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Samba Brazilian Steak House Churrascaria
Categories: Event Planning & Services Caterers Restaurants Brazilian Restaurants Steakhouses Caterers, Brazilian, Steakhouses
1122 Alberni StVancouver, BC V6E 1A5
Neighbourhood: West End
(604) 696-9888
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 11:30 am - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 11:30 am - 11 pm
Sun 12 pm - 11 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
48 reviews for Samba Brazilian Steak House Churrascaria
Review Highlights
48 reviews in English
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Review from Ruth M.
11/11/2011
Good price compared to other's. The sirloin was great however the other meats were a little dry. Did get a chance to try buffalo as they serve it at the regular price.
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Review from Beck C.
Vancouver, BC
2/4/2012
Spare your stomach & your wallet. Steer clear of this place!
Brazilian food in an AYCE format - what's not to love? EVERYTHING apparently.
Dropped in for a rodizio lunch on Sat ($16 Fri - Sun, $14 Mon - Thurs) with a friend.
Meat - desert dry bubble gum of proteins/cuts that taste exactly alike.
Salad bar - half empty, half day-old food. Only the fries were edible ('nuff said).
Service - what's that? The waiters touting the spits of meat avoided our table like the plague for whatever reason.
We practically had to tackle them to get their attn. When stopped, it was like pulling teeth to get them to tell us what animal they were slicing onto our plates.
UGH. I still shudder at the memory of this meal. -
Review from Tai V.
Vancouver, BC
1/6/2012 1 Check-in Here
Cannot say much about this place as I did not stay with my party long enough to try the food...
Had a confusion with a NYE reservation and asked to speak with management who arrived and I assume he was the owner because he proceeded to BAWL out; literally raised his voice at my girlfriend surrounded by guests for questioning how he had not properly advertised his set menu price for the holidays (online it states that on holidays the buffet is 30$) and that it was a mis-representation of what we were expecting.
The price was $70 (which is not unreasonable) but if your going to jack up the price 120% please let us know beforehand as this cost did not even come with a drink only a plastic lei...Though it was to include the styles of some Brazilian dancers which makes it closer to worth my 70$ but they did not end up showing as we were told by the friends who had stayed for the "festivities"
so...
needless to say we ended up spending NYE at Catcus Club... like they need more business.
That unreasonably upset man has to check his attitude, this free advertising hes getting trough Yelp does not make his place look very good at all... -
Review from Willy K.
1/3/2012
Eh... I was suggested by my friends to visit this place. All-you-can-eat Brazillian place, recommended by a Brazillian person? I had to try at least.
If you're not familiar with these places, the idea is that they bring you different kinds of meat and you can keep taking it until you are full (you flip over a card, actually). The salad bar was okay, the chicken there was good and the feijoada wasn't bad at all. The meats were the disappointing part. It's quite a lot of money (it came out to be over $20 with a drink at lunch) and I was expecting a lot of good meat for it. Quantity certainly is fine, since it's all-you-can-eat, but none of the meats were particularly good. If anything, the lamb was awful and the pork didn't seem all that well cooked. It didn't help that I needed water for the longest time and the waitress never checked us.
Two stars on Yelp corresponds to "meh. I've experienced better." I'd say that summarizes my experience at Samba very well. The food isn't so awful, but it could be better in so many aspects. -
Review from Ralson C.
Vancouver, BC
12/9/2011
I'm from New York City and have frequented Plataforma all locations in NYC as well as been to Fogo De Chao in Dallas, TX. So I know my Churrascaria spots. This was just a disappointment. First of all no Brahma beer, the Caprianha's had too much ice with less drink, and the side dishes were a joke, bananas and hard bread. Not even the sauces and the crushed pork skin for the meat. The salad bar was really bad, no cocktail shrimp, squid salad, cheeses, other dishes, where's the other good stuff. They actually had conference style chicken and meats at the salad bar??? WTF. I've seen better salad bars in cafeterias.
The meat was also not very good, all the beef were over cooked and dry and they don't have much rare cuts. The pork was dry, the buffalo was horrible and gamey and the chicken hearts didn't have enough seasoning. Chicken hearts are the measure of a good Churrascaria spot and these were just a disappointment. I think they need to season the meat more with salt to bring out he flavours and just go to real Churrascaria places. The only place in Vancouver and it is not very good, a shame really....I guess when it's owned by a Thai place...for some reason I don't think real Brazillians are involved in the ownership.
The service was average. Took a while for them to clear up plates and also come and ask to refill drinks. Only thing that was somewhat decent was the lamb and the dessert. I'd stay away from this place and if you want meat go have a nice steak dinner at steak restaurant. There isn't much variety in the meat and not worth the prices they charge. -
Review from Amanda H.
