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Rodízio meat is typically presented and served from a vertical skewer.

Plate at a pasta rodízio restaurant, a slice of pizza with a side of spaghetti

Rodízio (Brazilian Portuguese: [ʁoˈdʒiziu], lit. 'rotation') is an all-you-can-eat style of restaurant service in Brazilian restaurants where waiters bring a variety of foods repeatedly throughout the meal, until the customer signals that they have had enough. Traditionally, rodízio refers to a fare of grilled meats, but there are many other options – pizza, pasta, hamburgers and Asian cuisine are among some other offers by existing and popular rozídio-style restaurants.^[1]

Description

In most areas of the world outside of Brazil, a rodízio restaurant refers to a Brazilian-style steakhouse restaurant, where customers pay a fixed price (preço fixo). ^[2]

In churrascarias or the traditional Brazilian-style steakhouse restaurants, servers come to the table with knives and a vertically-held skewer, on which are speared various kinds of premium cuts of meat, most commonly local cuts of beef, pork, chicken, lamb, and sometimes atypical or exotic meats.^[2] The exact origin of the rodízio style of service is unknown, but the traditional story is that this serving style was created when a waiter delivered a meat skewer to the wrong table by mistake but let the guest take a small piece of the meat anyway.^[3]

Rodízio became increasingly popular in Brazil in the mid-20th century and spread around the world as experienced servers moved to open their own restaurants.^[3] In Brazil, the rodízio style is sometimes also found in Italian (Italian restaurants serving pizza are especially common) or more recently Japanese restaurants.^[3] Rodízio of crepes are also common in Brazil,^[4] as also rodízios of other types of foods.^[5]

In a churrascaria, the rodízio courses are served right off the cooking spit and are sliced or plated right at the table.^[2] Thin slices are carved from the roasted outside layer of large cuts; the diners may use a pair of small stainless-steel tongs to grab the slices as they are cut, and then place them on their plate. Alternatively, the server will push smaller kebab-style chunks off the end of the skewer onto a serving plate.

Often, the meat servings are accompanied with fried potatoes, fried polenta, fried bananas, collard greens, black beans, rice, salads, or other side dishes (usually self-served buffet style).

In many restaurants, the diner is provided with a colored card or token. One colored side indicates to servers to bring more meat. The other side, with a different color, indicates that the diners have enough for the moment.^[2] This does not necessarily signal that the diner is finished eating, but only indicates that no more meat servings are desired at that moment.

History

According to ACHUESP – the Association of Steakhouses in the State of São Paulo – the most widely accepted version of the origin of the "rodízio" dates back to the mid-1960s at Churrascaria 477 in Jacupiranga, SP, which was run by Albino Ongaratto.

As the story goes, on a day when the steakhouse was packed with pilgrims coming from the Bom Jesus de Iguape festival, a flustered waiter mixed up orders across several tables, creating quite a commotion. In response, Albino decided it would be best to serve all the skewers to all the tables. The idea was well received and quickly became a routine at the restaurant, delighting customers and eventually gaining worldwide recognition.

Churrascaria 477 still operates in the same location.^[6]