I hadn't been to Green Forest Restaurant (a Braziliam churrascaria) in a couple of years. I had really liked it when I had gone previously, about 3 times over about 2 1/2 to 3 years. So, I was dying to go. Finally I found someone who wanted to go with me - some friends from Chicago area. They have a similar restaurant there and wanted to try ours. Many things have changed. The salad bar seems about the same except for the most important item as far as I am concerned - the fresh pineapple. They always had it before. I need it to cut the saltiness of the grilled meats, which are delicious but much too salty for my taste. My solution was to load up on the pineapple and intersperse bites of meat with the fruit. Perfect. But no pineapple this time! Damn! Then there was the hot buffet. The number of dishes is way down. And the feijoada was pathetic in that the chafing dish was almost empty and one had to fish around for the few beans that were in all the juice and there was hardly any meat left. This was early on a Sat. so I would think they would keep the buffet full. There were quite a few people and I expect there were more coming later. Anyway, the flavor was good even if there wasn't very much. The rodizio was not as good as it used to be. Not nearly as many meats. And they were very stingy with the portions. If it had been just me I would have hung around with the green side up on my signalling device until they came back around with more of the ones I liked. Although I have read articles in the newspaper on a number of occasions stating that they have things like duck and even sometimes do a whole roast pig I have never been able to get there when they actually have those things. If you call and ask they say they don't know when they will have them. This time while I was there I asked about duck and was told that they no longer serve duck. I'm tempted to believe that they just made that stuff up to tempt people to come in then when they ask about the special things they are just told we don't have it tonight! But the whole place just seemed like it had cut back on everything. They no longer have live music on the weekends like they used to. That didn't bother me because I always found it too loud and although the music was good, I prefer to converse with my dining companions without having to shout. But it seems to be an indication that they are not as good as they used to be. So, now I don't have to feel deprived when I think about going there and know I can't afford it. I'll just remember this visit and be glad I can save the money for something better. Kate
Pittsburgh, PA