Critic's Review
They recently changed the name of this place from Brazilian Restaurant to Copacabana Restaurant. I was going to go to Cabo Blanco next door, but I'd heard they had a buffet here for $8.99. So I went in here instead.
The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the stench; like stale cigarette smoke. There's no smoking, but it smells like they might smoke in the back or before they open. They need some air freshener no matter what it is.
There are no signs telling you how much it costs, nor is there a hostess or anyone to tell me how the buffet worked. Did I have to pay first? I sat at a table in the back; there were a few people in the place, which is a storefront with a buffet table in the corner.
Apparently you just get a plate of food and sit down. I loaded up a plate and took a seat. The downside of this format is that you don't have a beverage while you're eating. Eventually a girl came over and I asked for a tea "Do you have lemon?", I asked, as these latin places often only have lime. "Yes, I bring you".
Nothing on the buffet was marked, so I had no idea what I was eating. 2 unmarked salad dressings. Some sort of beef dish with mushrooms, beans, rice and some mystery greens.
The greens were too bitter, and the rice wasn't cooked properly. The beef was ok. The beans also had no real seasoning, but they'd serve as some fiber. The girl brings out a tea with a single slice of lime in it. "OK", she asks. "Yeah, but that's not a lemon", I replied. "Oh, Yellow", as she ran into the back with the tea and came back with 2 slices of lemon in the tea.
Unfortunately, the tea was awful. I'm not sure why; maybe it was bad tap water. It just tasted musty. Great.
The salad and the beef was edible, I was thinking it's a good thing this was only $8.99. The chicken wing (I think) was very well done and not really to my liking. I went back to the buffet to try to get some more calories, but there wasn't much. The only other "entree" was a very mushy stew which I assume was pork.
the broccoli was ice cold, and I mean ICE cold, rendering it inedible. The pinto beans (or navy beans or whatever they were) were no better than the black beans. There wasn't much to eat on this plate. At this point I just waited to get the server's attention so I could get my bill. She was cashing out some other people and it was taking her forever.
Looking around, they have 2 flat screen TVs that were both off. No real ambiance in the place whatsoever. I got her attention and she brought me the bill.
$10.99 for this? Great. Meanwhile she was running around bringing bills and making change; it took her a while to take my card. The bill had a "suggested tip" of 15/18/20% for a buffet? Sure thing.
Conclusion
If the food was good this would be a close call, but with a poor selection of bad food, this place gets 2 thumbs down without hesitation.