Vancouver, BC
12/17/2011
I wish I had known about yelp before we went here. There was an awesome Churrascaria in my hometown so when I saw this I wanted to immediately go. Our verdict is SAVE YOUR MONEY. We ended up spending about $50 per person to eat here and it wasn't even worth it. I'm not even sure about the location either, I felt like I was walking into a basement. It was like a cave. 0.o
When we showed up during a weekday for dinner it only had a few people there. The waitress and other staff were nice but if you get the all you can eat, you end up filling up at the mediocre salad bar and then eating about seven pieces of mostly dry meat. I am a Texan, so I love a good piece of carne but this was pretty blah. It wasn't until the bill came that we realized that we were being charged for refills of our ice tea. LAME! Who the heck charges $4 each for tea?! We felt thoroughly ripped off. We will not be eating there ever again. -
Review from Stephanie M.
Vancouver, BC
12/19/2011 1 Check-in Here
Can I give this place 0 or -1 stars??? I always brag that "it's very difficult to fnd a really bad restaurant in Vancouver", because we are spoiled with so many good ones, but a recent visit here proved me wrong.
The first problem was with our reservation. I came here for a friend's birthday and she had made reservations for 16 people over three weeks ago. Yet we had to wait more than an hour and 15 minutes to be seated. At roughly the 45-minute mark, after yet another attempt to find out when we would be seated, we were informed that the people at our table were "just paying" and the hostess suggested that we wait at the bar. That was basically her not-so-subtle way of pushing us out of the way, thus making it easier to forget about us. I understand that we were a large group on a very busy night, and that earlier reservation parties show up late and delay later reservations, etc., but this was extreme, in my opinion. The birthday girl had made reservations weeks ago, and for some crazy reason we thought that meant that a table would actually be reserved for us! The most maddening part was that clearly none of the staff cared at all that we were forced to wait for almost an hour and a half. A little acknowledgment or courtesy goes a long way in my books.
The second problem was that even during the half-hour/45 minute exile at the bar, myself and another member of the reservation party tried to order a drink and the bartender informed us that he was too far behind to take our orders. So no food or drink for us yet. (Although other members of our party caught him at a less busy moment.)
Next, after finally being seated, we were informed that there were no a-la-carte or vegetarian options. I had thought that the less carnivorous among us could at least have only the salad bar vs. the salad bar + AYCE meat option, but apparently not tonight.
Finally, I was at least hoping to express my dissatisfaction by leaving the tip that I felt was appropriate (as you've probably guessed by now, that amount was plummeting by the second), but we got caught by the mandatory 15% gratuity for large groups rule.
We did get a bit of a discount for all of our trouble, but only after a lot of complaining and negotiation, and it still was not worth it for a so-so salad bar, in my opinion. -
Review from Andrea B.
Burnaby, BC
10/3/2011
Vegetarians beware! There are 2 options available:
Meat + Salad Buffet - $33
Salad Buffet - $25
This may be your haven if you are a lover of meat, but since I've never tried the meat, I will speak from the viewpoint of a greens-eater.
Wow. I've never given a 1-star review and never thought I would but here it is. Such a sad lonely star. Much deserved however...
- Misinformation on Website: pretty much everything on the site was wrong, except their location. I guess that's a plus.
- Server on a One-Track Course: when asked for a menu, the server looked at us like our hair was on fire and said 'no'. When we asked if there was an option for vegetarians, he said 'yeah, uh, no'. By this point, I'm pretty sure if we asked where the bathrooms were, he'd follow it with a 'no'. It was as if we rocked his well-rehearsed, scripted routine. Bye-bye customer service skills.
Yep, I (and a few other friends) came in with a disease called vegetarianism. The restaurant was warned when we made reservations and they kindly said they'd make something for us but as we arrived, the server treated us terribly and insinuated we were liars.
For $25, definitely not worth it.
DO NOT LOOK AT THE WEBSITE!!! The information and prices are incorrect!!! Better to call them up and ask for the name of the person that assists you. -
Review from Jennifer B.
Vancouver, BC
1/16/2012
Very very dirty restaurant, crappy service, and overpriced!
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Review from Maggie M.
Vancouver, BC
1/27/2012
Simply put, it sucks!! Not authentic at all (then again it's part of Thai House... Not so Brazilian, is it!). Go home, buy yourself a top sirloin($15 at safeway), put some coarse salt on it and dump it in the bbq, that would be more Brazilian than that hole in the wall.... Want Brazilian bbq? Either go to Brazil or to Fogo de Chao in the States. Perda de tempo!!!
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Review from M S.
