Samba Grille

Recommended: Arepas (braised pork, chipotle tinga sauce, avocado foam, pickled carrot, cilantro, queso fresco); Sweet-​n-​spicy scallops (panela «brown sugar» crusted scallops, fava beans, rocoto pepper emulsion, black quinoa). Seafood paella was huge but disappointing. Tres leches desert was very satisfying.‘
Servers handled large group very comfortably.

I was looking for lunch reviews but did not see much so here we go. I came here to celebrate a coworker’s birthday for lunch during work with a group of 7. There’s valet parking as well as parking across the street that you need to pay for.
Ambiance is nice and there’s a lot of space within the restaurant. The servers were all attentive refilling our waters. They do not have much of a vegetarian option so my other coworker ended up getting a free dessert since the entrée she ordered was pretty sparse. They have executive lunch options (appetizer, entrée, dessert) for $ 17 which is a great bargain since the entrees itself cost $ 12+ I ended up ordering the chicken salad causa which had potatoes, aji amarillo, pulled rotisserie chicken,
toasted almonds, botija olives, spring mix, radishes, carrots and huacatay dressing. The presentation was interesting similar to an ahi tuna tower you find at sushi restaurants. See my picture for the salad entrée. Overall the chicken salad was filling and had a unique taste that I enjoyed. The bread and sauce they serve at first is addicting, try not to let it ruin your appetite.
Although the restaurant was not crowded, it took our waiter a while to give us our checks and to process them. That’s probably our only downside.

Dined at Samba Grille this past weekend to celebrate a good friend’s birthday with reservations made via the Unilocal app. Right as we entered, the hostess presented us with a homemade «happy birthday» note which was a thoughtful gesture.
Before our meal, our server brought out glasses of complimentary champagne and fresh bread with chimichurri sauce. We started off with the ceviche, the crabcake made with yucca, and a salad. It’s rare to see a yucca crab cake on a menu and it was my favorite out of the appetizers. The entrees we decided to go with were the sea scallops and the paella. The scallops came three on a plate and were placed on top of black quinoa. The plate was then decorated with some sort of foam. Loved the dish. The paella came topped with a huge piece of sea bass. Everything we ordered that night was good except for the ceviche. Not a big fan of the flavor or the palate cleansing shot it came with. All this was downed with a great bottle of wine suggested by our waiter.
Service was excellent and were checked up on by not one but three different people. The food came out a bit too fast and they were extremely apologetic but we were catching a show nearby and it worked out in our favor. They also offered us an order of any dessert on the house. Try the tres leches. It was absolutely delicious. I really appreciated how they went all out to make a birthday feel special. They certainly know how to do birthdays right.

Went to the opera and decided to try this place as it’s across the street. I have to say it is on the pricey side but I do not mind paying for good food and good service. However, service wasn’t the greatest. When you spend about $ 200 on dinner for two, I expect excellent service.
Food though was AMAZING! Crab cake was the best crab cake ever… seriously ever! Also had the ceviche which was pretty good as well but against the crab cake it didn’t compare. Husband had the roasted chicken and I had the center cut filet with lobster. I also ordered the side of oyster mushrooms which as just wonderful with my steak.
Worth a try but hopefully the service improves.

I came here with my mom for what I was hoping would be a great birthday dinner before the ballet.
I REALLY love the little cheesy buns at south american steak restaurants. They’re crazy addictive. I can eat a dozen in a sitting if the waiter keeps bringing them.
My mom ordered the scallops with quinoa and a side of the yucca fries. The scallops weren’t as good as the ones at t’afia, but the yucca fries were great.
I didn’t expect a great menu selection for a vegetarian at a south american steak restaurant, so I ended up with black bean soup and a salad. The soup was terrible! I wasn’t even as good as the black bean soup at Panera Bread! The salad was ok.
For dessert I ordered the tres leches. The waiter said it was delicious. It looks like it would be good, but from the first bite something was off. I asked the waiter about the whipped topping. He assured me it was fresh whipped cream, but I know cool whip when I taste it. Very chemical like. This was the first tres leches I’ve ever refused to finish.

