Omira Bar and Grill

I am up dating my recent review from the last time we were here. Tonight was an awesome experience here once again. I want to thank Ziggy the owner for reaching out to us after our last experience here (that was not so perfect) and handling the situation so that we could once again enjoy the wonderful food and atmosphere of this great restaurant. The meat and pineapple are awesome. I love coming here. This is the place to go if you love to eat lots of meat and have a salad bar too. I again will be recommending it to every one I know. I know I will go again soon.

Huge disappointment!!! I was so excited from the fairly good reviews it had. We are from out of town and love trying different places when we travel… but this was one of the worst we have tried.
My wine was good and the live music was GREAT… but that was about it. Our waiter was very nice… but VERY forgetful. Example… we ordered wine and he brought it out in the carafes, but forgot the wine glasses. That is one example out of many.
~ The servers that brought out the meat were not friendly.
~ The salad bar was small.
~ Many items on the salad bar didn’t seem to be fresh. All of the bread was very hard, cheese for the salad was hard… etc.
~ A lot of meat that was brought out, seemed to be raw. My husband doesn’t mind medium rare, but he asked if a piece of his meat could be cooked a little longer… server took it to the back and never brought it back!
Long story short… we would not recommend this restaurant what so ever. We will definitely not be returning on our travels to Santa Fe :(

Living in South Florida in the past opened the door to many ventures to Brazilian Steakhouses both good and bad… However, little did I know that there would be a great one to be found in Santa Fe, NM. Every time I have been here the service is outstanding, the food is great, the owner is super friendly, cooks are willing to go outside the ordinary to create new things on occasion, and super relaxing mood setting live music just tops it off! Also, for a Brazilian Steakhouse the pricing is fantastic. I suggest this place to any carnivore!

I love this place. It’s a little pricey but I think it’s worth it. Beats driving all the way to Albuquerque to go to a similar restaurant like Tucanos

Omira is currently «winning» the contest for biggest disappointment in Santa Fe. My husband and I live in Texas where there are several very good churrascarias and a number of less expensive but still good options. Omira was inferior to lesser priced establishments in DFW in a number of ways.
Most importantly, the food was just not that good. They had a big selection of meats on Fathers Day as well as a couple of seafood items they don’t normally have, but only a couple of them were good. The tri-​tip, leg of lamb, and sweet & sour cod were probably the best. The shrimp was cooked to the right level but didn’t have a lot of flavor or any char, it definitely wasn’t «grilled». The picanha was by far the worst I’ve had at any churrascaria, as was their combination top & bottom sirloin. They were just … bland. The «Tokyo steak» had the opposite problem — the soy marinade was way too overpowering. Most churrascarias have a basket of fresh cheesybreadballs on the table that are warm and soft and get replaced as soon as you finish them, but Omira brought by the cheese bread balls one time only (like most meats) and they were hard and cold. Yuck!
The salad bar wasn’t tiny but about half the size of most churrascaria salad bars. I did like the potato salad and their «beef curry» which tasted a lot like a tzimmes or a cholent. The green chile cornbread was also good, far better than the Brazilian cheese bread balls.
Service started out attentive, in that we had two different servers explain how a churrascaria works, and our drinks were filled very frequently. However the meat service was EXTREMELY slow and most meats only came by one time. There were a couple that came by only once and they didn’t even have enough on the skewer for all of us. We actually got bored before we got full and wanted to just skip to the pineapple, but the pineapple never came. We told our waiter we were waiting on it, he asked us to turn off our light if we didn’t want anymore meat, but then the pineapple was walked by us several times. After literally a half hour of waiting for the pineapple we asked for the check. Then after I had paid the bill the pineapple guy came by, asked only one of the 5 people at the table if they wanted any and ran off before I had time to raise my hand or say anything.
To top all this off — prices on Fathers Day lunch were double the normal price (their website didn’t say this was happening anywhere I saw so I didn’t know this when I made the reservation). I asked what was special about the Father’s Day lunch and they said the seafood (again, just the shrimp and the cod.) I think they had more selection than they usually do for lunch but the quality just wasn’t there. If I’d paid lunch prices for this quality I’d have probably given them a 3, but the combination of paying about $ 36 per person plus the mediocre meats and the abysmally slow meat service and lack of pineapple drops it to a 2. More power to the folks who enjoy Omira, more power to you, but I’m willing to bet you’ve never been to a Fogo de Chao or Texas de Brazil (high end) or even a mid-​level churrascaria. To the management, I suggest they go visit the «competition» in other states like Texas to see how you can improve both the food and service. Until then I don’t recommend that anyone who enjoys someplace like FdC or TdB go here, you will certainly be disappointed. If you’ve never been to a churrascaria at all, you’ll probably enjoy Omira pretty well.

