Boi Na Braza

If you were downtown for Taste of Cincinnati, you may have noticed the signs for a new restaurant in the Carew Tower: Boi Na Braza. And if you've ever been to a churrascaria, you may very well have started salivating the moment you saw it. A churrascaria is basically a place where you can sit and eat meat as long as you want. They are popular in larger cities all over the country, and just now are coming to Cincinnati-size markets. Amor de Brazil opened in Deerfield Township about a year ago. This one, from Dallas, is a similar concept. Boi Na Braza means "steer over embers."

Many men love these places, and many have told me about how much in a sort of drooling, dream-come-true narrative. "You sit down, and have this card, and when you turn it to green, they come around with skewers of meat, and cut off as much as you want, and you can just keep eating -- they have all kinds of meat, and it's all really good and when you're done you just turn your card to red. . ."

That's basically how it works, plus they usually have an impressive salad bar with upscale stuff like smoked salmon and imported cheese. It's all one price -- at Amor de Brazil, it's $41. I don't know yet what Boi Na Braza is. At lunch, you can just do the salad bar. I'm wondering if Carew Tower and Arcade is going to smell like roasting meat all the time.

It opens June 8, will be open for lunch 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. Monday-Friday; dinner 5-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 4-9 p.m. Sunday. 513-421-7111.