticks, shells, odd glasses, bean bags, and weird gizmos, and we heard a grandmaster 86-​year-​old percussionist from Amazonas play some of the most amazing sounds one can imagine ever hearing. If you get to Via Brasil toward the weekend, there is music that raises all spirits.
Yet the best part of all is the Via Brasil staff, led by Dante Costa with intelligence and athleticism. If it means anything to you to be served by true professionals who sincerely care about themselves and their customers and are really good guys back of their aprons, that describes the Via Brasil staff, one and all. (Downton Abbey would kill for these guys.)
A bit of advice from an old caipirinha master, Jaime Dantas: «After the third, ask them to leave out the sugar.»
You may be amazed what Via Brasil truth serum does to brighten your day.

This is a really good legit Brazilian restaurant! Loved all the food that they served. Good entertainment w/​live band-​who can beat that?! Pretty reasonable price too. Will def comeback!

Via Brasil is amazing restaurant. The service is outstanding and the food is fantastic.
The entrance floor is styled after the amazing Copacabana beach sidewalks. We sat in a booth by the front but there are table seating and bar tables too. Everything is graciously decorated with antique lighting, large hanging mirrors along with paintings giving it a very warm and cozy abvionce. It was a Saturday when we patronized the establishment so they had a live three man band playing.
Our server Carlos spoke English and Portuguese fluently and helped us choose a wonderful dinner.
We had picanha that was cooked to perfection that came with bread, white rice and black beans (feijoada), farofa, molho a com companha. We chose sparkling water but they have a full bar with wines if you prefer.
If you want a great authentic Brazilian sit down dinner go to Via Brasil and ask for Carlos.

Comida boa, mas nao vale a pena! Atendimento péssimo!!! Descaso com os clientes!!! Nao voltaria…

Ótima comida, porém péssimo atendimento! Voltar? Só se estivesse com bastante fome e com muita paciência.

I went in with a huge group of friends for a birthday dinner on Saturday night where there was live jazz music venue going on – good timing on our part. I had ordered the feijoada, the national dish of Brasil, assuming that it would enough for me. The price was $ 27, which is kind of steep, but how often do you eat Brazilian cuisine? It was actually adequate for about 4 people. In addition, it was a rice and beans stew that had beef jerky, oxtail, and other meaty pieces inside. I thought it was nice that they served extra sliced oranges, garlic yucca, and extra bean gravy to enhance your dish. I was especially surprised by the manners and chivalry of the waitstaff working when we were there. There was a nice gentleman who helped me with my coat on the way out. This was a really kind gesture and totally unexpected. I would come back, but I’m not sure what to try… any suggestions?