I decided to write a review of this place after having had such a fabulous time there with my boyfriend this Sunday afternoon. We had wandered over to the place while walking downtown, looking for somewhere to watch the Texans game. Most places were closed, so when we saw that Samba Grille was open, was showing the game, and that they had scallop sashimi and ceviche on the menu, we decided it was a must try.
Let me first say that, by far, the starring attraction at the place was the bartender, a charming angel named Marston. He was in a contagiously splendid mood and has a good feel for what would suit people in terms of food. His suggestions were on point every time and he was eager to please. Needless to say, I was very impressed by his service.
As for the food: the scallop sashimi tasted delicately fresh, served in wipsy slices in delicate sauces. I very much liked the ceviche! the tiny pieces of shrimp and squid were accompanied by a mouth wateringly citric marinade, not too acidic, like at many other places. I could have eaten a whole bowl of the stuff.
Marston suggested the paella for us next, and we were glad that we heeded his recommendation. The pieces of squid were the extremely tender and the huge prawns were perhaps the juiciest I’ve ever had in my life! The bits of chorizo were a good complement to the rice, though honestly, I prefer the chorizo to have more zing. Overall, we were well pleased and it made a great light lunch. We also tried the tres leches cake, which I would definitely eat again, since it wasn’t overpoweringly sweet like some more traditional versions are.
The drinks we were served were tasty and exactly what we needed, especially the Bloody Mary. I would definitely return to Samba Grille just to visit Marston and his Bloody Marys!
We came to Samba Grille completely drained, recovering from an exhausting Saturday night out and left completely refreshed and in an amazing mood. I see another visit to this place, perhaps for dinner, in the near future.

I was hoping to have found a new pre-​show spot at Bayou Place (our old standby Mingalone’s is now closed), but sadly, looks like I’ll have to keep looking.
Pros: Location. Décor — very swank and lounge-​y. Nice wall panels and lighting. Decent bar drinks/​wine list. Menu has a nice legend of culinary terms for those less well versed.
Cons: SERVICE, food
With the cons being service and food… the likelihood of a return visit is pretty poor.
Details:
tuna sashimi «tiradito» — tuna, rocoto pepper, watermelon, cucumber-​melon sorbet: Tuna was too mild, watermelon could be overpowering in sweetness, sorbet was decent with some herbacious flavor.
roasted pork belly — pork belly, tamarind glaze: probably the best dish of the night. Sweet/​salty glaze with Asian flavor. Good amount of fat (maybe too much for some), meat had a good texture. Probably could have benefited from some sort of starch to avoid over-​saltiness.
blue corn cakes «sopes» — trio of pork belly tingas, duck carnitas, huitlacoche, fried corn, oxaca cheese: Sopes were too dry. Pork belly was way too salty (and I enjoy a good amount of sodium). The duck was bland and could have been any kind of protein. Corn/​huitlacoche also bland, I thought the oxaca cheese would help, but it didn’t add anything.
corn bisque «sango» — shrimp, cilantro oil, choclo «white corn»: good shrimp, nice creamy texture of the soup, unpleasant soggy tortilla strips in the soup, corn slightly chewy.
shrimp-​n-​grits — grilled then butter poached shrimp, coconut grits, saffron emulsion: good shrimp, grits my friend enjoyed, but were far too strong in coconut for me, even though I usually enjoy coconut. I felt like I was eating sunscreen.
red snapper — shrimp, jumbo lump crab, spinach, yucca, maracuyá beurre blanc: friend’s dish, was overcooked.
hand-​formed burger — bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and aji/​sriracha, remoulade, on a fresh sweet roll with yucca or french fries: friend’s dish, also overcooked.
steak, spinach, sweet plantains — the standard good not great fare.
Service was extremely slow and inattentive. We had made mention when we were seated that we had a show, but that didn’t seem to add any urgency to anyone’s movements. The appetizers were brought out but none of us had plates… so we passed them around until we could flag someone down to get some (so half the tuna was already eaten by then). The entrees come out, one, then a couple minutes, 2 more, then 2 more. Soup was served without a spoon. Took another few minutes to find someone to get a spoon. Had to re-​order a glass of wine from 2 different people. Had to wait for the check. Had to wait for him to come back for the check. Had to wait for him to bring back the slips. A return visit will probably be only and directly to the bar.

