| The meat war is on in Kansas City |
In this week's Cafe review of the Brazilian churrascaria on the Country Club Plaza, Fogo de Chao, there were two issues that dominated this dining experience: that patrons are encouraged to eat a lot of food and that the price tag is expensive. At Fogo de Chao, the salad bar and those roving passadores with the skewers of juicy, roasted meats present a very alluring visual. The fare all looks so good, you want to at least taste everything. And one thing we know from any restaurant with an all-you-can-eat theme: you also want to feel that you're getting your money's worth.
And that's precisely where Fogo's Northland rival, Em Chamas, is going out for blood.
Em Chamas, at over three years old, is the senior churrascaria in the metro, but is located in the northern suburbs -- so it doesn't lure in the tourist patrons (unless they're staying out by the airport) that flock to the Plaza. True, Em Chamas has already outlasted one rival -- Johnson County's short-lived Amor de Brazil -- but Fogo de Chao, part of a successful Dallas-based chain, is a stronger competitor.
So Sam Silvio, one of the owners of Em Chamas, introduced a new pricing structure last week. Instead of one fixed price for either the salad bar or the complete dining experience, Em Chamas now offers a three-tier pricing system.
The Blue Tier, Silvio explains, is $19.99 and includes the salad bar and all-you-can-eat from eleven cuts of meat, not including the house specialty -- picanha, a juicy cut of top sirloin -- and some of the other, pricier cuts of meat.
The Green Tier is priced at $24.99, also includes the salad bar and selections from 14 cuts of meat.
The Gold Tier costs $36.99 and includes the salad bar, all the featured meats as well as a selection of more costly choices, like beef medallions, salmon and marinated leg of lamb. This deal also includes one of the restaurant's desserts.
"This way our patrons can have a choice as to what they want to spend, how much they want to eat and still enjoy the complete churrascaria experience," Silvio said.
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