AG Steakhouse opens in Westbury, taking cues from Fogo de Chão

Fogo de Chão has set the tone for Brazilian steakhouses since it first came to the United States in the late '90s. So when an independently-owned all-you-can-eat rodizio grill like the new AG Steakhouse comes around that feels like it's on the same level, it's a revelation.

The sprawling, neatly manicured property was formerly Cozymel's Mexican Grill. AG is fronted by Long Phu, a restaurant industry veteran who spent two decades managing Fogo de Chão steakhouses in New York City, Baltimore and most recently, Garden City. Phu broke out on his own after Fogo underwent a series of corporate acquisitions and started taking cost-saving methods like cutting staff hours and nixing pork ribs from the menu, he said. 

"After that many years of opening different Brazilian steakhouses, I wanted to open something of my own," Pho said. "I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel."

AG, which stands for Assado Gaúcho, is similar in price and experience to Fogo ($68 a person for the full experience). If anything, it takes it a step further by ramping up the tableside fanfare. Bar carts roam the room, offering freshly-shaken caipirinhas ($12) to order. The bartender asks how sweet you'd like Brazil's national cocktail, and then shakes up the cachaça sugar cane liquor along with cane sugar and lime, making for a pleasingly piquant drink. 

One could make a plentiful meal out of the salad bar alone, which is brimming with cheeses, high-end cold cuts, Brazilian salads, fresh veggies and hearts of palm as well as hearty side dishes like black bean feijoada. (If you can handle it, snap up a couple of those fiery malagueta peppers to set your brain straight.) But don't overdo it with the salad bar because AG goes hog wild with the meat selection. Even when you think you've eaten through all 11 cuts, more will appear.

The bacon-wrapped steak, while not one of the higher end cuts like the rib-eye or picanha, is perfectly cooked to medium-rare and ultra savory wrapped in a corset of salty pork. Another Brazilian beef cut, the fraldinha or bottom sirloin, has the succulent texture of a roasted short rib. In addition, there are pork sausages, pork chops, lamb chops, lamb sirloin and juicy chicken legs.

All of this is interspersed with offerings of fried bananas, fried yucca, mashed potatoes, caramelized pineapples (the best) and gluten free cheese bread. The dessert menu is oversized but not imperative. Because at the end of the day, AG offers a lot of bang for your buck. It's hard to imagine leaving more satisfied . . . or more full.

AG Steakhouse, 1177 Corporate Dr., Westbury, 516-758-1000, agsteak.com. Open 4:30-9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4:30-10 p.m. Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. 

By Andi Berlin

andi.berlin@newsday.comAndiBerlin

Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.