This review is for the Plainfield location on South Avenue. Not bad.......HORRIBLE Living on the south side of Scotch Plains and not wanting to travel to Clark to pick up at Clark BBQ I thought I would give this place a shot. What a mistake. Called in the order at 5pm and picked it up 15 minutes later. The chicken was disgusting. It had to be sitting since lunchtime. Not fresh or even hot. The potatoes were spongy and well over salted. Black beans were over salted but other than that tasteless. I suggest passing on this place until they step up their game. This place cannot compare to Clark BBQ. It's further but well worth the ride read more

Been eating here for years even back when it was a hole in the wall. ( Miss those days as it was the same good food just 1/2 of the price). Always a good value and the food is amazing. My personal favorite is the Rodizio but my wife loves Steak on the Stone! Oh and for take out go with the Skirt Steak! read more

This one star review is more than I wanted to give, but there is no option for zero. First, let me say that I've been frequenting this establishment since it opened and have always been happy with the food. Today's review isn't about the food, but rather the terrible take out service, or rather, lack of service, that I experienced this evening. Our order was called in at 3:45 p.m. and in spite of having been read back the order over the phone, it was still wrong. We were told it would be 30 minutes, but knowing this place better, I waited and arrived just after 4:30 p.m.. The parking was my first irritation. There are 2 hadicapped spots, one occupied by someone without a placard. So, while I had to wait for a spot to open and was turning around to take one that someone was vacating, some rude s.o.b. zipped into it. Then as I located another spot to go to, the second handicapped parking spot that was properly being used was vacating. Before I could even think about it, that spot too was taken up, again by someone with no placard. If your establishment really doesn't care about your patrons with physical difficulties, then just turn these spots into regular parking because it just adds insult to injury. Now, as for the pick up: I've never felt that my name is all that difficult to understand or pronounce, it's 6 simple letters, but when I got there, there was no order for my name. I had to repeat my name to the counter clerk because the volume on the TV in the pick up room was so ridiculously loud. It was now clear to me that whoever took our order probably had a hard time hearing anything with as loud as the TV was. Why there is even a TV in there is beyond me. No one should have to wait that long to pick up a take out order that they need to be entertained in surround sound. After there was no order in my name, it was discovered that there was an order for someone named Alexandra, and the order was almost exactly what we had called in. The one exception was the appetizer wasn't what we ordered. I called back home to make sure the order was correct and found out they not only couldn't get my name right, but also got the wrong appetizer. So, I waited....and waited...and waited for the correct one to be made. I didn't walk out the door until 5:15 p.m., an hour after I was scheduled to pick up dinner, yet, there was no apology for the mistake at all. Not a mention of it, no discount for the inconvenience, as if somehow we were the ones who screwed up what we asked for. Now, if whoever took the order on the phone hadn't repeated the correct order back, and also seemed to have an enormous problem understanding my name, then I may have thought it were possible there was an error on our part. Never in my life have I been to a restaurant and not left a gratuity because I'm a habitual over-tipper. I've had slow service, order mistakes, etc., but never without some type of an apology, and I realize that stuff happens and people are human, and I still always leave a generous tip regardless...until today. Being ignored is rude and unforgivable, and even if I loved the food, this was my last visit to Paulo's. read more

HORRIBLE!!!!!!! I will never go back again!!!!! Service was soooooo bad!!!!! Rodizio was dried meats and came around every 20 minutes with the next round. Waiter was no where to be found! Was there for 3 hours and had to ask 3x for the check! NEVER. AGAIN. read more

We always loved it here. The staff and the owner are all so pleasant. Very attentive, friendly and sweet people. The whole place is very clean and you can even sit outside if you want to. The food is excellent and YES the portions are HUGE! Sangria is just ok. My only problem was the kids drinks. I asked for a sprite w/ a splash of cranberry for my 7 year old. It was a special occasion. The presented it and then charged me $5! What? Same thing went to the chocolate milk. All I know is next time I will double check my check. read more

This place is CLEAN and SPOTLESS. Food is good and large portions with a wonderful presentation (not like other places where the food is all over the plate and the waiters thumb print is in your food). Mixed drink prices are very high. Wine (bottle) prices are very good. Beer lines are very clean. read more

