Meat-topia at Agora in Irvine! - CLOSED

Agora Churrascaria

1830 Main St.

Irvine, CA 92614

After leaving Agora Churrascaria, I came home and looked for flights to Brazil. I do not always eat Brazilian food, but if it is as good as we had this evening, it might be time for me to hop on a plane and experience it for a few weeks or so.

We recently were invited to a blogger's dinner at Agora Churrascaria. Our hostesses for the evening were the wonderful Diana Daniele and equally great Jane Gillespie. They brought together the best bloggers that Orange County has to offer. I have read many of these authors' blogs before I even thought of starting this blog. Anita from Diary of a Mad Hungry Woman, Tom from Tom's Foodie Blog, Griffin from Griffin Eats OC, Bobby from 100 Eats 100 Days, Austin representing The Hungry Dogg, Suki from Eat Suki Eat, the very talented Anne Marie from Brekkie Fan's Blog, and the cantankerous duo of Kat from Kat's 9 Lives and Minerva from Much Ado About Fooding were all in attendance. As great as the company was, the food would not be overshadowed.

Before we get a look at the food, first a little bit about Agora. Agora is a Brazilian steakhouse opened by Scott Im in 2005. He is Korean-born but grew a love of Brazilian food while spending part of his youth in the South American country. Agora is an all-you-can-eat meat lover's paradise. Meat is brought to tables by gauchos, who slice the various cuts of meat right off of the same metal skewers they are cooked on.

I snuck into the kitchen to take pictures of the meat cooking. Leonardo, the man holding the skewers above, is the General Manager of Agora, and he told me that they go through about a ton of meat a week here. They offer 12 different cuts of meat for lunch service, and then that number jumps to 16 for dinner. It is not all about the meat at Agora, though.

At Agora, they feature authentic Brazilian drinks. They have four versions of the famous Brazilian cocktail, the Caipirinha. I sampled three versions on this night. The Original Caipirinha, which contains Sagatiba, Cachaca, lime, and sugar, was my second favorite version of this drink tonight. It tasted very refreshing, like a cousin to the Mojito. Other versions included a Passion Fruit Caipirinha and, my favorite drink of the night, the Strawberry Basil Caipirinha. The canned Brazilian soda, Guarana, was also a table favorite for the non-drinking crowd. Katie thought this was a sweeter version of Sprite that was more refreshing.

Before the meat hit the table, we snacked on gluten-free Brazilian Cheese Bread, fried bananas, and salsa-like Tomato Vinaigrette. The cheese bread bowl was refilled numerous times throughout the night. I also liked the banana. It was nice to switch from savory to sweet every so often.

Are you not in the mood for meat? They had a well-stocked salad bar featuring over 16 different salads, plus a selection of cold cuts, cheeses, and shrimp cocktails. Standouts for us were the Caesar Salad, Potato Salad, and Shrimp Cocktail.

I knew the meat was on its way, but I had to go through the hot food bar at least once. I could have made a whole meal out of just the Black Bean Stew. There were pieces of what I thought were linguica in it. It was very good when paired with the Garlic Rice. Other items of note were the Clams, Collard Greens, and Mashed Potatoes. All of this was a precursor to the main event, so let's bring on the meat!

At Agora, there is only one rule that you have to follow. Green means go, and red means stop. As long as you have your coaster turned to the green side, the gauchos will keep bringing you meat until you can no longer pack it away. Some meats were slid off the skewers, and for others, you had to use tongs to grab them. I caught the hang of this rather quickly.

Wow, and you thought I was just kidding about all of the meat! This is just 12 of the 16-plus offerings on this night. My favorites included the Skirt Steak, Lamb Chop, and the Linguisa. All of the meats were cooked perfectly here. I have been to one other all-you-can-eat in a Brazilian restaurant, and all the meats started to taste the same. This was not the case here. At Agora, the meats were seasoned differently, so this problem was avoided. Other meats included Filet Mignon, Bacon Wrapped Chicken, Chicken Hearts, Top Sirloin, Top Sirloin Cap, Tri-Tip, Pork Tenderloin with Parmesan, Baked Salmon, Beef Ribs, Beef Skewers, and Filet Wrapped in Bacon. For those who wish to have their meat with a different degree of doneness, the gauchos were very accommodating, and every effort was made to get you the type of meat you are after.

By this time of the night, I knew I would have to be wheeled out of there, but of course, there was always room for dessert. Everyone around me got a different dessert, so I took a picture of all of them. I ordered the Chocolate Gelato, a light end to my heavy meal. Katie got the Acai, which was topped with bananas and granola. I took a bite of Kat's Cheesecake and thought it was very creamy. I was less fond of this Flan at Agora. It was too chalky for me. I like a lighter, more caramel-tasting flan.

Our night at Agora was a great experience. We left very full and satisfied with our meal. This is definitely a special occasion kind of place. We would like to express again our thanks to Scott Im, Leonardo Giannotti, and all of the wonderful staff at Agora for making this a great night out for us and all of our fellow bloggers. Also, thanks again to our hostesses for the evening, Jane Gillespie and Diana Daniele. We had a great time!

For more information on Agora Churrascaria, click here: http://www.agorachurrascaria.com/