This review is for a drink and a salad at the bar.
Bartender very nice. Mojito good, if small. Décor nice. Wine stored properly, I noticed, which doesn’t always happen around here.
Salad meh.
Description: fresh pears, bleu cheese, arugula-​frisée, cancha corn, hearts of palm, sweet red onions, chicha morada vinaigrette.
Actuality: Three *very* thin slices of pear, three small chunks of bleu cheese buried amidst the greens, no discernible corn, four heart of palm slices, minimal onion, *lots* of greens. Some of the greens might have been interesting except for the vinaigrette, into which someone had apparently emptied the salt shaker, because that’s all I could taste.

For a nice, trendy restaurant, I was not impressed with our waiter, Rogergio. We had a party of 12 on a Monday night, and he was simply rude: Skipped over my fiancée’s drink order, skipped over my food order, and skipped over refilling my fiancée’s wine. When my friend asked where the restrooms were, he replied with: «Right there in the corner where the sign says ‘Restroom.’» We did not understand why we were receiving this type of behavior because we were very patient and did not show any sign of discontent.
He had no other tables so there was really no reason for his sloppy service. As a server, I always tip very generously, even when service is subpar. He did not deserve my 18% automatic individual gratuity.
Aside from that, our food was amazing. Too bad we will probably not return.

Wow, Samba. I’m not sure a prix fixe lunch is allowed to be this good.
Went to Samba with some lovely dining companions for a weekday luncheon, and I had heard good things. Having checked out the menu online prior to my arrival, I was ready to go and had to go with the prix fixe because STEAK. The clairion call of beef is just too much to resist, especially when I can have it at lunch and for peanuts. I probably could have found street parking, but since I was on a tight schedule for lunch I decided not to fiddle with it and chose the convenience of theater district parking instead.
With my courses picked, it was one two three and off to the races. My Caesar salad was huge for being a first course. Situated in an asymmetrical bowl, the salad was uninventive, but topped with generous shavings of parmesan and house-​made croutons it was near the top of the bell curve as far as Caesar salads go. But my steak was DEE-​VINE. Wow, wow, wow. Cooked perfectly to my specifications, the chimichurri-​style flank steak was mouth-​wateringly good and remarkably lean (just the way I like it). The yucca fries were tasty, though I’m not sure I would have been able to tell they were anything special had they not been a bit starchier than potato.
Although I felt like I chose correctly with my steak, I ended up eyeing one of my tablemates’ sandwiches – the pulled pork with tamarind sauce. Holy moly, that alone merits a return visit. My slice of tres leches was mercifully small – an appropriate portion after my protein load up with the steak.
I would caution that even though most of us ordered off the prix fixe menu and nobody had any crazy requests, it took us well over an hour to get out of Samba. We were a bit late for the lunch crowd as we started at 12:30, so perhaps if we’d arrived with the rest we’d have had more consistent service.
I’m withholding that final star for a followup visit to see how it holds up, but as of now – I’m impressed. Well played, Samba. Well-​played indeed.

