If you are ever in the Ocala area and are looking for a really unique restaurant for a special occasion or maybe you just want to try something different, Ipanema Brazilian Steakhouse will not disappoint.
I did not manage to get a photo of any of the meat that we tried, because honestly everything was so delicious and it was such a great experience I hated to ruin it by taking photos every couple of minutes. We were celebrating my fiancé getting his Realtor’s license and the anniversary of us becoming an official couple, so next time we go I definitely will get more photos of the food.
You start off by visiting their salad bar which had all sorts of salads as well as cold salmon, olives, and many other delicious little delicacies. They also had a “hot” salad bar with things like mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy. I went back just for the cold salmon twice. And they had these cucumbers stuffed with ranch yogurt that I couldn’t get enough of either.
When you are first seated at your table they give you these little discs that are red on one side and green on the other so that the servers walking around with the cuts of meat and roasted pineapple will know if you want them to stop at your table or not. The red side means that (for the moment) that you don’t desire any of the meat or other delicacies and the green means you do.
Each table has their own little personal server who makes sure that you have everything you desire. They will even go to the salad bar and get specific things for you! Somehow these brilliant servers manage to do all this without ever hovering over you or ruining the illusion of semi privacy. A miracle in itself I tell you.
When our personal server found out it was an important occasion, he surprised us with adding a little extra personalization and some ice cream with our desserts. James got the chocolate cake and I got the key lime pie which was made in house and delicious.
The whole experience was unique and delicious and well worth it. I will tell you upfront that our meal (without drinks) was well over $100 for the two of us. So yes, it is pricey but it is a really great experience and well worth it if you are celebrating. I also believe you can come in and just get the salad bar which lightens the cost considerably. Also, reservations are a good idea. We made ours about a day in advance and it was a random weekday but we were trying to make some for this weekend and there was zero availability, so definitely plan it in advance.
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