We went here for our anniversary with high expectations. I’d studied Brazilian culture for half of my university career (taught by Brazilian Fullbright students) and we were hoping to get a taste of what I’d learned about. Sadly, that’s not what we got.
If I were to summarize what it’s like to go here, I would say it’s an American buffet with a few Brazilian dishes to choose from that caters to tourists who don’t know much about Brazil. This is a bit sad, because Brazil is a very large country with several regions of cuisine and culture.
They start you with drinks. They don’t have Guarana, which is a famous Brazilian drink and is known to be favored for accompanying a churrasco (pronounced chew-​HAW-​Scoh) dinner. So we settled for a Brazilian lemonade, which was made with lemons. Brazilian lemons taste more like limes, so the fact that this drink wasn’t made with limes was a bit of a let down.
On to the buffet. Take your pick from all sorts of American salads and appetizers, and if you came to taste something Brazilian, you’re limited to Queijao (the bread), Feijoada (black bean stew, but no Farofa to go with it), fried bananas, and maybe a soup. As you eat, enjoy the Spanish music. You’ll have to pretend that they actually speak Spanish in Brazil, not Portuguese.
On to the meats. They don’t serve everything that can be typically eaten in a churrasco, like chicken hearts, but that’s forgivable given how many people in the area actually eat chicken hearts. They’ll also offer you a few things on a platter, instead of the typical skewer. That’s a sign that the dish isn’t a traditional Brazilian one.
If you’re pregnant, like I was, and can’t have undercooked meats, they’re courteous enough to take cuts and cook them until they’re well-​done, but beware. At this place well-​done means it comes out looking as black as a piece of coal, and tasting that way too.
If it’s your birthday, as it was for another customer, they’ll sing to you. This will also be in Spanish, as evidenced by the phrase «Feliz cumpleanos» instead of the upbeat, multi-​versed glory that is the Brazilian birthday song (which, by the way, doesn’t include a single mention of the phrase «Feliz anniversario», which is «Happy Birthday» in regular conversation.)
So the food is all right, but the variety of it and the overall experience are not anywhere near the traditional Brazilian experience you would get at other churrascarias.

Wow, just amazing! I always just do the salad bar and everything is always super fresh and looks just made. Not only is it a salad bar but it has this amazing Caribbean soup, summer squash soup. Not just salad, hot dishes, roasted chicken, fried bananas, just sooooo much more. When I first went their me and a gf thought, this is too good to be true. It’s one of my favorite places to eat and everyone there is friendly and happy to be helping you. Love that place!

I dined here four times and for three of those visits I would have given it 5 STARS — however the last time I had lunch there, it was the worst salad bar I’ve had in a long time. Salads that are usually delicious were bland. Surprising since it’s the salad bar that is usually so FAB and the reason I go there.
But worse than the salad bar was the experience of getting sick, going to the bathroom and finding NO toilet tissue or hand towels — I had to resort to finding used towels in the trash can — Disgusting.
Sadly, will Never go there again… the good news is that there are plenty of other FAB cafes in Santa Fe

First of all, the food is super delicious! All you can eat meat and salad bar, for a very modest price. The place is hip, trendy and spacious and the atmosphere is very nice. I love when they have live music. The service though… I’ve been there four times, and all four times, our servers have been friendly, but fail to refill our drinks for a while. Every time I’ve been there I’ve had this problem. At times, when they’re packed and they sit you in the bar room, the meat does not even make it to your table. So great food, but the service could be improved.

