The Room
NB Steak opened on Alameda Lorena in Jardins in 2009 — chef-restaurateur Newton Brandão's premise that São Paulo needed an American-format steakhouse to complement the city's churrascaria-led steakhouse scene. The room runs the dry-aged, à la carte, single-cut format that defines the New York steakhouse tradition, applied to Brazilian beef.
The dining room reads as the polished modern steakhouse Brandão built it to be. Sixty seats across one floor, banquette seating in deep brown leather, dark wood paneling, low pendant lighting that holds the room at the level a serious dinner demands. The dry-aging cabinet at the back of the dining room is visible from every seat — the case the room makes for its premise.
NB Steak is one of the most consistent modern steakhouses in São Paulo. The booking window holds at one week for weekends, and the kitchen delivers the meal it promises every visit.
The Food
The kitchen runs the American steakhouse format. The dry-aged ribeye for two at R$420 is the working anchor cut and the order to make on a first visit. The bone-in New York strip, the centre-cut filet and the porterhouse for two are the regulars' three other orders. All beef is dry-aged on premise — twenty-eight to forty-five days depending on the cut.
Sides hew to American steakhouse classics — creamed spinach, mac and cheese, sautéed mushrooms, hand-cut fries — with a Brazilian-influenced palmito gratiné that reads as the room's local register. The wine programme is American-and-French-led with a substantial Argentine Malbec bench. The Bordeaux list runs deep enough for the upper register.
Service is brigade-American steakhouse — formal but warm, paced at the rhythm a long dinner demands. The captains know the regulars by drink within two visits.
Best Occasion Fit
Close a Deal: NB Steak is the Jardins American-format deal dinner. The room is quiet enough for the conversation, the dry-aged programme is the conversation, and the cellar is serious enough for the host to look prepared.
Team Dinner: NB's private room handles a sixteen-top with the polished pace the form demands. The set steakhouse menu is the right register for a corporate dinner.
Birthday: Birthdays at NB are quiet, generous events. The kitchen sends out a small dessert with a candle. The booth at the back is the seat to request.