Service went from terrible to worse. Lazy waiter with very bad attitude. Wrong meal came out. Waiter tried to convince me to take wrong meal. Right meal came out at desert time, overcooked and was given total of 5 mins before waiter took plate asking if I wanted to take home. Waiter handed all meals to one person at my table and expected customer to hand out to other customers at table for him. Appetizers were undercooked and bad interpretation of tradition simple dishes. One star for the flan and the fact that waiters actually sang for my husband's birthday. Won't be returning ever. read more

Came here wearing a size 12 and left wearing a 14. We ordered the Rodizio and all I can say is OMG!!! The meat and sausages were not only flowing but everything was perfectly cooked. The pineapple at the end was to die for. The Sangria (3 pitchers later) was good to the last drop. Two thumbs up. read more

Extremely rude service. When one of the kids complained about the food, the first response was "you have to pay for it". The owner was more interested in giving excuses instead of listening to the complain. The food was late and overcooked. Last time I ate here. read more

Did our family Christmas dinner here... Had a large group and we came in and ordered in the morning... Come dinner time the food was perfect great service and large portions ... Beer pitchers were good aswell the room does get loud with so many tables being in such close proximity... But solid place for dinner!! read more

Great service and excellent food. I been there many times for take out, catering, and table service and have never had a bad experience.

Some stuff is very good other stuff is not so good I would would stick with the pork ribs and cheesesteak-one of the best around. If you really want the chicken get it but it's not amazing read more

Terrible service , rude owner , never going back. Check your bill they try to overcharge you.

Good food great service! The bar selection is really good as well. Paulo himself is usually there and always comes to the table to greet you. The lunch specials are fabulous and the portions for the value are crazy! You always take home leftovers. The rodizio is impossible as my Husband lost the challenge to the amount of food. The place is immaculate ! I love the patio for lunch and night time dining. Paulo's really sets the exams for the avenue it is on. This restaurant has the best landscaping and the property upkeep is suburb! Way to set the standards! read more

Ordered from there to go. Not bad. Decent BBQ chicken. Garlic chicken could be charred then cooked in garlic instead of mushy..ehhh 3 stars cuz they were nice. read more

We've come here for lunch several times after golf in Ashbrook. The place is amazing. Service is fast, we always order the lunch special for $6.95, draft beer and expresso. Chicken and rib combo is our favorite after walking 18 holes. Place is nice. Took my wife there on a weekend. They get a nice crowd. read more

No question the food is good but the service is absolutely horrific. I came here a year ago and the service was just as bad and because the food was good I thought a year later I would give it another try but the service is even WORSE. I will not give this place another one of my hard earned dollars. It's a sad shame. I'll take the drive to Elizabeth and Newark where they know how to handle the heavy crowds. read more

Exactly the Ironbound / Churrascaria Plataforma equivalent for the NJ market. South Plainfield is LUCKY to have you here!

Rodizio was great! 15 different kinds of meats. And then grilled pineapple for dessert was a nice sweet dessert after that the food they served. Sangria, both white & red were good. Wait staff was friendly & very polite. We are big fans of Paulo's! read more

So disappointed in this place tonight! Awful service...the food was terrible....we have been here many times in the past, and it has completely gone down hill. Will never set foot here again! read more

My husband and I went to Paulo's, for the first time, last night for dinner. It was amazing! The portions were huge and satisfying, the food was scrumptious, the atmosphere was nice, and the service was some of the best I've ever experienced. We were not disappointed one bit, and we plan to visit again soon. read more

This is the first time, I ventured out of the Ironbound for my Rodizio. The meat was in the form of a picadino house style and a bowel of collards. well the dish was okay, but not any better than that , the collards still had dirt in it, they were not washed very good and they were cut goofey style, not stringy like in the Ironbound. Overall, I'd say the food sucked but the service was good and the beer was Modelo on tap, I'd come back for the beer and seafood, leave the meats alone. Ciao! read more

From the friendly staff, to the over-sized portions of food Paulos Barbeque is a homerun. The Rodizio is always really good and not too salty as some places can be. The owner like to greet people at the table and is very friendly. Best thing to me is how clean the kitchen is. Glass window allows you to see the cooks and man do they do a heck of a cleaning job at the end of every night. Paulo's is in our rotation of monthly stops and never disappoints! read more

I love everything about Paulo's best restaurant food is delicious and fresh! Start with shrimp and chorizo! The rice is my favorite with the chicken ribs and steak! Love it read more

