Bullvino's Churrascaria St. Paul

I saw a lot of polarized reviews of this place around the time I visited. I'd say more negative reviews than positive. Of course, everyone compares this to Fogo in Minneapolis. It was booked on the Saturday we wished to go, so I decided to try Bullvino despite the recent negative reviews. If you've been to Fogo recently, I think you'd agree that lately its much more crowded, seems like Fogo now packs tables close together, and it is very loud and the non-meat bearing servers seem more overwhelmed. The service at Fogo has gone down for these reasons I believe, also prompting me to go for a change. Food at Bullvino: Despite some reviews, the meats were not overcooked. Meats were tasty particularly enjoyed the pork ribs! Great selection/variety and I was asked at least 3 times if I had any requests for particular kind of meat, rarely was I asked this if at all, over at Fogo. My wife commented that she preferred the meats at Bullvino over Fogo. Salad bar- I agree with some reviews here, not as good as Fogo. Salad bar was good, I wouldn't say it was great or amazing. But it was a solid good! Gluten Free: I am a symptomatic celiac, so absolutely need to be gluten free. They had a allergy menu showing various allergens in their salad bar items and meats. Following the guide, I had no issues at all with gluten. I was disappointed to see most salad dressings not gluten free. Desserts were also a bit disappointing on the gluten free front, but not a big deal. Service: Excellent. I feel like since the pandemic, getting a high level of service even at expensive places is getting rare. Bullvino's has the level of service you would expect for the price paid. To me its not anything above expectations, but it SEEMS to be above and beyond these days! Again, its service as I would expect, very attentive, water glasses being refilled promptly, other drinks checked on and asked if more was wanted... bread and other 'starters' also checked on and filled back as much as we wanted. As mentioned above, I was asked multiple times if there was any meats I had not had and wanted, if there was ANYTHING I wanted and did not get... bang on service as expected when I am tipping 20% on a $150 bill. Atmosphere: It was clean, tables set nicely, nothing deficient that I noticed. Overall look of the place was upscale, but wouldn't say that it made me feel particularly special. I didn't feel that there was any particular theme to it. It was almost too open, it didn't feel quaint I guess. Maybe a benefit of this was it was nowhere near as loud as it gets at Fogo, this was highly appreciated. There was nothing special to the overall look. You could see out into some spaces in the surrounding area, but there is nothing that interesting to look at. Again not a big deal, focus on your dining partner/partners!

Great dining experience if this is what you are looking for. The Hmong sauce is a necessity, it adds so much flavor. We would pass on the chicken legs, bottom round, and pork ribs next time, and would stick to top serloin and baby beef. Tip: anything beyond medium rare is more likely to be dry. The salad bar had lots of options, and was very gluten free friendly. Loved the cheese bread and potatoes. There were a few times we asked for things and never got them which was disappointing, however overall it was delicious and we would return.