Second to Newark, Long Branch is known for its Brazilian community, and thus a variety of Brazilian eateries.
There are cafés and bakeries, fast-food and snack spots or “salgadinhos”, buffets, and of course rodizios.
At many of these locations, you could even just stop in for a fresh fruit smoothie or an acai bowl. Why anyone would pay twice the price for an acai bowl or smoothie in Pier Village or on Brighton Ave. mystifies me.
In the following post, I’ll attempt to list and describe every Brazilian restaurant I’ve encountered in Long Branch.
Cafés, Bakeries, Snack Spots:
Busy Bee Roasters & Coffee Shop
Busy Bee is a newly opened Brazilian coffee shop and lunch shack attached to a gas station on route 36. Upon walking in you’ll find that it’s no normal gas station convenience store.
When you first enter, you’ll find a variety of coffee cannisters on your right. They roast their own coffee beans in-house and their Brazil blend is quite delicious.
In addition, they have long wooden tables for dining in. On the back wall of the store you’ll find the inviting pastry and deli section with a menu above.
Here, they’ll carry a variety of salgados (Brazilian snacks) such as coxinhas (chicken/beef croquettes), pastels (empanadas), and pao de queijo (fresh baked cheese bread).
In addition, it’s a full bakery, so there will also be many sweets to choose from such as sonhos (dreams) custard cream buns and brigadeiros (chocolate truffles)!
There is also a grill area here where you can order sandwiches, burgers, and even typical Brazilian dishes.
From all of the Brazilian cafes and bakeries I’ve visited, I would likely recommend Busy Bee Roasters the highest for their pastries and breads. Whenever you visit a bakery, of course, the most important indicator of taste is often how fresh the bread is.
You don’t want to have to visit a bakery when they open super early in the morning to get the freshest product. Because Busy Bee Roasters is attached to a gas station, it gets a pretty busy influx of people, and therefore they are constantly putting out new product, which means you get a warm roll of pao de queijo!
Beach Point Cafe
Located at 615 Broadway, Beach Point Cafe is a small cafe and restaurant on the corner that has changed both name and ownership over the years. (Previous names of it being Pezao Cafe, Oba Oba Bakery & Lanchonete).
I visited in the morning and was surprised to see an interesting set-up. You walk in, and there’s a buffet section on the right of the restaurant. It’s not all-you-can-eat, but each item is labeled by price.
They have a ton of salgados, or fried snacks, such as pastels (empanadas), pamhonas (Brazilian tamales), puff pastries, pao de queijo (cheese bread), coxinhas (chicken/beef croquettes), and more.
I actually found the selections in quality and taste to be quite mediocre, and would recommend Busy Bee Roasters over it.
Bom de Mais
I’ve mentioned this place once before on the forums here: Bom de Mais [Long Branch, NJ]
http://bomdemaisluncheonette.com/
Bom de Mais is a lunch shack on Broadway that has a pretty extensive menu from Brazilian-style pizza, to burgers, sandwiches, pastels, and more.
I’ve frequented them a bunch, and they seem to be one of the busiest spots among locals for good reason.
They have a sign outside that dubs themselves a “Pasteleria,” which rings true. They do have a huge selection of pastels to choose from.
In the morning they offer a selection of coxinhas, fresh bread, and other typical salgados such as kibbeh. They also have a juicer and make a variety of fresh juices and smoothies.
Rodizio & Buffets:
Sabor do Brasil
Sabor has been covered on Sabor Long Branch NJ
The skinny is that Sabor is a pay-by-the-plate rodizio and buffet located on Brighton Ave. They have a pretty vast selection of meats and I mean vast, as well as Brazilian specialties on their salad bar.
Their selections vary by day, but they usually have some mix of: sirloin, skirt steak, picanha (top sirloin), chicken legs, beef sausage, chicken sausage, pork ribs, beef ribs, chicken hearts, garlic steak.
My favorites from their grill would be their picanha, skirt steak, and chicken hearts.
Sabor is definitely my top pick of Brazilian steakhouses in Long Branch.
They also have a seperate a la carte menu as well as several delectable desserts to choose from such as tres leche cake, chocolate cake, mango mousse, flan, and more.
Rodeio Grill
Located on Oceanport Ave, Rodeio Grill is another Brazilian rodizio steakhouse. I’ve never personally been to Rodeio, but I believe it’s been written about on the forums before.
The difference between here and Sabor is that they serve table-side rodizio. The comparisons are that their selection in meats and salad bar are a tad inferior to Sabor as well.
Sousa’s Grill
Sousa’s Grill is found on Broadway, and advertises itself as “O rei da Picanha” or King of Steaks. However, from what I saw, they offer buffet-style dining but without an accompanying rodizio or steak.
Their selections were filled with typical Brazilian dishes, such as feijoda (the national dish of Brazil - a bean stew with sausage, chicharon, and other fatty meats), Brazilian potato salad, yucca, hearts of palm, etc.
Their meat selections consisted of chicken legs and ribs, but lacking a steak component, I would be hard-pressed to visit here again over Sabor or Rodeio.