I hate going downtown because the parking is such a hassle, but I think the Pulled Pork Sandwich at Samba could convince me to brave downtown every once in a while. I met a group of friends here for a lovely workday lunch. Valet parking was $ 3 at lunch ($ 8 at dinner), so I took advantage of it so I didn’t have to hunt for parking.
Samba Grille is located in Bayou Place next to Hard Rock Café. It’s a nice place on the inside. It’s definitely on the dressy side and most of the people having lunch were in suits or something similar. Our waiter was ok, but the whole lunch took about 90 minutes which is just too long for a work lunch.
Everyone seems to love the little yucca flower cheese filled breads that are served pre-​meal, but they just weren’t my thing. The other 5 people at the table ate them up, so it’s just me. There were two menus, a prix fixe menu for $ 19 for 3 courses, and an a la carte menu. I decided on the a la carte menu because I had been eying that pulled pork sandwich, and it didn’t disappoint. When my sandwich arrived, it was accompanied by some lovely french fries that I quite enjoyed. The sandwich itself was delicious! The pork was tamarind glazed giving it a really sweet taste. It was topped with a small amount of apple cole slaw. Delicious! I had hoped to save room for dessert, but I just couldn’t stop eating the pulled pork sandwich. And the cost was just right. $ 10 for my whole meal plus tax and tip, what a great deal!
I did try my friend’s tres leches (regular and chocolate) and it was just so-​so. The tres leches wouldn’t bring me back here, but the pulled pork will!
Make reservations because the dining room isn’t huge.

I had a superb dining experience at Samba Grille with «Soulcial Food» (a new social experience in Houston). Samba is located downtown in Bayou Place.
Let me begin with the aesthetics of the restaurant: dark woods, rich reds and modern décor flank the entire restaurant. The lighting is low, but not dark and the ambiance is perfect for a romantic date or just dinner with friends.
The food was pretty darn good. I had the opportunity to dine family style. Our dinner included: Ancho Tomato Soup or the Samba Salad. Seafood Paella and Pollo a la Parilla and for dessert Tres Leche.
The Ancho soup was a creamy tomato basil soup with a smoky spicy taste. The Samba Salad include mesclun lettuce, fried artichokes, tomatoes, red onions and hearts of palm tossed in a tamarind dressing. The Seafood Paella was divine and included chorizo, shrimp, mussels, clams, snapper and scallops atop a delightful saffron rice. The Polla a la parilla was basically a grilled chicken breast over aji sauce and topped with fresh avocado relish, garlic mashed potatoes and grilled veggies on the side. I tried a bit of everything and I must say that every dish was perfection.
Along with the great food, the service was top notch, servers are well trained and very accommodating. I would definitely dine here again. If you are ever out in the theater district… grab a bite. You won’t be disappointed.
Tip: Try the Pineapple Mint Mojito (awesome cocktail)

Despite having eaten here a couple of weeks ago now, this burger is still branded in my memory. The juicy, beefy, oh so succulent patty literally haunts my dreams. So what made it so great?
It’s the beef, stupid. The burger at Samba Grille is made with the highest quality beef. Think of getting a super great steak. Now imagine that flavor, only in burger form. That, my friends, is the beef patty at Samba Grille. But wait, there’s more.
The accoutrements to this burger are what really help set it apart – specifically, the aji aioli and the slow dough hamburger bun. The bun holds up fantastically, soaking up all the juiciness of the burger while maintaining its structural integrity. The avocado? Super creamy. Legitimately, this is one of the best hamburgers that I have had in Houston. The only side-​effect was my near-​coma once I returned to my office.
The side of yucca fries were good, but nothing I haven’t had before. Though, in Houston, they are a nice treat (I have yet to find yucca fries anywhere else. Maybe El Rey should start serving them).
All in all, I’d recommend coming to Samba Grille for lunch and ordering the burger. It tops a number of other «fancy-​pants» burgers at more expensive restaurants and, in my opinion, gives places like Mockingbird and The Burger Guys a run for their money.