Vancouver, BC
1/31/2012
Horrible on so many levels. My two friends and I frequently try new places, so have pretty open minds and tolerant palates. I knew from a quick view of the depleted buffet that it was going to be slim pickings, so opted for the Dine Out three courses. The coconut prawns were essentially three previously cooked prawns swimming in an abyss of lukewarm yellow soup. My friend and I looked up at the same time and asked "Did you only get three, too?" Sadly, yes. What were we supposed to do with all the residual liquid? My buddies had heavily salted filet mignon which came without a veggie or starch accompaniment. I could not finish my equally salty ostrich stroganoff which was strips of meat, mixed in with what I swear were Hickory Stick chips, crowning a mound of crispy white rice. By the way, ostrich tastes like pork. Heck, it may well have been pork for all I know. My friend asked if we could order a salad and the waitress cleared a visit to the salad bar with her boss. Suffice it to say, this was my friend's attempt to redeem some aspect of the meal so he came back with a rather large helping of raw vegetables for us. Dessert was okay. It wasn't busy, but service was distracted and not particularly warm. Decor was two Brazilian flags. For the final bill of 99 dollars plus tip, we could have eaten like kings somewhere else. In a city like Vancouver, you can do so much better.
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Review from David C.
Vancouver, BC
6/27/2011
I'll preface this review by disclaiming that large chunks of unflavoured, grilled meats just don't do it for me.
Came here with a group for AYCE lunch. (I'm in my element at buffets.) Was excited to try a new food a new cultural experience (authentic or otherwise). I was impressed with the reasonable price for unlimited meat+salad bar.
The 6 types of meat turned out to be just okay, cooked well, tender for the most part. It just didn't suit my Asian palate. I prefer some sort of sauce or marinade or spice. (if you're a grilled meat eater, you might feel right at home, though don't expect a precisely prepared steak as you might find at The Keg.)
Ended up getting my fill at the salad bar, which had a good selection of the typicals along with some fish fillets, pastas and an interesting bean+sausage stew (a "national dish"). None particularly inspiring but good enough for me. My grilled-meat-eating friends got their fill too so I guess it was good enough for them too. All in all, a good enough place to fill my stomach but not to experience anything new or interesting. -
Review from Edward L.
Came here on the recommendation of a friend. Heard a few words: "ayce meat", and I was there.
The interior of a restaurant was a bit dingy (almost like an old beaten up diner), but we weren't here for the decor.
On one side is a short salad bar, and the other is a full-service bar.
So how is this place different than the others? The meat. We'll get to that in a second, but first let's talk about the setup. They give you a small pair of tongs, and a small card that's green on one side "Sir, por favour" (sp?) and red on the other "I give up".
When the staff come around the tables with slabs of meat on a sword, you flip the card to red or green to show whether or not you want another portion of meat. I swear the clouds parted an a rainbow appeared.
Sausages - a bit too salty, but taste like the kind you'd find at Denny's.
Lamb - a bit too salty, but otherwise quite delicious.
Chicken - a bit dry, but great spicy flavour.
Sirlion - beautiful. Nice and rare on the inside. Outside had a big strip of fat. A bit too salty on the outer surfaces, but you can offset that by alternating between inside and outside.
Pork - probably their best dish. They do it just right. Nice and moist.
For dessert, I tried a Brazilian flamme (sp?) for $7. This was actually quite good. The flamme was fruity and was served with a kind of alcoholic syrup.
Every time you eat here, the biodiversity of the Earth goes down slightly, and a bunch of animals thank you. -
Review from Shore M.
Vancouver, BC
4/29/2011
Had heard loads about this place and finally went. Down the stairs we went for opening time (1730) on a Thursday, Several folk were already there waiting, many looking the part (ie; So. American) of repeat patrons. Once inside, it was cavernous. Loved the buffet bar, with salads and hot dishes. Not being that much of a meat eater, next time I'll go more buffet and less 'meat-skewer-at-the-table-hacked-off-into-your-wai ting-tongs'....
Favourites were sausages, and mini-chickens / parts of chickens.. I like my steak medium-well, and there's not a lot of that about on a skinny skewer. After the outside few millimetres it's all a bit too red and fatty for moi.
The maple cream ale on tap was smoooooth.... which probably didn't help me get money's worth overall food-wise.... -
Review from Niko D.
Vancouver, BC
6/20/2011
Meh, I've experienced better described this restaurant to the 'T'.
The service was ok, nothing special. The server took over 10 mins to get us water and by the end of it we had to remind her for service items.
The Servers with the meat kept on running out of meat by the time they got to our table. We waited for an hour before we got any filet mignon. They kept on bringing us meat we had already eaten. We had to ask the server for a certain kind of meat.
The meat itself was decent. It was just salted. There was no real spices or marinades on the meat. This was ok for the sausage and bacon wrapped chicken. But for the tri tip, pork, filet, sirloin it meant a bland peice of meat. You either were getting the meat blue rare or well done. There didnt seem to be a middle ground. Quite upsetting considering you are paying $32 per person.
