Rodizio Grill is a Brazilian steakhouse restaurant or ''

churrascaria A ''churrascaria'' () is a place where meat is cooked in ''churrasco'' style, which translates roughly from the Portuguese word for "barbecue". ''Churrascaria'' cuisine is typically (but not always) served '' rodízio'' style, where roving ...

'' that was established in the United States. It was founded in 1995, the first to be established in the United States, by founder and president Ivan Utrera, a native Brazilian born in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

. , there are 22 locations in the United States.

Concept

Rodizio Grill's business model follows a traditional Brazilian ''

'' concept, with a central salad bar serving pre-made and house-made salads and a hot bar with traditional Latin American offerings like rice and beans. The main feature of any ''churrascaria'' is the service of protein options, which are presented on long skewers in a continuous rotation, and which are carved at tableside by servers per guest preference. Rodizio Grill periodically introduces promotional menu alterations, such as their Wild Game Fest or Bacon Fest.

History

Rodizio Grill founder Ivan Utrera grew up in

São Paulo, Brazil SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...

, where the traditional '' churrasco'' (barbeque) style of dining is common and popular. An entrepreneur from an early age, Utrera had an interest in business which led him to pursue higher education in the US. There he supported himself as a janitor until earning a master's degree in Business Administration from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

's Marriott School of Management in 1992. Utrera served as Marketing Director for

Pizza Hut Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert a ...

and its parent company, PepsiCo for its Latin American markets until he was made Marketing Director over US Markets. At that time, however, he began to feel stifled by the constrains of a large corporate environment and began to explore the idea of opening a restaurant of his own. In 1995, Utrera left PepsiCo to develop his own restaurant, basing his concept on the traditional Brazilian ''churrascaria'' (steakhouse) model. In 1996 in

Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Stati ...

, he opened the doors of Rodizio Grill, the first ''churrascaria'' in the US. In 1999, Nation's Restaurant News awarded the company the "Hot Concepts Award." By the year 2000, Rodizio Grill had opened six restaurants, including its flagship store in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, and was earning revenues of $14 million per year. Though many of those early locations would close down, by 2009 the company embraced its first franchisee in

Fort Collins A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. Franchising has proved successful, bolstering Rodizio Grill to 22 locations in 13 states as of June 2020.

Community involvement and sponsorships

Rodizio Grill supports Image Reborn Foundation which helps

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

survivors by providing weekend retreats to survivors at no cost to participants. The individual restaurants support a variety of local charities and nonprofits. Rodizio Grill sponsors

Bruno Carneiro Bruno Carneiro (born 16 July 1999, in São Paulo) is a Brazilian-American Brazilian Americans ( pt, brasileiros americanos or ) are Americans who are of full or partial Brazilian ancestry. The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates t ...

, a Formula 3 racecar driver.

References

{{Reflist 1996 establishments in Colorado Restaurant chains in the United States Steakhouses in the United States Restaurants established in 1996 Companies based in Salt Lake County, Utah

Concept

History

Community involvement and sponsorships

See also

References