Took my family for Christmas Eve dinner and was very disappointed. Cheese bread was cold, same meats came out multiple times so by the time new assortments came around, we were full, quality of salad bar was not impressive.
Nice place for special occasion. Shout out to Jessie! She did a fantastic job at making sure we are happy. Food is great and serving speed is fast. I like their salad bar with a lot of options. They do celebrate my girlfriend birthday with a free dessert, so kudos to Agora. I will come back.
TobyM
We made a reservation but still had to wait 20 minutes. Then they seated us in the back corner where we were pretty much forgotten about for a majority of the night. Hardly had any meats come our way but at the very least when it did, the food was really good. Probably would not recommend unless you come during a less busy time.
Marianne
We love Agora and have been loyal customers for nine years, ever since we moved to Irvine. It has always been a place where we go celebrate holidays. We are very saddened to know that the place is closing at the end of December. I can't believe Irvine Company pretty much squeezed them out. My heart goes out to all the employees and owners of the restaurant and I sincerely hope that they will find even better place for this restaurant somewhere else in Orange County. I promise we will be there when it happens.
MargaretC
Agora Churrascaria is my go-to Brazilian BBQ spot in Irvine. I know others enjoy Fogo or Texas de Brazil but I've never had a poor experience at Agora. I love the tomato vinaigrette to use with my meat. They check in if I have any requests too. More picanha please! Can I also get more of the chicken kebab? The sweet hot chili shrimp was so tasty! On top of that, I've had great experiences all around going for a Birthday dinner.
We used to love Agora but had not been since before Covid. They have significantly downsized the cold part of the buffet - not as many vegetables, especially upscale vege (i.e., artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, etc.). The hot buffet now included sauted mushrooms and creamed corn which is nice but what I would define as filler foods. We were disappointed that they no longer had skirt steak as one of the meat options (we asked and told they do not carry it any more). They did add shrimp skewers but they were very spicy. We were also given cheese rolls that we cold and when asked for fresh, our waitress brought us basket back and told us "she had zapped them" - guessing that means microwaved them, not fresh.
HBBear
Excellent Brazilian Barbecue. This is our place for special events. So glad that they are open on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. We spend the holidays with them. Excellent service and the food quality if phenomenal. We love this place!!!!!
It has been 5+ years since we have eaten here, since we moved away from Irvine. We were visiting this weekend and we're glad we returned to this restaurant. It was excellent, just like we remembered.
Randall Lewis
Went to Agora for my birthday. Our server, Jessie, was fantastic. A word of advice: this place is about all the meat you can eat. The shrimp, lamb chops, corazon and pricanha are the stars.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Louie Arevalo
Always a great experience at Agora. Shockingly there is hardly a wait time and the staff is extremely attentive. Kudos!
A terrific birthday dinner! Good wine selection, excellent salad bar options including their black bean soup and of course, the star of the show, the meat. So much meat, so many great options. Jessie, our server, was very attentive and she took excellent care of us, she made sure our wine glasses were never empty and even asked our favorite cuts and asked the gauchos to stop by our table first.
JoseR
Agora used to have a top-notch salad bar, but not anymore apparently based on our last visit. And after the initial round of meat, we had to wait quite a bit of time and even had to ask for the next rounds to arrive. The meat was good in general but not cooked to the optimal point (under cooked at times). Seems they had issues keeping up with the volume of clients. Not planning to return.
SusanB
We love Agora, and always come here for special occasions. We are so saddened to hear that yet another of our favorite restaurants is being discontinued courtesy of the Irvine Company. It's borderline criminal the way they treat their tenants. So so frustrating. Looks like we have to move out of Irvine to access good restaurants.
ShannonF
Went here to celebrate our anniversary. The drinks were great, the food was amazing. The salad bar had great choices, the meats that came around were all amazing. We got the chocolate gelato and the blood orange sorbet for dessert and they were so good. Well definitely be back.
Jordan “CRVNE” DuBoise
Great Brazilian steakhouse. Salad bar has a variety of good options and the meats are cooked and salted to perfection.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Salad Bar, Picanha Steak, Fried Banana, Mashed Potatoes Hot Foods, Brazilian Cheese Bread, Lamb Chops
Took my family for Christmas Eve dinner and was very disappointed. Cheese bread was cold, same meats came out multiple times so by the time new assortments came around, we were full, quality of salad bar was not impressive.