The buffet was the best part with nicely cooked shrimp and muscles. Mind you I did not go there for shrimp and muscles. I came to Samba for MEAT!!!
The dancers were entertaining. More so for their outfits rather than their dancing.
Again...not impressed and will not return to this establishment. Just not worth the money. Lackluster service and mediocre food quality!
I would steer clear of this place, there are much better choices... -
Review from Ehahaha H.
Vancouver, BC
3/16/2011
One word describes this restaurant well: overrated. People come to a restaurant for the food, and you'd think that at $40 a person, you'd get relatively decent food.
My friends and I went to this restaurant due to the reputation that Samba had a wide variety of meat selection. On a Saturday night, Samba apparently has only six types of meat, with one unique type (buffalo). Before we made the reservation, we were told there would be at least 11 types, including ostrich.
This lack of selection would be fine if the food were good. I found the food to be hit-or-miss and mostly miss. The seasoning on most of the meat was uneven, with extremely salty sides or non-seasoned sides. I found the excess salt very unappetizing. I had some decent cuts of meat, but mostly my cuts were very salty. I would not pay more than $20 for this quality, although the quantity was adequate. Also, the salad bar is mediocre at best.
I often hear people rave about the atmosphere at Samba, with the Brazilian dancers and live music. It's not bad, if you have the choice seating sections. Unfortunately, Samba is divided into two parts that are separated by a small barrier. One part is where you can view the performances well and the servers hang around there; in the other part (where we sat), you can barely see anything, and the servers come infrequently. It just seems like a very bad restaurant design. Without the barrier, everyone could enjoy the live performances and the servers could move around easily.
In addition, the televisions playing the hockey game all around the restaurant reveal an inconsistency with the Brazilian theme and take away from the atmosphere. It's as if the restaurant designer/owner could not make a decision as to the restaurant's "personality".
Other than the waitress, the servers were good. Our waitress came around two or three times in the entire night. Although the men with meat skewers came around less frequently in our area than in the choice area, they were very personable and gave us a lot of meat. They brought the types of meat we wanted whenever we requested them.
Overall, I'd never go to this restaurant again. The food is just not good enough. Oversalted and overrated. The atmosphere is not enough to make a difference. -
Review from Mya N.
Langley, BC
11/13/2010
After reading the reviews, I was dreading my obligatory dinner here. Even with a positive attitude, the meat failed to impress and the meal left a big hole in my wallet.
We had a party of 40 and we all got the Rodizio all you can eat menu. 40 x $29/person x HST x 15% gratuity= way too much for crappy meat. Ahhhhh what a disappointment! The salad bar had typical cheap crap whose sole purpose is to fill you up. They also had a "hot bar" which included pasta and some seafood dishes for the ppl that wanna eat seafood in a steak house. Weirdos. I threw some veggies on my plate, sat down, flipped my card to green for go time.... and waited for the men with skewers to come and seduce me into a meatgasm. Here we go...
The chicken thighs started coming around- blah. Then the sausages- salty as hell. Finally a bright moment when the top sirloin picanha hit my plate- surprisingly tender! The meat was nice and rare, dipping blood as the guy sliced though it. By now I'm thinking Samba may have a fleeting chance to win my heart.... that didn't last long. Lamb came out- inedible, fatty, gamy, too tough to chew. Then the beef brisket- so good! Damn, it was melt in your mouth tender. But then it was all down hill from there: buffalo was so dry, chicken hearts looked like boogers, picanha got salter and salter, like they wanted to bloat the crap outta us. Overall the variety of meats sucked. The same things kept coming around and it took forever for anything new to pop up.
I would never go back. Save your money and hit up the lunch Rodizio if you really must try Samba's. -
Review from Gale L.
Vancouver, BC
4/22/2011 2 Check-ins Here
And the meat eating table roared! Comprehensive salad bar and ten seared meat selections cruising, 7 of them very good.
Missed chimichurri and surprised with beets. Decor off. Service superb. -
Review from Suze D.
North Vancouver, BC
2/15/2011
Sometimes us gluttonous carnivores just need a ginormous fix of MEAT.
MEAT, MEAT, MEAT and MORE MEAT!!!
The decor and ambiance sucks,
The buffet rates a 2 at most.
The service is AWESOME! 4 plus.
The meat, brought to your table the instant it comes off the bbq is really very very good.. a 4 to even 4.5.
It's all you can eat and kinda pricey. But when you are in serious need of pigging out on everything beef to lamb, this is the place. -
Review from Patrick Z.
12/1/2010
Wow! This place is amazing. The food was delicious. The all you can eat salad bar had some great food. Great variety of salads and hot dishes.
The Rodizio was fantastic. There was chicken, beef, lamb, pork, and buffalo, The beef rib meat was so tender and melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
The atmosphere was beautiful. The live Latin music was just right.
