It takes a lot for a salad to excite us. Perhaps it's because they rarely feature delicious Brazilian sausage.
Among the Colombian hot-dog places and Argentine steak houses in North Beach stands Little Brazil. The Collins Avenue restaurant offers the Salada Little Brazil ($14.95), a dish with bits of linguiça sausage -- Brazilian sausage packed with juicy pork and a mild touch of heat -- atop a bed of lettuce.
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The dish combines sautéed sausage with succulent jumbo shrimp in a sauce made with garlic, white wine, lemon, and butter sauce; palm hearts; carrots; and tomato over lettuce.
The young waiter placed it in the center of the table. And a moment later, he returned with a clean plate so we could serve ourselves. But no way, not with this salad. We weren't sharing.
We wanted this monster straight out of the serving dish. We also never touched the oil and vinegar placed on the table. Each bite led us closer to that decadent butter sauce. Slivers of garlic clung to our fork and balanced the palm hearts.
There's no way this is a healthful salad lunch choice. It's actually so much more.
For a real Brazilian treat, on Saturdays, you can also order the national dish of Brazil: feijoada. It's a stew of black beans, fresh and dried beef, fresh and salted pork, bacon, sausage, and ribs.
Every other day of the week, get the salad.
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