Steakhouse style · Rodízio
Brazilian churrascaria
A churrascaria is a Brazilian restaurant serving churrasco — beef and other meats seasoned with coarse salt and roasted over wood or charcoal embers — often in the rodízio format, in which skewers of meat are brought to every table.
At a glance
- Origin
- Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; gaúcho ranching of the Pampa
- Fire
- Wood or charcoal embers; skewers or grill
- Seasoning
- Coarse salt (sal grosso)
- Typical cuts
- Picanha, cupim
- Service
- Rodízio (skewers to every table) or à la carte
- Key term
- Espeto corrido
The running skewer
A churrascaria is a restaurant devoted to churrasco, meat roasted over embers. In the most widespread format, the rodízio or espeto corrido ("running skewer"), waiters circulate with skewers and offer each cut to every table in turn.
Not every churrascaria is a rodízio. Rodeio, opened in São Paulo in 1958, serves à la carte and is known for sliced picanha, which it presents as a creation of the house.
Gaúchos of the Pampa, and a 2003 law
Churrasco has its roots in the cattle ranching of the gaúchos of the Pampa, the grasslands shared by the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, Uruguay and Argentina. In Rio Grande do Sul the tradition is written into law: state law 11.929 of 20 June 2003 declares churrasco à gaúcha the state's typical dish and sets 24 April as the Dia do Churrasco (Churrasco Day).
The origin of the rodízio is contested. The São Paulo association of churrascarias credits Churrascaria 477 in Jacupiranga, São Paulo state, run by the gaúcho Albino Ongaratto, in 1964 or the mid-1960s: on a busy day a waiter mixed up the orders, so every skewer was taken to every table. A rival claim names Churrascaria Mathias in Sapiranga, Rio Grande do Sul, also in the 1960s. The exact origin is unknown.
The format later spread abroad. Fogo de Chão was founded in 1979 in Porto Alegre by the brothers Arri and Jair Coser together with Jorge and Aleixo Ongaratto; it opened its first United States location in 1997 in Addison, Texas, in the Dallas area, and has been owned by Bain Capital since 2023.
Coarse salt and nothing else
The 2003 law gives a working definition of the method: meat seasoned with coarse salt (sal grosso), roasted over the embers of wood or charcoal, on skewers or on a grill, under the manual control of the cook. Coarse salt is the only seasoning in that definition; there is no marinade.
In a rodízio kitchen the skewer is both cooking tool and serving tool: the same spit that roasts the meat over the embers is carried into the dining room, where the meat is carved from it at the table. The general technique is covered under grilling over fire.
Picanha and the zebu hump
Picanha is the rump cap, the cut most associated with Brazilian churrasco. Its origin is disputed and several stories compete to explain it.
Cupim is the hump of zebu cattle. It exists only in zebu-type animals and is absent in non-zebu breeds, so it is a cut defined by the breed rather than by butchery alone.
Green for more, red for a pause
In a rodízio each diner has a two-sided token or card: one side means "more meat", the other "pause". The colors are often green and red. While the card shows green, the waiters with skewers keep stopping at the table; turning it to red stops them.
In à la carte churrascarias such as Rodeio, the meat is ordered by cut and brought sliced, as in other steakhouse styles.
Rodeio, Fogo de Chão and two birthplaces
Rodeio (São Paulo, 1958), an à la carte churrascaria known for sliced picanha; Churrascaria 477 (Jacupiranga) and Churrascaria Mathias (Sapiranga), each named as the birthplace of the rodízio; and Fogo de Chão (Porto Alegre, 1979), which took the rodízio format to the United States.
Frequently asked questions
What is rodízio?
A churrascaria format, also called espeto corrido, in which waiters bring skewers of meat to every table in turn. Its origin is contested between Churrascaria 477 in São Paulo state and Churrascaria Mathias in Rio Grande do Sul, both in the 1960s.
What do the green and red cards mean in a churrascaria?
Each diner has a two-sided card or token: one side (often green) asks for more meat, the other (often red) asks for a pause.
What is picanha?
Picanha is the rump cap, the cut most associated with Brazilian churrasco. Where its name and use come from is disputed.
What is cupim?
Cupim is the hump of zebu cattle. Breeds without zebu blood do not have it.
Sources
7
- Rio Grande do Sul. Lei n.º 11.929, de 20 de junho de 2003 (churrasco à gaúcha, prato típico do estado). Via Movimento Tradicionalista Gaúcho. www.mtg.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/mtgrs-lei-churrasco-e-do-chimarrao.pdf
- Wikipedia (português). "Churrascaria." pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churrascaria
- Wikipedia. "Rodízio." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod%C3%ADzio
- Fogo de Chão (UK). "Brazilian cut: picanha" (company blog). fogodechao.uk/blog/brazilian-cut-picanha
- Wikipedia. "Fogo de Chão." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fogo_de_Ch%C3%A3o
- Rodeio (official site). www.rodeiosp.com.br
- Bares SP. "Rodeio." www.baressp.com.br/restaurantes/churrascarias/rodeio
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