I've been to other Churrascaria places. This one was just as good and about $12 cheaper. I'm a fan. -
Review from Garth C.
9/21/2010
If I took home leftovers for the dog would he still love me in the morning?
Let me start of by saying, I love meat. If there was an entree that was all meat and had a side "salad" that just consisted of meat, that would be one of my favourite dishes. I could even have bacon for dessert. Mmm bacon.
The first time I went to Samba was during a lunch time. Despite being warned by my friend I could not pass up the opportunity to go to a place that will just keep serving me meat until I explode. To say I was excited was an understatement.
That excitement quickly dissipated the instant I tasted the meat.
I never thought there would be a time where I would have so much hate for meat. The cuts were poor at best, there was little to no seasoning to any of the items and even sausages were too greasy for my taste (and I love grease!). I actually stopped eating meat and ended up filling up on the salad, and if you know me, I am not a fan of salad!
After the hours of rocking in the corner I vowed never to speak of this place ever again.
Time passed and the wounds started healing. I get an invitation to join people for dinner there where I gladly accept. This time everything will be different, expectations already lowered as I know what i'm getting into. Should make for an OK event right? Wrong.
Everything that happened the first time held true again only that now the price is much higher, there is "entertainment" where I couldn't see from the table I was at and the service was much slower. Now even if I wanted to fill up on this "meat" there was no way at the rate they were serving. I take the long walk of shame to the salad bar, vowing never again.
The final blow was the bill at the end. That bill was around what I spend at Vij's, I guess that is what I get for cheating on my first true love, Vij's lamb popsicles. -
Review from Yolanda G.
8/9/2011 1 Check-in Here
I lOVE Brazilian Steakhouses, but this one did not make the grade. First off the salad bar was way below standard salad bars and the lettuce did not seem as fresh. The selection of meats brought to the table were ... boring. It was almost the same thing over and over again. It was disappointing. The staff was friendly though. If you are looking for a Brazilian steakhouse, this is not the place to go to.
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Review from Brett B.
Vancouver, BC
9/5/2010
If you've been to Brazil, you'll laugh at the grotesque way the food is presented here. The picanha is the cheapest B cut of beef I've had and the bright lighting doesn't allow them to hide how terrible it looks.
If you like fatty breakfast sausage for churrasco, enjoy!
Si on allait au Brésil; on saurait qu'ils servent la viande la moins chère qu'on peut acheter! Cette memoire me donne envie de dégueuler. Alors, si vous aimeriez perdre les poids, allez!!
Esse restaurante 'e uma piada! A comida 'e muito ruim e eles usam carne de segunda qualidade. Nao vale a pena provar...Qualquer churrasaria de esquina no Brasil 'e melhor que essa espelunca. -
Review from Anthony W.
Surrey, BC
9/27/2010 1 Check-in Here
I thought I was in heaven when I went here to meet up with a friend for lunch. I had a meatgasm. The service was excellent. They kept our glasses of water full and they always brought meat until we hit the proverbial wall. I was impressed, I would recommend this place to a friend.
This place wants me to kick a vegan. -
Review from Arpy D.
Vancouver, BC
3/9/2011
Like ripping the lollipop out of a baby's mouth, Samba keeps finding ways to take a once amazingly unique experience and cheapening it by force feeding people the cuts of meat you can find in the specials section of your local grocery store. If you're looking to get your full blown meat experience, this isn't the place anymore.
A very large group of us went to Samba last night and this was close to my 10th time. Each year the experience is progressively getting worse. I used to love this place so much that it was home to my going away dinner and also my birthday a few years later. My girlfriend used to take me there as a treat too.
From quality of service, range of meats offered, drinks, and price, Samba is making it harder and harder to be worth spending $50 there per person instead of pigging out at Memphis Blues or getting exceptional cuts of meat somewhere else.
Service:
We had to go to the bar ourselves to get water for our table even asking the servers twice
Range of Meats:
Other than the chicken hearts, they very rarely offer the exotic meats that made it special. Sure you can fill up on Sirloin tip, pork, sausages, and chicken, but that's just not worth the money. Many of the meats are over-salted and burnt now as well.
Drinks:
Three people ordered drinks and they were simply too sweet. Sure they are well priced for Vancouver, $5.75, but this really makes me think they water down and sugar up the drinks. The waitresses didn't know what a pisco sour was either.
Price:
You won't walk out of there paying less than $50 a head. Simply put, it's a waste of your time and money with all the time restaurants in Vancouver offering great experiences for $30-$40 or exceptional ones for $50-60. -
Review from Honest C.
Vancouver, BC
7/23/2011
Finding Out
By HonestCritique of Marpole, Vancouver
I almost did not go. Having lived all over Brazil, I know the real thing, that is a meat buffet Churrascaria. However when I read all the reviews I got both scared and curious. Is it really that bad?
