Galpão Crioulo is what you come to Porto Alegre to eat. The restaurant — its name means something like "Creole barn" — is a proper gaúcho churrascaria operating in a large, rustic building designed to evoke the ranch culture of the pampas: rough-hewn timber, cowhide upholstery, gauchos in traditional dress circulating with skewers of meat. This sounds like theatre, and it partly is, but the food is absolutely serious. The rodízio here — the all-you-can-eat format where cuts are brought continuously to the table — is considered one of the best in the city.
The cuts of beef are the reason to come: picanha (rump cap), costela (short rib slow-cooked over an open fire for hours), fraldinha (flank steak), and linguiça gaúcha (the local pork sausage) are the stars of the show. The accompanying salad bar is generous and better than average — sliced hearts of palm, potato salads, and various dressed vegetables. Portions are effectively unlimited; the practical limit is your stomach. Galpão Crioulo tends to fill up at weekend lunchtimes with large family groups; booking is advisable then but usually not necessary on weekday evenings. Pair the meal with a glass of Serra Gaúcha wine or a cold chopp (draft beer) and you have covered the essential Porto Alegre food experience.