Midwest Grill - A Carnivore's Paradise

Every day on my way home from work I walk past the Midwest Grill, a churrascaria (shoo-HOSS-ka-REE-ah) which I think translates to eat meat until they bring out the paddles. Actually, a churrascaria is a steakhouse where all forms of meat and poultry are slowly barbecued on spits - this technique creates a delicious crispiness on the outside and nice juicy flavors on the inside. The Midwest Grill wisely cooks all this food right near the window where passersby can get an eyeful of what's cooking. Quite a mouth-watering sight.

I have been resisting going there because I was waiting for a brisk winter comfort food kind of night and to remember to fast for a week beforehand. But since the weather has been so balmy and I can never stop eating, I decided to have my office Christmas party there instead. What a feast we had!

We arrived early so we pretty much had the restaurant to ourselves. The ambiance there is charming. It has a very European feel, warm and cozy with a nice bar tucked in the back. The menu basically consists of one thing - a $22.00 all-you-can eat meat and poultry extravaganza where the spit-roasted food is brought to your table, one item after another - chicken wrapped in bacon, lamb, beef, you get the idea. I'm getting a little woozy just thinking about it. The server carves you what you want and you grab it with a set of tongs and put it on your plate. The servers always look disappointed when you turn them down but truly, you have to pace yourself or you'll be full in a minute. My two favorites were the lamb and beef which were both crisp and amazingly seasoned on the outside and pink and juicy on the inside. The Brazilian sausage is also quite yummy. It was great to try a variety of things so that next time I will focus on the things I enjoyed most. I recommend you do the same.

Oh and did I mention they also have two huge buffet areas with everything from the most amazing mashed potatoes (I think they fold in cream cheese) to baked beans, broccoli sautéed in garlic and tangy meatballs?

And then there are the desserts - rice pudding, chocolate mousse, ice cream and my personal "wow" factor dessert, the passion fruit pudding which packs some unexpected pucker and is absolutely delicious. You must try this if you go there.

So pick a brisk winter night to get some friends together (tell them to fast) and all meet up at the Midwest Grill. Have fun. We did.


Midwest Grill
1124 Cambridge Street (Inman Square), Cambridge, 617.354.7536
Hours: Sun - Thurs, 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.; Fri. and Sat open till midnight