We Planned Our Entire South Carolina Itinerary Around a Restaurant
At the beginning of 2020, as we were minimizing the "stuff" in our lives, we also did a kitchen overhaul. We went through every pantry drawer and cabinet and threw out/donated all foods that had processed, refined, or sugary ingredients. With the exception of treats here and there, we have successfully stuck with clean eating since then. We opt for unrefined, mostly organic foods, and we prioritize simple, quality products and ingredients. This has resulted in some type of restaurant ennui, where we're sitting in a restaurant and can literally taste the cruddy oils and high sodium content. We're also passionate about home cooking, which leaves us far too often playing the "I could cook this better" game.
So when we hit the road, we had everything set and ready for RV cooking. We have some really amazing appliances: an electric skillet, a Pizzazz oven, and an Instant Pot, to name a few. We're living this lifestyle to be more healthy, so we weren't about to let a small kitchen drag us into a routine of constant eating out.
That being said, some restaurants are well worth the break from home cooking. Cheesetique in DC was one. The other is Rioz Brazilian Steakhouse in South Carolina. We first happened upon this restaurant when we were in Myrtle Beach on our East Coast road trip. To this day, we rave about the food we had on this trip, but Rioz always stuck out in our minds. When we made the decision to road trip again - this time via RV - Anthony was dead-set on having dinner at Rioz to celebrate his birthday in February. Well, our launch got delayed, and so a February dinner turned into March dinner, but we still had our priorities straight. We were going back to Rioz no matter how long it took us to get there! This time, instead of heading to the coast, we stayed further west, to the other Rioz location in Columbia. We chose an RV Park solely based on the fact that it was just minutes from the restaurant, and on our first evening, we headed out to relive the deliciousness that we had experienced 5 years prior.
If you've never experienced a Brazilian Steakhouse, let's give you the rundown. The meal consists of an all-you-can-eat buffet, as well as passed foods - usually meats. You are given a token that is red on one side and green on the other. When you're ready to have the servers come over with the passed foods, you flip your token to green. When you're slowing down, taking a break, or heading to the buffet, you flip it to red. In a good Brazilian Steakhouse, the food consists of basically everything imaginable. At the buffet you'll find an array of salad foods, crudité, pastas, potatoes, rice, beans, plantains, and so much more. The passed meats usually include a couple of chicken options, steak options, pork, and sometimes lamb. Another passed staple is the grilled pineapple. Also who can forget the bread basket, filled with warm, fresh Brazilian cheese breads!
In Massachusetts, we lack Brazilian steakhouses. We have one chain that is hoity toity and very expensive, but it's sufficient to satisfy a whim. Otherwise, the Brazilian steakhouses we've found are a lot smaller and do not have the variety that we've come to love about this cuisine. Rioz to us is the perfect balance. It's a big restaurant with an equally big selection, but it's no frills, and we like that. True to our favorite type of dining, the food is simple but well prepared, and it tastes good quality.
When a restaurant is worthy of our appreciation, we stop playing the "I could cook this better" game and instead become inspired to create our own recipes in order to pay homage to the menu. Since our visit to Rioz in 2017, we have made our own Brazilian cheese breads and have also perfected the grilled pineapple. After this visit, we'll be revisiting our go-to roasted potato seasonings, because after our palates dissected an interesting combination of spices, we are looking forward to broadening our horizons. One item that was sadly missing from our experience, and that we have yet to attempt on our own, is the fried polenta. According to our waitress it's on an alternating basis, and we missed out. Too bad, since Rioz is also the only Brazilian Steakhouse we've been to that has this on the menu, and theirs is truly delectable. Anthony has been saying that we need to return to Rioz again soon, just so we can get our polenta fix.
We could go on about the menu, but the moral of this story is two-fold. 1, when you're in a new area, go places that might be a little outside your comfort zone. On our road trip we didn't opt for the safe, familiar chain restaurants. We branched out and found some of our favorite restaurants in the entire country. And 2, the beauty of RV life is making it your own. We don't always need to go to the top tourist attractions or see the most famous sights. Sometimes, one of the best moments can come from a delicious meal after working up an appetite on travel day. And the meal, of course, must be capped off with dessert.