Let me start off by saying I did have a groupon. But, I guess the owner forgot to mention to his employee (the sommelier) how that sort of marketing works. That one employee ruined the whole experience, hence the two-​star rating. The food was exceptional so I will write about it.
We both opted for the rodízio. It was the sole reason we were there, and we had just dined on seafood the night before. The starter salads were great. They tasted fresh and were done just right. Not too much not too little. Especially the trio salad, the mozzarella was perfectly complimented by the cherry tomatoes. Now the meat, wow. Perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned, perfectly seared. Every cut was just right. Even the skirt steak which is known for its chewiness was so tender, who knows how they did it. Compliments to whoever was back there cooking the meat.
The servers were the great. These guys were busting their behind to make sure we got what we needed. When we arrived not too many people were there, so I was afraid they wouldn’t have the meat doing its rounds. But I was wrong. very wrong. I couldn’t keep up with these guys. I was still chewing while I had two servers ready to cut me some more meat. My fiancé likes her steaks with little pink, while I like it pretty much raw. The servers did not take long to figure this out, and had my fiancés meat cooked just the way she likes it. I asked if they can bring me the mignon without the bacon, a couple of minutes later they brought me a melt in your mouth filet.
**************
However, it only took one snobby, tacky, sh*t-don’t smell idiot to ruin it all. We ordered a glass of any kind of sweet wine from the waiter we didn’t care what it was. I guess the sommelier had nothing to do and decided to come to our table. Right away his pretentious a** felt the urge to make us feel like crap because we did not know what wine was made from frozen grapes. WHO CARES!!! I guess his half-​semester in wine tasting school, and his 11 dollars an hour really made him lose his head up his behind. He really did ruin the whole dinner for me and my girl. We were so upset afterwards that we cancelled the rest of our plans, and cut our dinner short. I know I had a groupon but I still rang up a $ 130+ bill and left a good tip. The servers did such a wonderful job that I couldn’t leave without leaving a tip.
I’ve noticed I am not the only one that has complained about «the wine guy» on here, but you’ve lost my business and forced me to give the restaurant a Poor review. Please do something about him, at least make him dress like everyone else. What the hell was he wearing that night? He had a plaid teacher’s blazer with elbow patches. Not cool at all.

If I could put «0» I would.
There’s no doubt in my mind that the food is exceptional. However, for our first time here with a dinner party of 24 folks– not pleased with the service what so ever. I will say that the Manager on duty that night– phenomenal given the circumstances.
We all came together to celebrate a dear friend’s milestone birthday– a pretty big deal. Us ladies got completely dolled up and were excited about trying something new. During dinner our ONE waiter lost patience with us several times– many of us sucked it up so that we wouldn’t ruin the birthday girl’s dinner and subsequently remainder of the evening.
Just as dinner ended the ladies decided to head to the bar when the waiter seemed overwhelmed by our requests. We felt that just getting shots at the bar was much less complicated. We were so wrong.
Just as we lined up our shots and began to take them– a very rude, pissy, employee (who turned out to be the sommelier of all people) caddily whisks past us as if he were in some kind of hurry (PS– the restaurant was not in the least bit busy– nor was there some wine emergency taking place) and pushes us all to the side. There was no need to do that since there was plenty of room to walk past us– he did caddily say «excuse me” — but it was very rude and as he pushed me to the side I was taking my shot which then spilled down my neck and into my dress. I was pretty annoyed. As I went to clean up in the ladies room my dear friend was having a very calm talk with the manager. We didn’t want anything out of it but we definitely had had it with the service.
The Manager asked to bring out more shots and we politely declined.
The next thing you know the sommelier was headed over with a tray of shots. As he comes up to our section of the table– he puts a shot down and then drunkenly spills the next 4 or 5 all over my girlfriend sitting next to me– she was drenched and I had it all over my legs and thighs. My friend was wearing a sheer dress which unfortunately became transparent. The sugar from the alcohol had completely saturated her hair and later hardened into disgustingness.
That guy was drunk– no doubt in my mind. Luckily we had already paid for our bill and we decided to leave. No real apology was made.
My girlfriend was also the one who paid for the shots at the bar– I was the one who got spilled on that time, she’s the one who spoke to the manager– I find it quite interesting that we were both affected yet still had to pay for everything. BS!
We found out from the birthday girl that some stuff was comped– which is great for her since it was her night but we are the ones who literally paid for it– money wise and victim wise (for lack of a better word).
Hey Samba Grill, you just lost business to 20+ people– most of us have a ton of influence, many of us are foodies, lots of us can easily spread the word on Facebook– that sommelier and waiter should partner up and go work at that place were you’re supposed to be rude to people and they eat there knowingly.