Well, I decided to see what these criticisms are all about. I went to have their lunch buffet last Thursday July 7, 2011, and here are my observations:
The skewers of meat they bring - yes not as generous as in Brasil (they spell it with an s) but the taste is the same and better in a way. In Brasil, they doused their meat with rock salt - many North Americans cannot take the saltiness. I like it here - you can flavor it the way you want and the meat they served that day was fresh. Plain grilled but that is their style. Do not expect flavoured BBQ - that is not the Brasilian way. The sausages were Italian -not the Brasilian kind - which is alright given supply logistics.
As I said, the serving is not that generous - but that is fine. It helps you to time your consumption and be ready again for the next round. Overall I was full at the end of 4 rounds. By the way the lamb was good - not gamey.
Most people will probably skip the dark Feijoada stew (with sausages that tasted more Brazilian) and the Farina grain you sprinkle over. But this is truly Brasilian and Samba's rendition is authentic. I love it. In fact it will probably be the main reason I would go back more so than the meat. The salad bar was also good.
The service was okay but these Brasilians have probably been instructed to be prudent in slicing meat for the diners. But Brasilians are some of the loveliest people on earth. I gave a service tip of $7 on top of the $14.95 lunch buffet price. -
Review from Nano H.
Vancouver, BC
2/17/2009
Samba is one of the very few Brazilian restaurants in town. If I have a Brazilian friend who is feeling homesick I usually take him/her there. They have a $14 all-you-can-eat meatfet (pronounced MEET-fey - note: I made that up), and a huge salad bar that you can choose from.
They have a massive meat collection to choose from while you eat. A guy comes over every four to five minutes with a huge pole of meat that you can shave off and take a bit from. Lamb, Chicken, Pork, Beef, and on rare occasion Venison and YES even Kangaroo. If it lives on the land and can be raised on a farm you can probably eat it there. You can also order a bunch of seafood from their a la cart menu. The food leaves a little to be desired but if you are going for a fun little meat-gorging exercise then this is a fantastic spot. The staff are all pretty friendly as well.
Every night they have "live entertainment" but that's a bit of a misnomer. It's more along the lines of "live people performing who wish they weren't there" but hey...I give them credit for trying. I sat so close once that I could see the emotional scarring.
Either way, for a quick change of pace it's not all that bad, but definitely not a go-to spot for anything in my books other than taking homesick Brazilians. -
Review from Oliver S.
8/13/2010
The entertainment made Samba a fantastic experience. I came here on a Saturday night with 6 other people right before our nightly exploration of the city.
When we dined, they had a variety of meats going around from chicken heart's to sausage. All of the meats we had were delicious and all you can eat (for $32 dollars). It wasn't the highest quality meat I've ever had (not the melt in your mouth, juicy kind of meat), but the quality was above average of what could be expected at a "meat buffet." They did have a salad bar, but the items weren't very exciting. The look and quality seemed synonymous to an Old Country Buffet (http://www.oldcountryb...). I did not hold this against them since I was under the mindset that when you are at a Churrascaria, you go for the meat, not the salad bar. That being said, if you go to a Churrascaria for the salad bar, you may be disappointed at Samba.
Negative:
The service was unpredictable at points. There were times where we experience significant waiting periods for the next course of meat to come around... The service lacked consistency.
At one point, one of my friends had to make a personal request for pineapple (his favorite dish of the night) because so much time had elapsed without additional servings of the dish (i.e., they seemed to never serve it again). The request took over around 30 minutes to fulfill...which seems a little unacceptable.
While our service may not have been the best, we were too preoccupied to really notice with the amazing entertainment that Samba had. On Saturday night, our table was right in front of the Brazilian dancers. We had front row seats to the show, and the ladies definitely delivered! The dancers were very interactive with the audience (always willing to take a photo with the tourists), and they looked like they had a genuinely good time entertaining! This worked to fill in the gaps between the sometimes long waiting periods between servings.
Overall, we had a pleasant experience at Samba. The combination of all you can eat meat with great entertainment made for an awesome dining experience. I'm a fan! -
Review from Greg S.
Fonthill, ON
4/11/2009
There is a secret to enjoying Samba: don't go for dinner on the weekend. The live show, which is presumably intended to make you feel like you're in Rio during Carnaval, is embarrassingly bad. (Okay, I'm not a fan of live music in restaurants, period: I love music, and I love food, but when I am enjoying either one, I tend to give it my full attention to the exclusion of everything else, so plying me with one while I'm trying to pay attention to the other is just a distraction. But that said, I can't imagine anyone sad enough that they'd actually go to Samba for the show...)
The food, on the other hand...
