Brasa

Hello all - it's been a very long time since we've written anything here, but we ate at a restaurant a couple of weeks ago that was so good, I just had to post something about it!


We ate at Brasa in Northeast Minneapolis. They have a pretty small menu, their speciality being meats that are cooked with simple, but unique flavors - sort of a South American flare. It actually reminds me a little of a much smaller scale Fogo de Chao.


It was busy as it was a Saturday evening around 5:30 when we arrived. They have patio seating, but it was closed because of rain. The interior is pretty unique - it's located in an old gas station/garage. They actually have a garage door that they open over the patio. It's pretty neat.


In a twist of fate we ended meeting up with my parents who were also intrigued after an aunt of mine was raving about it. This ended up working out to our advantage in a couple of ways though. We all shared a bit of what we ate and we also split a dessert four ways.


Nate chose a scotch ale to drink, I chose Surly Furious that was on tap. My mom selected the house white wine and my dad went with a lemonade.

The menu has several options - we chose to do plates where you chose one or two meats and two sides. I got pulled chicken with gravy, cornbread, fried plantains and cheesy grits. Nate chose the pulled pork, roasted chicken, collared greens and also cornbread. My parents also got the pulled chicken with gravy, the pulled pork and also braised beef. For their sides they chose a special that night that was sort of like coleslaw and then a romaine and mozzarella salad.

The chicken with gravy was amazing - juicy white meat with a very tasty gravy on the outside. I loved the cornbread - it was sweet with a little bit of honey flavor. I liked my cheese grits pretty well, next time I think I'd choose rice instead. The plantains were also good. It was alot of food though!

Nate's meats were pretty good. My parents braised beef was outstanding - I'd be tempted to order that myself next time. The Cole slaw was unusual - it had cilantro and lime flavors, but was actually pretty good. Their salad was tasty too, I'm a sucker for fresh mozzarella!

For dessert we split a piece of rum soaked pineapple upside down cake. It was very good - though I expected more rum flavor to come out of it! But it was quite decadent and was smart to be split four ways!

Even though my dad ended up paying it looked like the prices were reasonable. Not a super cheap meal, but not as expensive as Fogo de Chao - so kind of a way to enjoy the concept without spending as much! I liked it alot, so I think we'll definitely go back!

Details:
Brasa Minneapolis
600 E Hennepin Avenue NE
Minneapolis, MN 55414

Brasa St. Paul
777 Grand Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55105

www.brasa.us