Nice place for special occasion. Shout out to Jessie! She did a fantastic job at making sure we are happy. Food is great and serving speed is fast. I like their salad bar with a lot of options. They do celebrate my girlfriend birthday with a free dessert, so kudos to Agora. I will come back.
We made a reservation but still had to wait 20 minutes. Then they seated us in the back corner where we were pretty much forgotten about for a majority of the night. Hardly had any meats come our way but at the very least when it did, the food was really good. Probably would not recommend unless you come during a less busy time.
We love Agora and have been loyal customers for nine years, ever since we moved to Irvine. It has always been a place where we go celebrate holidays. We are very saddened to know that the place is closing at the end of December. I can't believe Irvine Company pretty much squeezed them out. My heart goes out to all the employees and owners of the restaurant and I sincerely hope that they will find even better place for this restaurant somewhere else in Orange County. I promise we will be there when it happens.
Agora Churrascaria is my go-to Brazilian BBQ spot in Irvine. I know others enjoy Fogo or Texas de Brazil but I've never had a poor experience at Agora. I love the tomato vinaigrette to use with my meat. They check in if I have any requests too. More picanha please! Can I also get more of the chicken kebab? The sweet hot chili shrimp was so tasty! On top of that, I've had great experiences all around going for a Birthday dinner.
We used to love Agora but had not been since before Covid. They have significantly downsized the cold part of the buffet - not as many vegetables, especially upscale vege (i.e., artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, etc.). The hot buffet now included sauted mushrooms and creamed corn which is nice but what I would define as filler foods. We were disappointed that they no longer had skirt steak as one of the meat options (we asked and told they do not carry it any more). They did add shrimp skewers but they were very spicy. We were also given cheese rolls that we cold and when asked for fresh, our waitress brought us basket back and told us "she had zapped them" - guessing that means microwaved them, not fresh.
Excellent Brazilian Barbecue. This is our place for special events. So glad that they are open on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. We spend the holidays with them. Excellent service and the food quality if phenomenal. We love this place!!!!!
It has been 5+ years since we have eaten here, since we moved away from Irvine. We were visiting this weekend and we're glad we returned to this restaurant. It was excellent, just like we remembered.
Went to Agora for my birthday. Our server, Jessie, was fantastic. A word of advice: this place is about all the meat you can eat. The shrimp, lamb chops, corazon and pricanha are the stars.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Always a great experience at Agora. Shockingly there is hardly a wait time and the staff is extremely attentive. Kudos!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Salad Bar, Picanha Steak, Fried Banana, Brazilian Cheese Bread
Restaurantji Recommends
A terrific birthday dinner! Good wine selection, excellent salad bar options including their black bean soup and of course, the star of the show, the meat. So much meat, so many great options. Jessie, our server, was very attentive and she took excellent care of us, she made sure our wine glasses were never empty and even asked our favorite cuts and asked the gauchos to stop by our table first.
Agora used to have a top-notch salad bar, but not anymore apparently based on our last visit. And after the initial round of meat, we had to wait quite a bit of time and even had to ask for the next rounds to arrive. The meat was good in general but not cooked to the optimal point (under cooked at times). Seems they had issues keeping up with the volume of clients. Not planning to return.
We love Agora, and always come here for special occasions. We are so saddened to hear that yet another of our favorite restaurants is being discontinued courtesy of the Irvine Company. It's borderline criminal the way they treat their tenants. So so frustrating. Looks like we have to move out of Irvine to access good restaurants.
Went here to celebrate our anniversary. The drinks were great, the food was amazing. The salad bar had great choices, the meats that came around were all amazing. We got the chocolate gelato and the blood orange sorbet for dessert and they were so good. Well definitely be back.
Great Brazilian steakhouse. Salad bar has a variety of good options and the meats are cooked and salted to perfection.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Salad Bar, Picanha Steak, Fried Banana, Mashed Potatoes Hot Foods, Brazilian Cheese Bread, Lamb Chops