Fogo de Chão has set the tone for Brazilian steakhouses since it first came to the United States in the late '90s. So when an independently-owned all-you-can-eat rodizio grill like the new AG Steakhouse comes around that feels like it's on the same level, it's a revelation. The sprawling, neatly manicured property was formerly Cozymel's Mexican Grill.
AG is fronted by Long Phu, a restaurant industry veteran who spent two decades managing Fogo de Chão steakhouses in New York City, Baltimore and most recently, Garden City. Phu broke out on his own after Fogo underwent a series of corporate acquisitions and started taking cost-saving methods like cutting staff hours and nixing pork ribs from the menu, he said. "After that many years of opening different Brazilian steakhouses, I wanted to open something of my own," Pho said.
"I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel." AG, which stands for Assado Gaúcho, is similar in price and experience to Fogo ($68 a person for the full experience). If anything, it takes it a step further by ramping up the tableside fanfare.
Bar carts roam the room, offering freshly-shaken caipirinhas ($12) to order. The bartender asks how sweet you'd like Brazil's national cocktail, and then shakes up the cachaça sugar cane liquor along with cane sugar and lime, making for a pleasingly piquant drink. A caipirinha cocktail and the expansive salad bar at AG Steakhouse, all-you-can-eat Brazilian restaurant in Westbury.
One could make a plentiful meal out of .
