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Food Point, a Brazilian steakhouse at 413 Main St., will reopen at 9 a.m. July 4. During the a six-month hiatus, the restaurant has reconfigured its dining rooms, menu and pricing to simplify its offerings to customers. Saturdays will feature all-you-can-eat meats, served tableside, known as rodizio style. (Libby Kamrowski Kenny/Staff Photographer)  

LEWISTON — After a six-month hiatus, Brazilian steakhouse Food Point, located at 413 Main St., is reopening on Friday morning with a new menu and pricing, and a simplified service.

Owner Rita Ferreira said customers in Lewiston did not understand her initial concept of a buffet-style service and realized she needed to rethink how to approach serving the community with a more traditional approach to the Brazilian style of steakhouse.

The main dining room is reconfigured and a small stage is being added for live music on the weekend, which will be limited to solo artists or small ensembles.

Lunch service will focus on a small menu, with an emphasis on quick service takeout and delivery from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Brazilian steakhouse Food Point has reconfigured its dining rooms, menu and pricing to simplify its offerings to customers in the past six months. Saturdays will feature all-you-can-eat meats, served tableside, known as rodizio style. (Libby Kamrowski Kenny/Staff Photographer)  Libby Kamrowski Kenny/Staff Photographer

Dinner is offered from 5-9 p.m. and features the more traditional grilled meats like picanha (sirloin cap), bitoque — a thin-cut steak served with rice and a fried egg and a signature pan sauce of butter, garlic and wine — and ribeye. A mixed grill is offered as well as one or more seafood dishes served Brazilian style.

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The weekend is where things get interesting. Brunch will be served from 9-11 a.m. both days. On Saturday the rodizio is the main event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with a rotation of all-you-can-eat meats served tableside. This is what was missing when the restaurant opened a year ago. A smaller, relocated buffet line features sides such as rice, toasted cassava, black beans, plantains and a salad bar all inclusive at $30 per person. Dinner is served from 5-9 p.m. off the menu.

Rita Ferreira, owner of Food Point, shows off her restaurant’s new dining room Tuesday. The Lewiston resident is originally from Angola, a former Portuguese colony. (Libby Kamrowski Kenny/Staff Photographer)

The Sunday lineup is brunch, followed by a traditional Brazilian Sunday meal called feijoada — a hearty black bean-based stew, simmered with pork ribs, sausage and smoked meats, served with rice, collard greens and farofa (cassava). Dinner is served off the menu from 5-9 p.m.

The bar remains open after dinner service on Friday and Saturday nights until 1 a.m. and there will be music both nights, with live music on Sundays from 1-5 p.m. The bar is a full-service bar with beer, wine and cocktails with house specials like caipirinha — traditionally made with cachaca, a Brazilian rum made from sugar cane. Caipirinhas are offered with traditional lime juice or passion fruit, strawberry or mango.

Dessert offerings are Brazilian flan, chocolate cake and fresh fruit.

The pricing is much more straightforward and reasonable and once up and running should be easier for customers to digest.

Delivery and takeout can be ordered online through the Food Point website at www.foodpointgrillhouse.com. The phone number is 207-241-2717.

Food Point will reopen at 9 a.m. Friday for brunch, followed by lunch and dinner services.

The Buzz offers quick hits about trending area business happenings. Have a Buzzable tip? Contact business writer Christopher Wheelock at 689-2817 or [email protected]

A long-time journalist, Christopher got his start with Armed Forces Radio & Television after college. Seventeen years at CNN International brought exposure to major national and international stories...

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