Brazilian Cowboys Double as Steakhouse Chefs

This 15,000-square-foot modern Brazilian churrascaria-style restaurant, able to host as many as 380, opened on March 19. The owners of Boizão Steakhouse (Portuguese for "big buffalo"), a group of restaurateurs and hospitality professionals representing a variety of South American and U.S. brands, worked with Tampa's Rojo Architecture to create the decor, blending natural woods, a color treatment contrasting cool charcoal with warm gold, and many clean, simple lines on the carpet, tile, and wall treatments. The menu features large portions of premium meats skewered and slowly roasted over an open fire, and a specially built appetizer and salad buffet at the center of the venue. Gaucho chefs—attired in everything from the leather boots to the wide, calf-length trousers to the cowboy hats—walk around with skewers and prepare food on-site. The facility includes one main dining room, one semiprivate room (a separate, but non-curtained area), and a private dining area that can be divided into three smaller rooms that will host 20 to nearly 200 people. The restaurant is also capable of housing meetings, as it has been wired to accommodate for sound, PowerPoint presentations, and more.