Hundreds of local first responders were shown just how much they are appreciated when one of the country’s top Brazilian restaurants fed them for free on Labor Day.
Alma Gaucha in Seaport donated roughly 600 grilled steak lunches to Boston and Medford police, fire and first responders during the restaurant’s annual Labor Day “Giving Thanks” event on Monday.
Personnel arrived at Alma Gaucha’s front door with their trucks, squad cars and engines to transport the donated lunches to their respective stations. Each lunch featured a hearty meal packed with beef, chicken, Brazilian sausage, rice, beans, fries and salad.
Alma Gaucha handed out free steak lunches to hundreds of first responders during the restaurant’s sixth annual Labor Day event on Monday, Sept. 7.Courtesy of Alma Gaucha Brazilian Steakhouse, Boston
Meals were freshly prepared by Alma Gaucha’s founder Nelson DeOliveira and his team. The group worked with Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association and Captain Tom Brennan of the Medford Fire Department, to distribute the hundreds of lunches to the first responders working on Labor Day.
“It is an honor to say thank you to our Boston and Medford police, fire and emergency personnel working today, and every day, to keep us safe 24/7,” DeOliveira said in a statement. “We are all part of this same community and it is important to give thanks.”
DeOliveira has donated thousands of Labor Day lunches to Boston-area first responders since he started the initiative in 2020. The restaurant owner feels that the event is an important tradition that Alma Gaucha must uphold.
“We are thankful to our police, fire and first responders for keeping us safe all year long,” DeOliveira said. “On Labor Day, I think it’s very, very important to take good care of them and say thank you the best way we can — through our food and hospitality.”
Alma Gaucha handed out free steak lunches to hundreds of first responders during the restaurant’s sixth annual Labor Day event on Monday, Sept. 7.Courtesy of Alma Gaucha Brazilian Steakhouse, Boston
DeOliveira, who moved from his family’s cattle farm in Brazil to Boston with just $50 in his pocket as a teenager, started Alma Gaucha in 2000. Located at 401 D St. in Boston, the Brazilian restaurant specializes in the Southern Brazilian tradition of various grilled meats, known as “rodízio.”
Diners can select the full rodízio experience — which comes with unlimited servings of beef, pork, chicken, sausage, lamb and fish — or a prix fixe menu that includes two courses. Alma Gaucha also has a salad bar with a variety of vegetables, aged cheeses, imported cured meats and more.
Alma Gaucha has another location at 526 Main St. in Worcester, which opened in 2025.
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