Loading ...Picanha, Philadelphia’s Other Brazilian Steakhouse
Posted by Foobooz on April 9th, 2007
Perhaps Craig LaBan’s review of Fogo de Chão has stoked your interest in trying out Philadelphia’s less flashy Brazilian churrasco, Picanha. The Northeast Philadelphia restaurant is not the same experience as Fogo but just read what LaBan said last March about the meat at Picanha.
Queiroz, who slathers each skewer in more rock salt before replacing it on the grill, will slice meats rare on special request – but the well side of medium seems to be his default. Interestingly, it didn’t matter much, as every morsel, seasoned with little more than salt and the scent of the carvao, painted my mouth with such beefy essence that I could taste it in my sleep.
Picanha Brazilian Grill [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Fogo de Chão [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Related Tags: Brazilian, Northeast, Picanha-Brazilian-Grill, Steak
April 25th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
I’ve eaten at Fogo in Houston numerous times, and in Philly a few. There is no question, the lack of wood brings the Philly version down a few notches.
I just went to Picanha last week, and had a blast. Though there is less variety than Fogo (and TONS less pretension)it is a damn nice way to blow 15 bucks on a lunch.
Delicious home style food. The meat is a little salty, and a bit more well-done than the average slice at Fogo, but you can request your way around it once you get to know the servers.
Both have their places …..
July 27th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Well, it’s over a year later, Picanha has new management, and I’m afraid I have some disappointing news to add.
Though fundamentally, nothing much has changed, I was less than pleased with the service on a Saturday eve at 7:00PM. With two adults and two teenagers at the table, I got the distinct impression that Picanha was being skimpy with the offerings. We sat for long periods with empty plates. They brought around chicken wings and sausages with 3X the frequency of beef cuts. We never saw fish, lamb or pork as advertised on the menu (despite near two hours at the table.)
Despite waving frantically at the server who had some skewers of rare Picanha a few feet away, I had to flag down the hostess to chase him, and he came back with well-done hunks. I suspect they are told not to server rare beef, probably becasue the fire-seared crust makes everything appear tastier.
At $21, this is less of a deal than it used to be. I wouldn’t have minded so much for the $15.00 lunch, but with a price creeping toward Fogo, they will need to do better to make the value a real bargain.