El Pasoans have eagerly been heading to Las Espadas Brazilian Restaurantwhich is in its soft opening over the past few days.
The Brazilian steakhouse is exciting for El Pasoans who are familiar with churrasco, the Brazilian style of barbecue as well as those who want to try it for the first time. The restaurant is at the base of PNC bank building, 6044 Gateway East Blvd. across Interstate 10 from Bassett Place.
For one fixed price, customers can start with the unlimited salad and hot food bar with a variety of salads, vegetables, cheese and cold cuts, and even chicken wings.
And then while enjoying their salad, servers come around to their tables with long espadas, or skewers,
with a varied selection of barbecued meats. If you are interested, they will start slicing onto your plate, and you will have tongs to help transfer the meat to your plate.
We went on Tuesday and noticed a good lunch crowd from businesspeople to families enjoying their churrasco. We only had a 15-minute wait but have heard it can get up to 20 or more minutes on a busier shift.
El Paso Times photographer Gaby Velasquez and I were thrilled with the salad bar and enjoyed placing a mix of flavors on our plate. Gaby really enjoyed the spicy and refreshing watermelon and pineapple salad, which has Tajin, and feta and mint leaves.
I liked sampling the watermelon dish as well as other unusual salad bar offerings like yucca, Brussel sprouts with maple syrup and bacon, caramelized bacon strips, roasted squash, and cherry tomatoes, a Mexican corn salad, and white rice. And there's a lot more different ones I didn't get to on this visit.
Even though I took small portions of my favorite sides, I still forgot to leave room on the plate for the actual grilled meats. So don't make my mistake.
If it's your first time dining at a churrasco style restaurant, make sure to pace yourself and try the different proteins that rotate every few minutes. The main grilled proteins are beef, pork, chicken and lamb.
You will have red and green cards on your table to help you alert servers if you are open to a serving of a specific protein or if you need a moment to keep enjoying what you already have. The servers, however, are attentive and may still ask if you would like a slice of the skewered meat anyway.
We had a great time enjoying the juicy, cuts of meat, from Alcatra, a top sirloin cut, and marbled ribeye to steak medallions wrapped in bacon, and bone in chicken pieces. But after about four different tastes, we had to turn our card to red.
Soft opening prices are a great deal: $25.99 per person for lunch Monday-Thursday, $12.99 for children ages 6-10 and $2.99 for children five and under; and $35.99 per person for lunch Friday-Sunday, $17.99 for children ages 6-10 and $2.99 for children five and under. Dinner is $45.99 per person every day, with $22.99 for children, 6-10 and $2.99 for children five and under. (Note that lunch ends at 1:45 p.m.)
The restaurant also will have an upstairs bar, Ipanema, named after a Brazilian mocktail, with food service and available for events.
If you haven't been there before, make sure to make plans to walk in. No reservations needed. The restaurant is beautiful and modern with lots of windows all around.
María Cortés González may be reached at 915-546-6150; mcortes@elpasotimes.com; @eptmaria.bsky.social on Bluesky, and @eptmariacg on TikTok
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso’s new Las Espadas Brazilian Steakhouse already packing tables
