All-you-can-eat meat in a cheesy rodízio
Copacabana is one of the few places in Toronto to experience a Brazilian churrascaria, rodízio style. A churrascaria is a grilled meat restaurant while rodízio means all-you-can-eat. In Brazil, such restaurants typically have waiters going around tables with different cuts of meats on a skewer. The meat is carved tableside. Outside of Brazil, this sort of restaurant is simply known as rodizio, or a Brazilian steakhouse.
Copacabana is the longest-running rodízio in the Toronto region. However, this branch is not the oldest. It’s the most convenient though, right in downtown Toronto.
How to eat at a rodízio
The typical rodízio has a buffet where you pick up vegetables, appetizers, and desserts. But that’s not what diners are there for. Waiters roam around the restaurant, brandishing skewers of barbecued meats. Diners use a mechanism on the table to get the waiters’ attention. At Copacabana, this mechanism is a disc. Flip to the blue side “Sim” (Yes) to indicate you want more meat. Flip to the red side “Não” (No) to stop the flow of meat.
Appetizers clockwise from left: cheese bread, roasted brussels sprouts, farofa (toasted cassava flour), feijoada (bean stew), roasted zucchini.
Copacabana also provides each diner with a small tong to grab slivers of meat as they are carved in front of them.
Special orders can be made on request, especially for more expensive items or items that take longer to prepare. The hostess at Copacabana frequently moves around the restaurant and asks diners which items they would like to have. This is a good idea as it reduces food wastage.
