My husband and I took a small getaway to celebrate the end of his semester. While walking around a Salt Lake City mall, we came to a restaurant named Tucanos. It is a Brazilian grill, and my husband was really excited to try it. I had tried a Brazilian restaurant several years earlier and wasn’t impressed, so I was skeptical. The hostess also mentioned that they had a something called a Salad Festival, and we were welcome to take a look at it and then decide whether we wanted to eat there or not.
The Salad Festival sealed the deal for me. There was a huge salad surrounded by various dressings, a basket full of delicious looking rolls, sushi, huge platters of meat and cheeses (including a huge bowl of fresh mozzarella balls). There were also chafing dishes full of delicious soups and entrees such as lobster bisque, and stroganoff. There were also lots of Brazilian dishes that I had never tried before like : polenta, collared greens, Brazilian cheese rolls (which were a lot like baked mozzarella sticks), and fried bananas. Everything at the Salad festival looked amazing! We also looked over the menu and there were great sounding appetizers and colorful fruit and ice cream drinks. You could also add specialty skewers like shrimp, bacon wrapped filet mignon, and bacon wrapped scallops to enhance your churrasco (Brazilian grill) experience.
We were quickly seated and the waitress, Tonya, explained that servers would be coming around with skewers of meats, and we would to use our “cue” to signal if we wanted more meat. The green meant we wanted more and the red meant we were done, for the time being.
We flipped our cue to green and servers with the churrasco came almost immediately. We were first served a beef brisket that was delicious and tender. Another server came with cooked cod with a sweet glaze, followed by bacon wrapped turkey, glazed chicken thighs, pork loin, and top sirloin. The servers kept coming, and at one point we had to turn our cue over to catch up on all the delicious meats they had brought us. Everything tasted amazing! I’ll confess that I’m not a huge fan of meat, in general. I’ll eat it, but it’s not my favorite (hence my reluctance to eat at an all-you-can-eat Brazilian grill). But even my husband commented that he had never seen me eat that much meat, ever. I told him that if all meat was this good, I would eat meat all the time.
But by far my favorite item that the servers brought around was the brown sugar grilled pineapple. I could not get enough of it! It was sweet and smoky and cooked to perfection. It’s not a stretch for me to say that the grilled pineapple at Tucanos is probably one of the best foods I've ever eaten.
One thing I was not interested in eating, was the chicken hearts the servers brought around, every so often. Our waitress, Tonya, came over and showed us her special way to season the chicken hearts with hot sauce and lime juice. I was really impressed that she would take such great care to make sure that we were having a great experience. But I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised, because all of the service at Tucanos was fantastic. Each server was gracious and made sure we were having a great time.
The atmosphere at Tucanos was festive and classy. It was a fun place to eat, but also felt like a refined dining experience. I’m so glad we decided to eat there, and I would highly recommend visiting a Tucanos the next time you are dining out. There are locations in Boise, ID; Salt Lake City, UT; Provo, UT; New Port News, VA; Colorado Springs, CO; and Albuquerque, NM.
I’d like to thank Nicole, Tonya and everyone at the Gateway Tucanos for giving us such a great experience.
In fact, I have a special treat for my readers. I was given two special scratch cards for Tucanos, to be used in January. Each card is a winner and the prizes range from a $100 Tucanos gift card, $50 Tucanos gift card, free adult churrasco meal, free shrimp skewer, or free desert or specialty drink. The cards must be redeemed by January 31st and the card is only valid if the scratch part is removed in a Tucanos restaurant. Just leave me a comment below telling me if you've ever tried a Brazilian Grill, and I will randomly pick two people to win these fun scratch cards.
I received no compensation for my review, and I was under no obligation to provide a positive review. I wanted to do a review because it was a great dining experience. My opinions are my own.
