Chama Gaucha
Posted on September 15, 2025 by Ching under Food and Drink.
When we were in Grapevine (DFW area) last month celebrating our 23rd wedding anniversary, I found a nice restaurant for us to have dinner on Saturday night. I wanted to go somewhere somewhat special that neither of us had been to before. That’s how I found Chama Gaucha Brazilian Steakhouse.
We had been to other Brazilian steakhouses before so we kind of knew what to expect but we had never been to this particular one so it was new and exciting.
Here’s a picture of us in the lobby.
And another one from our table.
We arrived a tad early for our dinner reservation (because we are always early to EVERYTHING) so we had to wait a short while. The nice thing is, if you do have to wait, they give freshly baked Brazilian cheese bread to munch on while waiting.
It honestly sounds like a nice and generous touch until you realize that they’re probably hoping that you fill up on bread and are too full to actually eat the meats, which is the more expensive part of the dining experience. LOL.
Besides the bread, they’re probably also hoping you’ll fill up on the salad bar. This is probably one of the best Brazilian steakhouse salad bars we’ve experienced. They’re never out of anything because the staff promptly replenishing anything that’s even remotely low and they also keep everything super tidy, wiping up spills or drips after guests.
Here’s what Brian took from the salad bar. I can tell this is his plate because it has olives and he loves olives.
This is what I grabbed. In hindsight, I probably should have skipped the lobster bisque because it really filled me up.
Brian did not have a drink but I decided to try the coconut caipirinha. Caipirinha is Brazil’s national cocktail so I had to try it, naturally. As they say, when in Rome… Or in this case, a Brazilian steakhouse.
After the salad course, your steady stream of meet dishes begin. However, they also give you some mashed potatoes, polenta, and fried plantains. Brian had zero interest in mashed potatoes because he is so over it. That’s pretty much all he could eat during his cancer treatment (at least until he couldn’t eat anymore). He is still very traumatized. The fried plantains were delicious and had the perfect consistency. And the polenta! That was our favorite. I’d never had polenta before and they way they serve it at Chama is perfection. It’s almost like a hashbrown patty with the perfect crunch on the outside.
I had to try the lamb chop while we were there and decided it wasn’t for me.
For dessert we had an amazing chocolate mousse cake. We were so full that we couldn’t finish it. We ended up taking the rest back to the hotel and eating it on the drive back to Wichita the next day.
Between the Brazilian cheese bread and the salad bar, we got full pretty quick so we didn’t even get a chance to try all the different meats available. But we also couldn’t eat anymore food so we both agreed we would just have to go back. Luckily, we had another trip to the DFW area planned for September so it really was feasible to make a return visit to the restaurant. But, just in case we didn’t return, I made a short video of our visit to remember it by.
Fast forward to this weekend when we were in Allen, TX for the Chicken N Pickle ambassador event. The restaurant, which is on the other side of DFW, was actually a 40-minute drive from our hotel but we liked it enough that we really wanted to go back. Besides that, they gave us a $30 OFF coupon on our last visit that we wanted to use and we had all those meats still that we didn’t get to try.
I still got 2 of the deviled eggs but went easy on the lobster bisque this time to make sure I had room for all the meat dishes.
The coconut caipirnha, while delicious, was a bit too rich for me so I opted for something light and refreshing. I got an aperol spritz this time.
We always try to go easy on the salad bar but it’s so hard to resist all of the delicious options. Everything looks and tastes amazing. For instance, their chicken salad is seriously the best chicken salad I have ever had. I could totally make a meal of it. But you don’t pay $60 per person to eat chicken salad so I have to remind myself to only have a little bit.
Same mashed potatoes, fried plantain, and polenta as last time. These are the basic three things that they bring to your table by default; however, you can request rice and beans and other things. There’s a whole list of things you can ask for from your server. So now, we are planning to return again to try all the various side dishes.
But, you don’t really go for the side dishes or the salad bar. The meat is the main event. In the words of Rihanna, this is what you came for. Here are some pictures of what we had…
We skipped all the things we didn’t care for (like the lamb chop) and focused on our favorites and also the meats we didn’t get to try. Brian absolutely loved the chicken drumstick. I think we would probably get at least two of those next visit. He had it near the end and barely had room in his very full belly for the one he had. He said he was too full but it was so worth it. I was to full to try it and he told me I missed out. I guess I’ll have to add it to my list for next visit.
As with our previous visit, I made a short video. When they asked if we were celebrating anything (last month it was our wedding anniversary), we told them I was celebrating my birthday a month early because we didn’t have any plans to be in the DFW in October — my actual birthday month. They ended up comping our dessert again which was super nice of them. I didn’t get a picture but it is in the short video I made. We got the fireball cheesecake this time because the presentation is something else. And the cheesecake is something that Brian and I could both enjoy. Brian was not a fan of the cinnamon flavor though. However, the crunch on the outer shell of the cheesecake reminded me of the caramelized crust on a creme brulee. It was excellent.
Before we left, they gave us a $30 OFF coupon so now we’re trying to figure out when we are able to return to use it. There’s quite a few things we still want to try and a long list of dessert options we’ve yet to savor. Who wants to go with us on the next visit?
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