Brazilian Steakhouse Meets Texas Cattle Drive

Dinner begins with a basket of warm Brazilian cheese bread -- similar in taste and texture to French gougeres -- and an explanation of how the restaurant's service (called rodizio for the roving gauchos and their skewers of meat) works.

Then you have to parade to the salad bar for your first course from its dozens of choices. Back at the table, as soon as you are ready, flip the chit to green, and the meat starts arriving. The gauchos, many of whom are from Brazil, are expert at carving slices of meat from the chunks threaded on their skewers. The diner uses small tongs to catch the meat as it is being carved.

The meats are superb. The house specialty is picanha, the first cut of the top sirloin, and it was the most flavorful of the beef we sampled. It had a strong beefy taste but was tender enough to cut with a fork. In addition to the plain salt-cooked version, Texas de Brazil also offers picanha that is marinated in garlic before it is cooked.

But the regular top sirloin and the flank steak were also especially tender and full of flavor. The fillet was buttery and juicy, but the cooking method didn't impart that special nutty flavor you might get with a larger portion at a regular steakhouse.

Meats are hardly limited to beef. Pork tenderloin, crusted in Parmesan, was a little dry, but the pork loin was juicy and tasted as pork did before all the fat and flavor were bred out of it.

Lamb comes as slices of grilled leg of lamb (nice small legs rather than the big chunky ones usually found in American supermarkets) or as lamb chops. Both were juicy and not at all gamy.

Pork ribs were surprisingly tender and flavorful, Parmesan-crusted chicken legs were bursting with juices, and chunks of white meat chicken wrapped in bacon retained their moisture and succulence. The Brazilian sausages were the spiciest offerings, and they were only slightly piquant.

The meats would have been much better with accompaniments -- and we learned later that we should have gotten garlic mashed potatoes, fried bananas and a couple of different sauces. The omission may have occurred because of the newness of the operation or the inexperience of our waiter, but if you don't get the sides, be certain to ask.

If, after eating all that meat, you are still entertaining thoughts of dessert, there is a wide selection of confections such as carrot cake, Key lime pie, cheesecake, chocolate mousse cake and a papaya/ice cream concoction that has the texture of soft-serve ice cream and the taste of a tropical paradise.

I wish the whole dining experience had been as pleasant.

Texas de Brazil Churrascaria, 11750 Fair Oaks, No. K240, Fair Oaks Shopping Center (Interstate 66 at Route 50), Fairfax, 703-352-4111. Reservations recommended. Hours: 5 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4 to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday. Fixed price, $42.99; salad bar only, $29.99; ages 7-12, half-price; age 6 and younger, free. Accessible to people with disabilities.http://www.texasdebrazil.com.