Felipe was a great server. My brother had land of the sea, I had red snapper and mom had a tenderloin. The crab cake is a must right along with the wonderful brazillian lemonade… mmmmm…good! You will love this place. Great Location and staff is amazing. Will be back and my groupon was worth the buy. GO GROUPON AND SAMBA GRILLE

My Guy set out for Samba because I had a Groupon. Surprise! We dined for lunch and we were very pleased. The start of the yumminess were the cheese rolls. I followed this up with the Jade soup (spinach and broccoli soup topped with crabmeat gratin). This was a party in my mouth. My Guy opted to have the Caesar salad. He says it was one of the best he’s ever had, adding that the salad dressing was perfectly seasoned.
On to the entrees. My Guy ordered the Land and Sea (top sirloin, grilled lobster tail, fried yucca, grilled asparagus, and mashed potatoes). This was as slam dunk! The steak was well seasoned with chimichurri and very tender. The butter sauce on the lobster was so good that we inquired about what type of sauce it was. We joked saying he would come back and say, «It’s Land ‘O Lakes, but we make ours taste better than any other.» Surely enough he finally told us that it was just butter, but not Parkay. Haha! I partook of the grilled scallops accompanied by sauteed spinach and coconut rice. Perfect, perfect, perfectly grilled. Ooh wee, ooh wee, ooh weely delish.
We still had more money to use on the Groupon so I talked My Guy into ordering the burger with yucca fries others have raved about to go. The jury is still out on that. He hasn’t eaten it yet. I’ll update you on that one. With still more money to spend he went for the gusto and ordered the tres leches. It would be a cardinal sin not to have tres leches at a Brazilian restaurant. It was very, very good and very, very rich. Surprise huh?
I liked this place better than it’s competition, Fogo de Chao, because there are regular menu options and they have both moscato and ice wine. I didn’t have to be subjected to the plethora of meats coming to my table nonstop. If you like that type of thing then don’t go for lunch. They don’t offer the buffet option during lunch.

Since Fogo de Chao is my favorite restaurant, I wasn’t sure what to expect with Samba Grill. Would it be as good? Would the waitstaff be as awesome? Would I not want to eat meat again for a month?
Alas, SG did not disappoint. Disclaimer: we decided to eat here on Christmas Eve, so there were practically no other diners.
SG costs a bit less than Fogo (about $ 10+pp less), which is a plus. However, they do not have a salad bar to choose from, which was part of the reason I knocked off a star. They have all-​you-​can-​order soup and salad options, but that’s off of a pretty limited menu and is still a la carte style. They also have unlimited sides to order from. Don’t get me wrong: there is no way that you will be able to finish all the soup (s), salad (s), and sides you order, but it’s nice to actually be able to choose a sample of something here and there from a salad bar.
The meat selection was very good. We had grilled shrimp, bacon wrapped filet, bacon wrapped chicken, leg of lamb (fave), sirloin (fave), pork ribs (too dry), parmesan pork (delicious according to the bf), and of course Picanha (YUMMM!). I’m sure I’m missing something… Everything was good except the pork ribs, which I found to be very dry and unedible. The lamb was perfectly cooked and tender, as was the sirloin and the deliciously delicious Picanha.
We did manage to get dessert, which was good but not amazing. It was, however, refreshing as the waiter had described. We went with the papaya cream. Basically papayas blended with ice cream and a couple berries on the side.
The service was great (which is to be expected in an empty restaurant on Christmas), but wasn’t up to par with Fogo. That’s the other reason I just couldn’t give this place 5 stars. No empty glasses and new napkins seems to be on a list of rules at Fogo. I did appreciate the wine recommendation and special meat requests that our waiter provided.
All in all, this place is definitely worth a visit. I’d give it 4.5 stars if I could. The fact that it’s a walk from our place doesn’t hurt matters either :)