This is my second time ordering from this place, definitely my last. My coworkers and I ordered lunch from here. Two of us ordered the salmon well done with vegetables. Which was a HUGE MISTAKE. We both got sick from the food. Tried to call the restaurant for over an hour, and never got anyone. My other co worker ordered shrimp with garlic sauce and substituted the french fries for rice and mixed vegetables. They charged us extra and the order didn't come as we requested. It came with only the vegetables. This place has disappointed us for the last time. I would definitely not recommend eating here. read more

Even though the food's a bit pricey, i feel like it is worth the buck. I usually get the chicken and pork ribs combo but I have explored the menu and it never disappoints. Only complaint is that it is a bit more pricey than comparable Portuguese restaurants in the area. Dining service is good and it is better to call in your order ahead of time so that you're not waiting an hour for your food as they can get pretty busy. read more

Love the food but service lately had been terrible. There use to be a female Clara who worked there, she made the experience so much pleasurable, lately service ruins everything read more

Been to this place a few times. Started off better then Newark, but has declined signifigantly. Service is terrible and slow. Rodizio was tough and the staff tried to hold back on portion size as to save costs. Lost me as a customer. read more

We had great service. The food was amazing. Paulo came out and introduced himself to the tables. I will come back again soon.

Great place to eat! Took my family there and it had excellent service and the food portions (perfect) just be ready to take some home with you! read more

First time I moved into town I gave this place a try and got cubed beef. Horrible total fat threw the whole dish away and called them. Talked to Paulo and he said he will give me 10 percent off next time. Whoopie. Just went there tonight for one final try and this was my final try. My wife got lemon chicken and it was ok. I got pork sandwich and threw the whole dish out. More fat. I took three bites and all were slimy and chewy. So I called them and the owner was busy they claimed and they took my number and said he will call back. I won't hold my breath cause I'm still waiting. Also I waited a hr for my food when I was told 20 min. He also forgot to put my soda in my bag. Never again will I go to this place. And I wouldn't recommend it Wendies fast food would have been better read more

big portions and their sangria was STRONG. I came here for lunch. You can't beat the price.

Been waiting over an hour for a table. Waited 25 minutes to speak to an employee. Finally asked to see a manger and they wouldn't speak with us. The bartender was amazing though! read more

My husband and I have been going to Paulos for years. I have to say although the food is good the passed few times we have gone there we've been very disappointed, specifically with the service. We went there last night for an early dinner around 5pm. We were seated by one waiter who got our drinks right away. My husband and I both ordered the Rodizio. We waited a very long time before anything was brought out to us even though we saw the rodizio going around to other tables. Another waitress came over to us and asked if anybody had waited on us yet. We said yes but we were waiting for a long time and at this point needed another drink. The waitress got our drinks and eventually the rodizio started to come out. What we didn't like was that the first 3 times the waiter brought over a chicken and a sausage. I understand they give you the cheaper meats first but come on chicken and sausage 3x in a row?! I had to tell the waiter we were good on the chicken and sausage. Then they brought out a sirloin which was good. After that they brought out a pork and another kind of chicken! My husband and I were very disappointed that the only type of beef they brought out was the sirloin. Also, usually before they put the meat on your plate they tell you what it is and ask if you want it but not this time, they would just put it on our plate and I had to keep asking what it was. Like I said most of it was chicken and the 2 sirloins were a garlic sirloin and a Brazilian Sirloin. Oh and they did have one other beef which was a shish kabob but we couldn't even chew it because it was so tough and over cooked. By this time we needed another round of drinks. Again our waitress was no where to be found she never once came over to ask us how our food was or if we needed anything. We eventually were able to flag her down. We were both annoyed when another waiter came over and assumed we were done with the rodizio and proceeded to take our plates. We had to tell him we weren't done and we were waiting on more rodizio. Again they brought out sirloin for the 3rd time! At this point we were so annoyed with the service and food selection that we asked for our bill. We gave the waitress half cash and the other half was to be put on a credit card. A little while later a different waitress came over to us with our bill and payment asking if we wanted the cash put towards the bill then the rest on the card. I said yes. We waited a good 15 minutes and neither waitress was no where to be found. I saw the 2nd waitress towards the front of a dining room sweeping and our original waitress behind the bar making drinks. I walked over to her to see if they had my bill. I was told it was taking a while because they are not allowed to deal with the money end of the bill and the manager has to do it. I finally got my card back. Although both waitresses were nice the service was horrible just as it has been the passed couple of times we've been there. I understand last night was a Saturday night but thats not an excuse for the crappy service. They should of came over to us at least once to ask how everything was and if we needed anything we shouldn't have had to flag our waitress down as many times as we did. Our previous visit was on a Thursday night and the service was horrible then too. Not sure we will be back anytime soon. read more