This is not the place to go if you're a vegetarian, or even trying to limit your protein intake. This is an unabashed celebration of carnivorousness. (There are even meat dishes at the salad bar.) How many different meats are on offer depends on whether you go for lunch or dinner. There's always steak, chicken, and sausage. At dinner, they add pork and ostrich. (I generally pass on the sausage. It's just not quite right.) They bring it around on huge skewers that look like swords, and will keep slicing off pieces for you until you turn your card over in surrender.
As I have implied, the salad bar isn't the usual. There are usually a number of meat items, and it's lacking a number of the veggies that you'd normally expect to see on a salad bar, but you could fill up just on the offerings there, if you could resist the temptation of those skewers. -
Review from Glo F.
9/8/2010
My husband and I were looking for something different and ran into this place on a weekday. We strolled in and found out they had a Happy Hour for $18.00, all you can eat. But when we sat down, we found out we have eat the six selected meat withing 45 minutes as it ends at 7 p.m. and we sat down roughly at 6:15. We decided to splurge and also enjoyed our meal, we decided to go for the $32.00 all you can eat with at least 12 selection of meat (they claimed), we counted less than ten selection as it was not a busy night.
The food: It was okay, grilled meat of various variety, the only bad things was that it started with only one person serving and it took a while for him to come around to use, by that time, the item was cold and not the prime piece. Sometimes the meat is the same piece as earlier but was placed back on the grill to reheat and serve.....just as the night went on, the same serving of meat got tougher and tougher and tougher. They had buffalo but we noticed it was served towards the end of our meal as it got a little bit more crowded and an additional server was added. So for better selection come when it's busy or full house!! The salad bar was okay, not a large selection but standard and pretty fresh.
The ambiance: Dark, very dark, so dark, you're not sure if it's buffalo or steak you're eating. The entertainment didn't start until we were about to leave around 7:40/8:00.
The service: The wait staff was very attentive, switch out our plates when needed, clean up, and refilled our drinks. The meat server was good as well, it was not his fault if he was working alone and with limited items, blame that on the kitchen staff and management.
Overall a three for everything, maybe a bit more for the wait staff as they were attentive and prompt in their service. -
Review from Bethel L.
Victoria, BC
1/29/2009
As God as my witness, I shall never eat at Samba again.
Oh how I love my hubby, but boy can he miss the mark. I'm new to Vancouver, so for my birthday I was researching all these great places I wanted to go for dinner -- especially since friends and family were flying/driving in to celebrate with us. But in the end, I trusted my man who thought Samba would be a good choice. During the meal, I needed to meditate on the vows I recently made - "for better, for worse, for better, for worse..." - cause this was baaaad.
When you're at Samba, you feel like you're sitting in a cheap casino on the outskirts of Las Vegas. The food is horrible - the meat is super salty (I think they're trying to bloat you so that you feel full faster) and the salad bar is exceptionally unappetizing (everything looks like canned food).
For entertainment, they had these poor girls trying to dance in sparkly bikini & feather outfits. At first they were doing some samba brazillian dancing, but as our meal progressed they started gett'n down to hip-hop, awkward butterflies and all. Entertaining? Yes. Good for digestion? No.
The service was way below par. Our glasses of water were always empty, everyone too busy to help, and there were long periods of time between the offerings of bad meat. At the end, to make our payment easy for our waiter, we told him to just split the total equally between our 5 cards, but he refused to do any extra thinking and told us that we had to divide the total by 5 and write it down on a piece of paper for him.
Samba was a strange, strange experience, and you can definitely find a better way to spend your $30 per meal. -
Review from Pete S.
Vancouver, BC
6/15/2010
Welcome to the carnivore's paradise. if you need a fill of flesh, here is your spot! ive been here a few times for their $15 AYCE special, and it is well worth it. i once weighed myself before and after and discovered that i ate 4lbs of meat in one sitting. take that samba!
the place is all about the meat. i don't know why reviewers would even think about commenting on the salad bar, as you don't make friends with salad at an all you can eat meat feast. i recommend the lamb, chicken, pork, beef, sausages and anything else that comes by your table on a sword. -
Review from Arthur G.
6/12/2011
Great place, a little out of the way, down the stairs, but nice place. A little dark for my taste,. but hey that's just me! Dancers were a nice touch!!
I had a great meal. All the meat that I could eat. Had read some of the other reviews, so had mixed feelings about trying this place out. But I have no regrets. All the meat was good, especially loved the sausages, chicken hearts and the filet mignon. My kind of place. Drinks are a little pricey, but not bad. Will definately bring my family to this place,when they visit. -
Review from Tim L.
8/16/2008
This place only gets its 3rd star for the fact that there are so few Brazilian restaurants around in Vancouver.
It certainly has the churrascaria style to the food however I wouldn't say it's particularly authentic. It is certainly great food and tasty, but not great Brazilian. That is where the difference lies. It is owned and run by the same people behind Thai House (which is the same story).
