Texas de Brazil blends the steak-centric cuisine of Texas with the traditional churrasco method of slow-roasting meat over an open flame grill to form a luscious meaty mélange. The full dinner ($39.99) marches out a cavalcade of choice cuts, allowing diners to welcome continuous windfalls of flavorful proteins. Brandish your table's provided card, green on one side, red on the other, and it will function as a meat traffic light that summons servers to either send stacks of seasoned beef, pork, or lamb skewers or halt plate traffic like a decorated culinary crossing guard. Or feel free to substitute greens for the grill by stepping into the sprawling salad-bar conga line ($24.99), two-stepping through toothsome goodies such as imported cheeses, steamed asparagus, and dozens of other hors d'oeuvres.
Prestigious head chef Jon Bonnell and his team of culinary artists cook using strokes of regional style with spices that fuse southwestern, Creole, and Mexican influences. The lunch menu oozes flavor with a fire-roasted chili relleno, stuffed with grilled vegetables, basil pesto, and cheese ($15). The dinner menu includes the mixed grill, where homemade Andouille sausage and a wild boar chop are topped with wild game demi-glace and served with roasted green chili cheese grits and grilled cactus. Then, add a choice of elk or buffalo tenderloin, grilled organic quail, lamb loin, pheasant, or a griffon flank steak ($35+).
At Chop House Steak & Seafood, head chef Kenny Mills relies on the skills he's learned throughout his eclectic career, which included a stint operating the healthy, organic Natura Cafe in Uptown Dallas, as well as stops at steakhouses in Denver, Fort Worth, and DC. The menu reflects the chef's extensive experience with simple, yet elegant dishes, such as slow-smoked prime rib, Cajun rib eyes, mesquite-grilled salmon over lemon couscous, and tuna tartare tostadas.
Though chef Daniel Nemec specialized in classic French cuisine at the Texas Culinary Academy, his heart lies in the smokehouse. As the leader of Woodfire Kirby’s kitchen, he draws from his experiences growing up in Corpus Christi, where steaks and barbecue pepper the culinary landscape and are considered legal tender.
Nemec imbues hickory flavor in ribs, chops, and sirloin burgers, but demonstrates the wood’s versatility with a menu that also includes wood-fired soups and thin-crust pizzas. New york strip steaks and blue-ribbon fillets are cooked to a choice of six temperatures, including classic medium rare and charred-yet-red pittsburgh. Available raw, grilled, or poached, seafood showcases spices that range from asian to argentine to creole.
A private room welcomes up to 48 visitors with a high-definition TV and four banquet menus, and the dining room attracts nighttime guests with handcrafted cocktails and a buzz as vibrant as a birthday party inside a hornet nest.