A new restaurant is bringing flavors from below the equator to Easton Centre Square: Rios Brazilian Steakhouse officially moved from Nazareth to Easton on Wednesday.
“We always have Easton in our hearts,” owner Dina Geleski said.
The family-owned steakhouse aims to provide the flavors of Southern Brazil with the experience of traditional “churrascaria,” meaning meat is cooked in a churrasco style, according to its website. “Churrasco” roughly translates to “barbecue” in Portuguese.
Rios is now housed in what used to be downtown Easton staple The Bayou.
“This is spectacular, the way they’ve done it,” said Kim Platt, the building’s manager, about Rios. “It’s the nicest, cleanest, well-thought-out restaurant that I’ve ever seen.”
Available dishes include pork ribs, chicken legs and chicken heart. Rios also serves stews, cheese bread and potato dishes.
The restaurant hosted its opening ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon on Wednesday, attended by employees, local business owners, city of Easton employees and a few loyal customers.
The daughter of the owners, Victoria Geleski, cut the ribbon with a comically large pair of scissors to commemorate the official opening of Rios in Easton.
“This is very emotional for me because I grew up in the restaurant,” Victoria Geleski said. “This is my dad’s dream to be in this building.”
“It’s a pleasure to have you guys here and start a new chapter for our lives,” said owner Edson Geleski.
Julie VanOsdol, the manager of the Easton Main Street Initiative, opened up the ceremony.
“We are very lucky we kind of stole them over here,” said VanOsdol, who added that Rios is “fitting into a puzzle piece” of downtown Easton.
Mayor Sal Panto also joined the ceremony to add a few words.
“This is, without a doubt, one of the best corners in the city,” Panto said about Rios’ location.
Other business owners showed support for the new establishment entering the city circle.
“We love being here because everybody is so supportive,” said Steve Geracimo, co-owner of Duchess Cookies. “We always try to do our best to help our community stay local.”
Dina Geleski said that many customers support Rios’ change in location, claiming they will continue to prove their loyalty and visit the establishment. Several customers were present at the restaurant’s ribbon ceremony earlier on Wednesday.
According to Geleski, however, some customers were not pleased with the move, claiming that there is not enough parking available.
“Well, we don’t make everybody happy,” she said.
Geleski said that the search for a city for their restaurant, 17 years ago, started in Easton but landed in Nazareth. Now, the family is back to their first intended spot.
“Nazareth was our home for 17 years,” Geleski said. “Of course I’m going to miss it, but I’m very excited for our next chapter.”