My first rule of dining is to order what a restaurant specializes in, or is known for. That rule rarely steers me wrong, so I tend to follow it almost every time. But recently I broke this rule.
Samba Grille is a new restaurant downtown, one I’ve visited before. I really enjoyed their churrascaria; as a devoted carnivore, a variety of freshly grilled meats is something hard to pass up. They also have some tempting seafood dishes, many of which I’ve yet to sample.
But I was on a quest. One of the partners in Samba Grille is Nathan Ketcham, who happens to be a friend of mine. Nathan and I used to eat lunch together frequently when he lived in the Woodlands, often at the late, lamented Tesar’s Modern Steakhouse, which was home of one of the state’s great hamburgers.
Nathan shares my passion for burgers, and he knows a good one from a bad one. Now that Nathan is helming his own restaurant, I had to sample his hamburger. Of course, his place specializes in the cuisine of South America, so my expectations weren’t too high… but I figured Nathan wouldn’t disappoint me.
So on a recent Friday, I picked up my lovely bride at her downtown office, and we drove over to Samba for lunch. Parking was a snap (often an issue downtown) and we entered and sat down. After a brief perusal of the menu, we both ordered burgers. While we waited, we snacked on Samba’s addictive cheese rolls. In short order, the burger appeared.
Samba’s burger has a strong Latin flair. It’s made from grilled sirloin, no doubt trimmed from the steaks they butcher in-​house. The beef is blanketed with buttery Spanish machego cheese. To this they add crisp, smoky bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, and aji aioli, a spicy garlic sauce made with Peruvian peppers. The burger was built on a soft, slightly sweet bun. I’m a bit of a burger purist, so I vetoed the avocado, but I decided to try the aioli.
Biting into it, I was immediately impressed by the smooth mouthfeel and the balance of the burger. Front and center was the flavor of the meat — a robust beefy swagger that really hit the spot. I’ve eaten some very good burgers lately, but none have nailed the beefy flavor quite like Samba has done. The counterpoint of the buttery machengo cheese added smoothness, and the heat from the aji aioli popped in a moment later, adding a spicy Latin counterpoint to the flavor profile. Not only has Samba created a great burger, they’ve done so with South American flair.
The choice of ingredients was masterful. The bacon’s flavor was subtle, and the slight crunch was a nice contrast to the smooth feel of the beef and cheese. The difference between good and great is in the details, and it’s obvious to me that Nathan and Chef Cesar Rodriguez spent the time to sweat the details.
This is the burger I’ve been waiting for since Tesar’s shut down. Thank you, Nathan.
I came to Samba expecting to enjoy a good burger, but instead I found one of Houston’s very best. If you love burgers, go check ‘em out.

We picked this place for dinner on the bf’s request… I have to admit, I was not exactly looking forward to plate after plate of char-​grilled meat. Ultimately, I agreed because we had tickets to the ballet that evening, and my last dinner-​before-​show experience almost made me late for the performance. In the end, I was quite impressed.
First, the cheese bread. OMG THE CHEESE BREAD! I can’t remember a time where I had to experience a battle of wills as I did when I chose not to have a second piece of bread… but knowing that the meat was coming helped, slightly.
When it came to the first course, the soup was amazing. I tried the Jade soup, and he had gazpacho. The Jade was incredible; of course, I might be biased, since broccoli and spinach were two of my favorite foods! However, the richness of the soup made it difficult to anticipate the next round of what what coming. His gazpacho was spicy and crisp, and effortlessly light.
When it came time for the meat, I tried one bite of everything. Exactly one bite turned out to be exactly the right amount… although I think I splurged on a few extra bites of the plantains and the steak wrapped in bacon. I have to admit, it was not as much of a stomachache as my previous experiences with churrascaria-​style restaurants, and we even had room for dessert… guava white chocolate cheesecake
I like that they had options other than the meat-​fest, for days that you feel like you can’t resist the temptation Also, I heard that there were prefix lunch specials, but I couldn’t find a menu for that online.