4 stars out of 5

Espetus Churrascaria is a Brazilian restaurant. More to the point, it is a "meat buffet." For a fixed price, you can keep having slices of meat off each dish they bring by as long as you want. It isn't meat only; there is a lovely salad bar, including rice, but why would you want to fill up on greenery when you've come to a meat buffet. I first discovered this delightful genre in Manhattan with my older daughter while she was at college. The food was great, the atmosphere adequate but unimpressive. I enjoyed it so much I followed a review to a meat buffet out in Queens which was also great food in a so-so joint. A friend of Marlow's recommended Espetus Churrascaria, at Market and Gough in downtown SF, so we went last Friday. The restaurant is, ironically, a block from Zuni, one of San Francisco's best vegetarian restaurants. Espetus Churrascaria is beautiful, with a well-appointed interior and large windows that overlook–the slightly less seedy end of Upper Market. Now memory may be playing tricks with me, but the offerings–several cuts of beef, pork loin and pork wrapped in bacon, roasted chicken and chicken hearts, and beef ribs–seems a little more restricted than I remember from New York. But what they lack in selection they make up for in preparation (every meat was fantastic) and atmosphere–quiet, dark, friendly. If Ubuntu is five stars, then Espetus Churrascaria is four stars in my book. It is expensive: $49 a head. It is also worth it.