The prix fixe meal has an awesome salad bar with an interesting collection of side dishes, but the reason that you go to Tucano's is that they serve "all you care to eat" (which is so much more self-controlled sounding than "all you can eat") meat. Servers keep passing your table with skewers and what seem to be swords on which a variety of meats have been barbecued: teriyaki beef; garlic beef; various types of pork, turkey, chicken, bacon-wrapped meats, sausages, and so on.
It is rather like an orgy for carnivores: everything that you could want, and even some things that you might not: most of our table said no on the chicken hearts, but a few of the more adventuresome sorts said yes.
Of course, just like the other kind of orgy, when you are done, you find yourself saying, "I enjoyed it, but there's more to life than the pleasures of the flesh. And now I need to spend more time on the treadmill." (I guess that's better than the Enlightenment era bitter aphorism, "A night with Venus, a lifetime with mercury.") Think of it as an upscale version of Golden Corral, a recreational eating facility.
UPDATE: A reader asked how expensive this. The prix fixe was $20.95. Fortunately, you can register for a free meal in the month of your birthday, so that knocked the price down by half. Both my wife and my son-in-law had birthdays in January, so that turned it from an expensive meal (by Boise standards) to a fairly reasonable meal (by Boise standards).
How much was it?
ReplyDeleteI'll give two more thumbs-up to Tucano's, Clayton. (August and October are the birthday months for myself and the missus, and we always make a visit to Tucano's. And sometimes in-between.)
ReplyDeleteThe "salad bar" is really more expansive; I believe they call it the "Salad Fiesta" or something like that. It contains all the standard salad bar fixins, plus some Brazilian specialties (quail eggs?), plus rolls, mashed potatoes, fried bananas (in honor of Elvis?), soup (I like the lobster bisque), etc.
Plus as Clayton mentioned, carne a-plenty! (And roasted pineapple, delicious roasted vegetables, etc.)
Yeah, if you went there once a week, you might be fighting the bulge, and having trouble squeezing into your Brazilian swimwear. A few times a year? Hey - you only go around once!
So the exchange rate between Idaho Dollars and California Dollars is about 2:1?
ReplyDeleteIowa is about the same - we were visiting the in-laws and stopped at Hickory Park in Ames on the way back to the airport; our very good barbecue lunch was about half what we'd pay at a similar place in the Bay Area.