Brazilian Steakhouse: Texas de Brazil Upper East Side NYC

I was recently invited for a complimentary dinner with a guest at Texas de Brazil, located on 1011 3rd Avenue at 60th Street.  I have fond memories of visiting Rio de Janeiro and eating at a churrascaria while sipping capairinhas, so I was looking forward to the experience.  

The space was really large with 2 levels.  We waited by the  bar on the ground floor for a few minutes before being escorted to the 2nd floor where the salad bar is located.   The salad bar had a solid offering of fresh salad, fruit, cold cuts, potato salad, artichoke heart, palm hearts, asparagus.  There was also soup, cocktail shrimp, seared tuna, smoked salmon, and a small selection of sushi or California rolls (which I didn't try since I was saving room for meat!).

We were given the choice of either the house wine or a cocktail.  Our waitress told us the most popular cocktail is the capairinha, which is Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça (sugar cane hard liquor), sugar and lime. I chose the regular capairinha, while my friend chose the coconut one.  Both were delicious!  I was pleasantly surprised by the capairinha (I hadn't had a good one since I visited Brazil) which was tasty and refreshing. It was just the right blend of tartness and sweetness.