It seemed like we were being reluctantly seated. We asked the lady who seated us for a booth, but there were none available, but there really were but those booths were for 4 or more people and we were only two people. The place was half full on a Friday night. There was room at a booth.
We were led to the far back of the restaurant after being offered seats by the front door. It was cold that night and sitting by the door was not an option. When we were finally seated, there was no service at all. After waiting 20 minutes, service only arrived after my friend flagged down a waitperson, who apologized for ignoring us and asked what we wanted to drink.
Two beers were ordered and when they came were half full of foam, and not at all a full glass of beer. When the waiter’s attention was finally gained again, he explained that there was a problem with the tap; that it mostly dispensed foam.
He pointed to one of the glasses with less foam, and said «Well, this glass is full because it comes up to the (tiny) mark, incidentally, on a Stella glass, which I do not prefer when drinking an IPA.
We were told that the procedure was that when our table lamp is lit, they come around to allow us to try each meat then we specifically ask for more of what we liked. There are no menus, save a wine menu and a beer/​soda menu.
Seemed like a good idea at first. We were asked how done we liked our meat, which was medium rare.
The first meat was German sausage, which arrived on a long metal skewer, but had little flavor. I barely was able to finish my 1 inch long piece.
The next meat was a flat, overcooked, tough piece of some kind of peppered, beaten cheap steak that although flavorful, required much chewing.
Next came dolmas, which I am quite fond of but these were tiny and the grape leaf appeared to be nearly raw, plus it was really thick and especially inedible.
A skewer of «pork tenderloin» (and I say that loosely), wrapped in bacon came. If this is tenderloin, I’d hate to try chewing on regular pork. It was tough and chewy, just like the flattened pepper steak, but with a different (not really good) flavor.
Then came filet mignon, less chewy, but had the flavor of aged beef. It was medium, not medium rare.
Then came beef roast, which was very rare, but so tough that the serrated knives barely cut through the stringy meat. The flavor was good, however.
Lamb was served next. Not being fond of lamb, a tiny piece of burnt lamb was placed on my (usually empty) plate. It was inedible, and I’m sorry I even took a bite.
The table light remained on at all times but was ignored by all wait staff. You would think that with each «delivery,» the staff would turn your light off, so they could tell when you’re ready for your next sample.
The next meat was prime rib, which was as good a prime rib I have ever had.
We were asked if we’d like some fish. This grilled sole was tempura coated and lightly fried then coated with a sweet/​sour sauce and it was delicious! It was by far the best thing we had eaten so far.
Funny thing was that when my friend asked for more than one piece, the waiter basically gave us the rest of the fish (2 – 3 small pieces each). We then overheard another waiter asking our waiter «Did you give that lady’s fish to those guys (us)? This made us feel a bit uncomfortable.
Waitpersons pass by, brandishing skewers of meats, rushing toward the front of the restaurant, only to return with an empty skewer. Sorry I didn’t sit by the front door! Sitting in the back meant we saw the food coming and going (!) from and to the kitchen. Why food would re-​enter the kitchen without being offered to us is a mystery.
Since we like the fish so much, we (finally) flagged down a (different) waiter to ask for more fish, which is what we were told we could do when we were «briefed» about how things work here. He said he’d see to it.
It didn’t happen, so we asked a girl to see about our fish, thinking that the first guy had forgotten.
Ten minutes later, we noticed someone emerge from the kitchen with the splendid fish, but instead of bringing it to us, it was offered at a table across the way. My friend got that waiter’s attention before he could proceed to another table and we got another small but delicious sample of what we really wanted. Now I know how that lady felt when we ate her fish!
Assuming that a proper order of fish would arrive, we waited another half hour, half expecting to see the fish, but no fish ever came.
We were not served water refills and had to plead for it. Very difficult to get the check. Took 20 minutes, and when it was returned, the credit card was missing! Same thing at an adjacent table!
Had to go to front to retrieve credit card. Bill was fraudulent because it did not itemize food/​drinks and included tax in what reads: «Pre-​tip amount.» Despicable!
Questioned surly cashier about bill, he produced itemized bill which says «Gratuity Not Included!»
Solid place? You gotta be kidding me!

Our group of four enjoyed it. Not as lavish as the big chain Brazilian Steak Houses but good. The salad bar seemed decent with some interesting choices. The meats that came out were a mix of good and OK. Some of the steak cuts were great, others dry but the spicy German sausage was very good. Great service and good desserts.

For meat lovers only — this is 5 star glory. Avoid filling up at the buffet — they bring around 13 different cuts of fresh grilled meats continuously. Doing one round will leave you pleasantly satisfied, and you’ll definitely want to have seconds on your favorite cuts. They had everything from 3 or 4 cuts of beef (filet mignon, prime rib, sirloin), lamb, cod, bacon wrapped pork loin, grilled pineapple, german sausages… Everything was excellent, and some of the cuts were some of the best tasting I’ve had. I don’t dole out 5 stars often, but the quality of the food at a very reasonable price (~28 bucks without drinks and dessert) makes this a no-​brainer. Highly recommend.

