Green Forest Churrascaria

Reviews 5

N.

N. ca

Prior to green forest, I had been to 4 churrascarias in Sao Paulo (Brazil), and 2 other churrascarias in Chicago and Indianapolis. All six experiences were pleasant. The picanhas were cooked to precision, and I was given the choice (as a customer ought to be given) to choose between well cooked meat, raw meat, and medium rare/well-done meat. To repeat the good experience of Brazilian cuisine, I headed to green forest in Pittsburgh. The restaurant however, did not meet any of my expectations. The meat, despite my numerous requests for "medium-well done," was served for the most part in a "medium-rare" situation. It seemed to me that all the meat that was being served did not cater to the request of each individual persons taste, that could easily vary from rare, medium, medium-rare, medium-well done, to well-done. Once when my request was granted, the meat was too "well-cooked" and "thick" to even be chewed. *while my server did not, I did hear another server asking a table how they wanted their meat to be cooked at the beginning of their meal. I wished this form of question would be directed with consistency to other tables. This could have really changed my experience with the meat.* The taste of the meat also did not meet the standards of my previous experiences in the various churrascarias in Brazil and also in other Midwest cities. The greatest disappointment in taste came not from the meat however, but from the cheese bread. The bread had a pungent taste of cheese, unrecognizable to any other cheese breads that I had previously tasted. It was, quite strong. The restaurant also did not seem to extend their service to cover other demands of the customers. A young couple (who seemed to not be from the city) that had finished their meal and were looking for a cab service from the restaurant to the city were given the cold shoulder by the manager. Only their server frantically tried locating numbers that they could call to get a ride. This was a scene that seemed quite puzzling to me, as most other restaurants that provide good service would go out of their way to cater to the demands of their customers, which did even include making calls requesting transportation (i.e. taxi service). Overall, it was quite a disappointing experience. The meat was not cooked to precision. The selection was limited. The service was not consistent and somewhat lacking.

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IM

Imogene Frends

Were a family of four who have been to this restaurant twice now. The food is consistently good... some items are better than others, but everything is tasty. We go more for the experience than just the food. It is expensive, so your idea of value will depend on how much you eat. Recently we took my parents for a fun meal, so there were six of us, at $40 each. Not exactly pocket change. There was a family of three, parents and a young child, at a nearby table. The child was watching cartoons on an iPad with the volume high. I am the first to admit that its frustrating for parents who want a nice dinner out and have to deal with a child at the same time. I get it, I do. Mine are 11 and 13 now. But I also wasnt in the mood to pay $40 per person for a special dinner and have to listen to the Looney Tunes at the same time. We asked management to please ask the parents to turn it down or use headphones. Instead of doing that, they moved the six of us to a back room, much farther from the buffet (which was not ideal for my father who is disabled). In order to have a non-cartoon accompanied meal, all six of us had to move our plates and glasses to another table. I was mortified that we had to do this and that I had to ask my parents to move shortly after wed started our meal. If wed gone to McDonalds I wouldnt have blinked an eye at the cartoons. But at a nice restaurant and for what we paid, I dont think it was professional of them to ask us to move. Asking the parents to turn it down wouldnt have been out of line. We will not be returning.

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JO

Jon Hallo

So i was taking my girlfriend out for her birthday and we decided to give this place a try, weve been meaning to go hear for months. We had a 7pm reservation but arrived early. After 10 minutes of waiting at the hostess/bar area we were finally greeted and asked to sit in the bar area. 15 minutes later now after our resveration we were finally seated. The seat i was intially given was damaged and nearly collapsed on me. We finally started getting our meat which while flavorful was very tough. At one point one of the carvers splattered both of us and the table with beef juice and blood and did not offer any apologies and simply disapeared. Finally reaching our limit we asked to speak with a manager. She was apologetic about the issue of the carvers incident and rudeness but offered nothing but exuses for the wait time actually blaming other patrons. Said she was going to personally take care of our table, we never saw her or our original server again and we sat with empty drinks and plates until we were ready to leave. She did comp one of our meals which while nice just wasnt enough. Also had a major issue with lack of clean glassware/plates. Would not go back will not recomend.

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KW

Kwang Kim

For the price, youd be better off going to a fancy restaurant and have a well prepared three course meal. You would be as full but with satisfaction of culinary delight rather than apprehension of cardiovascular failure. Meats were seasoned too much to cover their lesser quality. Service was dismal with only two guys running around the tables. Seriously, I went to a restaurant in Highland Park area last night, I paid as much as I did at this place and I got more meat (I couldnt even finish the whole steak) than I tried begrudgingly to shove down my throat at this place. Furthermore, I had a server who was very nice and only served one other table besides mine. So please, unless you are preparing for an eating contest, what is the point of going to this place? Actually, even if you were preparing for an eating contest, this place would be too slow to get you ready for it unless you can ask them to give you whole skewers just for you. On a side note, what is up with the google maps location of this restaurant?

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KE

Ken Miller

First off the food and service are fantastic. No complaints there other than a somewhat minor one to follow. We have been eating here for years. The problem is that their prices have gone up and up to where it is now beyond absurd. $44.50 per head. $9 for the house drink. $3.75 for coffee. Come on. Really? Please remember that you are operating your restaurant out of what is essentially a business park. And it far out of Pittsburgh. If I wanted to pay those prices I would eat at a Brazilian BBQ in Pittsburgh or Robinson. These kind of prices are all-out gouging. And on top of that they have cut back over the years on some of the better quality food items such as crab legs and swordfish on the buffet and flank steak. This was our favorite splurge restaurant but unfortunately it is no longer what I would consider reasonable price-wise so will not be back unless then cost per head gets down under $40.

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