There needs to be more competition so places like this will improve. Either that or the guys behind this restaurant and Thai house should really start thinking about doing a restaurant they are good at. Instead of starting restaurants based on other culture's food and not getting it right. -
Review from Mark H.
1/3/2010
I went for their all you can eat BBQ lunch a couple times and was not impressed. The salad bar did not look appetizing so we opted to go all carnivore. You can get the typical lamb, beef, pork, etc but I find all their meat to be extremely salty. Of all days, the last time I went was when Vancouver's tap water was unsafe to drink so the whole day I was thirsty from the salt. On the positive side, there are usually quite a few beautiful Brazilian girls who eat there..
Strangely enough, the Brazilian restaurants in Shanghai are worlds better than Samba. -
Review from N H.
Vancouver, BC
9/26/2010
The other day I went out with a group of friends to Samba with my wife. To be honest we were looking forward to getting our months worth of meat. I had been to Samba before and thought the place was pretty good and service was great. That was then...this is now....
After eating a wonderful meal at Samba and tried all sorts of yummy bbq, it was time to pay the bill. The total bill with all 5 of us was $172.00 not too bad. My wife figured out that our portion of the bill plus 15% tip came to $75.00 and we paid by debit. The other couple paid $75.00 and the one single person as far as we could tell paid $40.00 . The total bill paid was $190.00 all should be alright right? Well aparently not. Our waitress walked up to us and complained that we didn't pay enough tip. As far as we could tell the tip was NOT included in our bill. This made for a pretty tense situation because we knew that we paid enough tip. The waitress claimed that because they pool the tips that what we paid for tip was not enough. VERY AWKWARD. Having a guilt trip we paid an extra $20 alongside the other couple.
I have never before ever had a waitress complain about a tip. I understand that people work for a living. I believe that tipping is important and helps people out. I have no problem tipping even beyond 15% for exceptional service. But to have our waitress guilt us into paying more???? The next day due to this confusing situation I tried calling Samba. I tried several times but no one answered. Mighty fishy. I have read another poster that they have had trouble contacting the manager at this restaraunt.
I will not go back to Samba. This is a shame because the food was great and even the service was great. What turned me off was the guilt trip. NOPE NEVER AGAIN. -
Review from Joyce D.
Burnaby, BC
8/23/2009
I too was very disappointed when i visited this restaurant. The salad bar sucks while you are waiting for the server to carve off chunks of meat off skewers onto your plate. The meat was overall very tough and flavourless. No matter that you can keep eating as much as you want and will leave full, it doesn't really matter because it is not memorable.
The service is terrible just like other reviewers said. Definitely not worth the 15$ per person. I won't go back. -
Review from Hootie J.
Vancouver, BC
4/22/2011
Another Groupon Deal, Atmosphere could use some direction, Good salad bar and great meat (served to your table) selection... overall the food and service was good, but pricey, diner for six was almost $400 for a salad bar buffet, and some good selections of meat & 2 mid grade bottles of wine @ $35 each. So after our groupon it was still $50+/each for a small salad bar buffet (less than 20 items) and some real good meat. I won't be back. One couple of our group (of three couples) liked it but the other (and us) didn't. Half way through the meal a gent started what I can only call solo Karaoke without the funny videos or the ability of any of us to show OUR talents.
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Review from Eyw d.
7/5/2009
I've had churrascaria in Brazil as well as San francisco, so I was excited to introduce a friend to the world of brazilian steak dinners. I was greatly disappointed. My experience can be summed up by saying -- there was only one choice of beef.
Sure, it was the picanha, the best cut of beef, but that was it. There was one choice of pork sausage, one choice of lamb and I think I'm missing one choice of something else. But what's the point of a churrascaria that has zero variety?
Service was decent enough (the place was pretty empty). At one point though, a bus-load (literally) of tourists poured in. Which I can't stand, even though I was one myself :) -
Review from Gelsey B.
7/4/2011
I have been to many churrasquerias/Brazilian steakhouses and love them, so I was very excited about Samba... but I ended up disappointed. I went there for lunch, which is affordable (but it also means a more limited selection of meats -- only steak, chicken, lamb, and pork). The salad bar was lame; it did not have anything interesting except for the "feijoada" (but I've had better feijoada in other Brazilian and Latin restaurants). It took about 15 minutes before we were served out first meats (chicken). The meat serving system is set up so that you get chicken and more chicken until you're too full to eat steak. Forty-five minutes later we finally received our first piece of steak. The system of filling you up w/ chicken and making you wait so much was a big turn-off. The decor was also a turn-off: Samba looks like an 80s cheap motel conference room. I wanted to top of my meal with something sweet, so I served myself some waffles from the salad bar. The waffled were awful, gritty, and cold. Very disappointing experience overall.
