Meat-ing the challenge of churrasco

Churrasco, or Brazilian barbecue, is a rising trend in our food-obsessed nation. Once a way that gauchos preserved food while on the trail—butchering and skewering the meat to roast it in coarse salt over a burning wood fire—this rough n’ ready approach is now the conceptual basis of many restaurants. Texas de Brazil is the first of these to make its mark on Baton Rouge, and was named “Best Place for Meat-Lovers” in this year’s Best of 225 awards. But its unusual all-you-can-eat style, wherein you pay one price to have skewer after skewer carried to your table, can be confusing to the uninitiated. Here are some tips to get the best out of your Brazilian buffet experience. Eat lightly beforehand: Everyone knows you don’t fill up before you eat out at a buffet, and that goes doubly for a buffet that serves up such succulent cuts of meat. Don’t cheat yourself out of a protein immersion by filling up on carbs earlier in the day. Skip the salad: Their salads and sides are impressive, and delicious, but don’t let that fact distract you from what you’re really here for. The meat is the star of the show, and you’ll have plenty to keep up with once the gauchos start walking by with sizzling skewers of lamb and beef. Don’t fill up too fast: With a menu that includes over 50 varieties of meat, the last thing you want to do is fill up on the first thing you see. Scarf down too many bacon-wrapped chicken breasts and you’ll be regretting it when the parmesan pork and lamb lollipops are being carried past your table.