This place is pretty much perfect.
First off, it’s gorgeous. It’s decorated very nicely and it’s very clean and spacey. Instead of the wooded green/​red block you get at Tucano’s to start serving, you have a little modern-​style touch lamp. It’s adorable.
The salad bar is all fresh and mostly organic. They have a small selection, but it’s all delicious. Make sure you only take a little of what sounds good, because dinner is massive. The salad bar is clean and looks appealing.
The wine is amazing.
When you touch the lamp, the service is immediate. They are incredibly prompt and polite servers.
The food is amazing. It’s perfectly cooked and seasoned. Everything tastes wonderful. All the meat was perfect. It was hard to stop! The meat is grass fed and fresh.
It does not look like much from the outside, but it’s worth it.

What a wonderful surprise. The many meats were cooked perfectly. Service was good and non-​obtrusive. When you can’t take anymore chili, east at Omira Grill.

Friendly and great service. Do not expect it to be like Fogo De Chao or anything like that. If you want something other than New Mexican food. Try out this place. They do need a better salad bar. Overall food was okay. I loved their grilled pineapple.

AYCE Dinner Review Only.
This place is a SOLID four stars for the amount of food you get and the quality is pretty good for the price that you pay. This is a semi-​romantic setting with very dim lighting ambiance is just calming; but also good for a group of friends to get your chow on as well.
We came here on a weekday I believe and it wasn’t too crowded. How it works is that you have a light/​lamp on your table. Turn it on and the food runner/​server will come by your table and slice you off a piece of meat. Turn off the lamp if you want to take a break/​dont want anymore food. The food comes out in a pretty timely manner, especially for high quality meats that are cooked to order. You wait maybe around 7 or so minutes max for another helping.
We tried: filet mignon, leg of lamb, german sausage. top sirloin steak, tokyo style beef, parmesean crust pork wrapped in bacon, prime rib among a few other offerings. You can also request how it’s cooked and what they also have to offer that night. I particuarly enjoyed the top sirloin the most as it was juicy and very flavorful. Tokyo style beef was a little too salty and didn’t really have any distinct flavors and I am not a big fan of lamb.
What I would have really liked was: ribeye and kobe beef but that may be asking for too much. haha.
Dinner: $ 27.95 for AYCE plus the Salad Bar/​soups. Also, please PLEASE try the grilled pineapple with some sort of sweet glaze. At first you’re surprised by it, but the more you eat the more you realize it’s one of the best things on earth.

Great salad bar for vegetarians (you can skip meats from gauchos) or meatatarians, with decent service and wonderful churasco-​meats and other offerings from Gauchos. Nicely done interior as well, 10 minutes from Plaza.
Easily one of top five Santa Fe Restaurants for quality+value.

I’m writing this review after I just had my last bite and I had to do it right away, let me tell you why. I have to tell you that this place is out of this world! From the service, preparation and taste is something you’ll never find else where! The owner, I mean the owner fills up your water! If I could give this place 100 stars I would but you should find out for yourself.

Surprise!
I was really surprised how much I liked this place. Great Kale salads on the bar and really good meats to boot. Seriously what surprised me the most was the German Sausage, it was f’ing fantastic and I want it for breakfast with some creamy scrambled eggs and thicks hard wheat toast with a pile ‘o butter. Other surprise was the grilled pineapple, eat that with some of your juicy beef, damn thats good.
Price is ridiculous cheap for this type of restaurant… surprise!
Just go and eat Man
Cheers!

When you walk in the door, you don’t expect a churrascaria. Thirteen different skewers delivered by by extremely friendly servers (I’m getting hungry remembering the filet and the lamb). The meat was truly excellent, cooked perfectly –dunno if it’s grass-​fed, but some of the other reviewers say so. The hostess (owner, perhaps?) let us try one of the wines before buying. And, unlike others I’ve been to, you can request that a particular skewer come back (again and again if you can pack it away).
Recommendations:
1. Finish with the grilled pineapple. It made my soul sing.
2. Fast before coming in
3. Go easy on the salad bar
4. Maybe don’t bring your mostly vegetarian girlfriend
At $ 27 I think it’s a bargain –compare to almost twice that for Fogo de Chao.