Rio Bar & Café

Photo by Jenn Richards

10 New St.
Huntington
631-351-1010

Maybe the local populace is getting sensitive about all this “obesity epidemic” talk. Even though a Brazilian-style churrascia delivers the meat on skewers directly to your table until you surrender, giving them the red signal to hold up, it’s still as all-you-can-eat as any buffet. I tend to avoid AYCE situations, not just because the food quality usually suffers but because, like many people, I find it hard to resist another round and end up putting away a week’s worth of dinners. And even more insidiously, churrascarris, like the forerunner in this tiny storefront, Marcia’s Kitchen, bring the food to you, eliminating the workout of pushing your way to the buffet.

The meat parade is over and they’ve recently morphed into a pleasant café where the emphasis is fresh and light Brazilian cuisine, including many seafood options.

I thoroughly enjoyed simply grilled tilapia on a sizzling platter with loads of fresh cut vegetables and sided with rice and beans. Other choices include shrimp in rum sauce, Marcia’s skirt steak, ceviche, diced fried chicken called Passarinho and a bar menu with snacks like empanadas and croquettes. Now’s there room for a cool Brazilian trio on Saturday nights and an upstairs lounge with flat-screens to watch soccer games is in the works.

Meals On Deals Eight Days A Week

Long Island Restaurant Week

The Fourth Annual Long Island Restaurant Week will commence on Sunday, Nov. 1 and run through Sunday, Nov. 8, with more than 250 restaurants from Floral Park to Montauk offering a $24.95 three-course prix fixe meal all night, except Saturday when the deal expires at 7 p.m. Hot new restaurants participating include Porto Vivo in Huntington and Amarelle in Wading River.

BBQ in Sayville

This weekend, Friday, Oct. 23 to Sunday, Oct. 25, LI’s only KCBS-sanctioned BBQ competition, the Third Annual Battle of BBQ Brethren, takes place as part of Sayville’s Fall Festival. The event will consist of two separate contests, grilling on Saturday and BBQ on Sunday. Thirty teams from around the country will compete for prize money. Although competitors, who will slow cook their meats beginning Friday night, won’t be offering food to the public, there will be other BBQ vendors serving up various meats and treats.

Gillette Park, Broadway Avenue, Sayville