Extremely disappointed with the service this evening. We called to order food for take out. They took the order and said TWENTY minutes. Why would you say 20 mins if you are THAT busy. My husband went to go pick it up after 20 mins and then sat there for an hour and a half waiting for take out food that we called and ordered ahead of time! Other people were there waiting for over an hour or more too. All that was said to anyone was the kitchen was slow. They continued to take phone orders. If you know you're running hours behind then why would you do that?? I understand things happen and so forth but when you don't show your customers you care at all and make comments like "then leave if you want" that's when it becomes a problem. I've been here before they made it obvious they don't care that much about their customers to not even apologize or compensate in any way to even want us to go back. read more

This rating is based solely on service as I've been going here for more than 15 yrs- the sever came to our table asked if we'd like sangria we said yes Red please and we'll start with Calamari. When he left we noticed they had it with garlic shrimp so I went up to him as he was putting the order in and asked to change it he said no problem- out came regular calamari so we sent it back. He apologized saying it was the kitchen. We then put our order in- beef ribs and chicken with salad and chips- ribs well done. Out came pork ribs and beef ribs! We called to a server and said we ordered chicken and ribs he took it away. Our server came over and said sorry they brought the wrong dish that was someone else's. I said really the ordered salad and chips too? Finally our food comes out. I cut into a rib and it's rare! I called to a sever totally disgusted by now and said we ordered well done. He looked at the rib shook his head said sorry and took the plate. Next comes our server saying sorry the kitchen is so busy I hope you don't take it out on me. I said 3 times the kitchen got it wrong??! Then the sever got the wrong table??! His response- sorry they are busy there is a party. I said we've been here 45 mins before that party came and asked for the check. Again he apologized and said sorry I hope you don't take it out on me. read more

It's all about steak on a stone. Place is amazing. Great prices and very large portions. I love that I don't have to drive to Newark or Elizabeth to eat great food. I can walk there, which is usually best because I love their red sangria. read more

Paulo has built a big inviting clean self professed "Churrasqueira" right in the middle of little blue collar South Plainfield staffed with courteous caring servers. The building is huge and somewhat out of place for its location in town however their food is just average. Based on having traveled the US for decades in a sales position with an unlimited expense account in which I was encouraged to splurge on my customers dining whims I developed a taste for Spanish/Portuguese food and Paulo's offerings on average unfortunately are mediocre at best... Yes they do give you big portions but that does not make the quality of the food 5 stars. I can't emphasize enough how much I want to like this place based on its location in my hometown and the many wonderful qualities of Paulo's including the great staff, fast service, separate and convenient take-out counter and warm ambience however I know Portuguese food and have eaten much better usually for less money. We've eaten most of their items and the chicken is always good and juicy however perfecting that crispy chicken exterior seems to elude them. My favorite item the la carne o el bacalao pescan empanadas (meat or cod fish empanadas) or as Paulo's calls em "fried croquets" are excellent and while the sides of fries are always tired the arroz del azafrán or "saffron rice" is flavorful, light and consistently decent. We occasionally get takeout specifically the grilled chicken sandwiches which are always good or steak sandwiches which range from good to what we laughingly call "gristle steak". Here is one of my biggest issues with this eatery their line of meat especially the sandwich beef they serve (and I honestly really don't know what it is) reminds me of a tough chewy cut of flank or skirt steak although lately seems to be improving. In Paulo's defense over the years the food has painstakingly slowly gotten better however they have a long way to go to even reach 4 stars imo. read more

Great rodizio. Best pork you will ever eat. Great atmosphere for dine in. Fast service for take out. Good value for the money as portion sizes are generous. read more

Food was good, service was meh, lunch menu prices were great. But I was blown away when I got my bill for some takeout for a fellow co-worker. There was a miscellaneous charge of a dollar on the bill. When I asked what is was for I about died. THEY CHARGED ME FOR THE CONTAINER!!!! REALLY?!?!? read more