08/13/09

Great service...not authentic Brazilian food though

by ABrazilian

I have been at Circus a couple of time for I tend to give a restaurant a second chance when the service is good. The Brazilian apetizers are good, but the typical dishes, specially the ones from the North East of Brazil, are anything but typical. The service was great and the place very welcoming, but the food should not be called Brazilian. The strogonoff is liquidy and bland, the feijoada flavorless, the dishes with dende flavorless as well, the churrasco's meat a bit on the hard side with small selections of meat. If you want real good Brazilian Churrasco the place to go in NYC is Plataforma...for authentic Brazilian cousine go to Casa in the Village. The food at Casa feels like home (I have not eaten anything bad there). Ah, the "Brazilian" drinks at Circus (caipirinha/caipiroska) is made with bottled juice, while in Brazil we use fresh fruit....although they charge a lot for it.

• Pros: service
• Cons: bland food

05/10/08

Food was excellent

by wisebrain

My friend and I both had fish and each were very tender and tasty. The atmosphere is a bit childish, but still fun.

03/17/08

It's all about the attitude

by lex142

The staff here is wonderful. Very friendly, available, and proficient. While the food is better than average, what makes me want to go back is the welcoming atmosphere and the people.

• Pros: staff, atmosphere
• Cons: probably are some but I was too relaxed to notice

01/12/08

Yummy

by shanghailil

Classy place, yummy food, and friendly service. What more could you want? If you like South American food, go there! And bring friends because it's not too crowded for you to stay for hours!

01/08/08

Simply wonderful!

by changmino200

It's a lovely little place with lots of friendly and fun touches. The food is wonderful although one or two dishes were a bit too salty, but the flavors were amazing. The service was great and we were able to spend hours on a relatively slow night, so bonus!

• Pros: wonderful setting and service
• Cons: occasionally salty food

09/08/07

great brazilian restaurant

by cutielorac

this place has great food! the service is more or less good, but every dish we got was so tasty. the ATUM: yellowfin tuna appetizer, and the red snapper dish and churrasco entree's were splendid. the wine recommendation was also exactly matching what we asked for. the only thing that wasn't super attentive was the wait staff, but even that wasn't really bad. it was just more slow and relaxing. we loved it and will come back many times.

• Pros: relaxing, great food, nice atmosphere
• Cons: slow wait staff

08/22/07

This place is addictive; great service & plenty of flavors!!!

by salcisson

You will find fifth avenue quality at very reasonable prices at this place. We first tried Circus for lunch while working a couple of blocks south at Bloomberg Financial; eventually we migrated to work at Wall Street and could no longer make it for lunch but we keep coming back for the flavorfull dishes, great service and refreshing Brazilian cocktails on Fridays. Though you can eat at the bar, it gets a little crowded; hence, the need to make a 1-minute call and reserve your spot at a table.

05/13/07

Best Brazilian Food in the City!

by pyramis81

Went to Circus on a Sunday night with family and friends! This resturant has a great atmosphere, spacious and nicely decorated. The food was amazing, had the octopus and chorizo entree and snapper ceviche, appetizer which was outstanding!!! I highly recomend this restaurant to anyone who wants great brazilian food!!! Plus the staff is highly antentive and sociable. Great for a nice dinner out!!!

• Pros: great food, highly attentive staff

Casual Brazilian restaurant injects the Upper East Side with the spirit and sustenance of South America.

by Contributor

In Short
The name comes from the drawings of acrobats and tightrope walkers adorning the walls, and the circus theme shines through in the restaurant's festive flavor. There's no clown-car crowdedness, with plenty of room to dine--either on red cushioned benches in the front or in the wine bottle-filled back room. Customers make snapper seviche, braised octopus and chorizo, and churrasco disappear. And, in a trick that would impress Houdini himself, they still have room for flan.

05/12/06

Yum

by operationgordida

We came across this place after shopping at Bloomingdales. We tried to get into a couple other places that were packed and then came across this place which had room. We had no idea what to expect but were pleasantly surprised by the good food and attentive wait staff. I had the crab appetizer and the cod for an entree. Both were great. I highly recommend the cod, it melted in my mouth. The rest of my party (3 others) enjoyed their food as well.

• Pros: food, waitstaff, ambience