Pampas Brazilian Grille in Desert Passage mall at the Aladdin offers skewers of spit-roasted meats served tableside, Brazilian drinks and desserts with a tropical flavor. Photos by Clint Karlsen. The tropical berry parfait refreshes at Pampas. The Brazilian-style steakhouse serves meats including steak, ribs, chicken, ham, turkey, lamb and Brazilian sausage.

Pampas Brazilian Grille in Desert Passage, 3663 Las Vegas Blvd. South, doesn't only feature spit-roasted meat, carved tableside, and a chilled food bar.

For special events the restaurant also offers such amenities as a professional cigar roller to create cigars for diners, as well as a photographer, live Brazilian music entertainment, limousine service and salsa lessons.

Pampas -- the name comes from the Quechua language, an Indian language of South America, and means "plains" -- doesn't have a freezer on the premises, says William Drexel, Pampas' unit partner, because "I don't want anything frozen in my restaurant."

The meats are cooked in a churrasco, or barbecue, that Drexel describes as "a cross between a rotisserie and shish kebab. Brazilian sea salt is the only thing put on the meat."

Diners can eat "all you care to have," Drexel says.

Another unique aspect of the restaurant is the way the wine list is presented -- on the side of a double magnum bottle. The list offers California wine plus vino from Chile, Argentina and Brazil.

There also are several Brazilian specialty drinks, such as the caipirinha, the Brazilian national drink that's made with mulled lime, ice and Cachaca, a distilled white alcohol from pure cane sugar juice.

"The drinks are different here," says bartender Brook Burking. "They're heavy on passion fruits, pomegranate, guava. It's not your usual mixes at all. If you like different, this is definitely the place."

Pampas features a small private dining room that seats as many as 12 people and offers high-speed Internet, Power Point, telephone and large-screen TV, and a 120-seat private room for weddings, wedding rehearsals and receptions, and company dinners.

The main dining room seats 140, or can hold as many as 300 guests without the tables.

Pampas is open daily for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. (737-4748). The bar is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Food is served throughout the day in the bar.

Chilled food selection: Sliced beets, hearts of palm, artichoke, jumbo asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, zucchini, mozzarella, Caesar salad, sweet bell peppers, mixed baby vegetables, mixed field greens, romaine hearts, mixed salads, imported cheese, olives, pickles, pepper salami, prosciutto and smoked salmon.

Grilled selections: Noble sirloin, top sirloin, skirt steak, beef ribs, chicken cuts in mild and spicy flavors, turkey breast wrapped in bacon, ham slow roasted with pineapple, lamb served with the house sauce, Brazilian sausage and a variety of grilled vegetables.

Grilled selections come with Brazilian rice, black bean stew, fried banana, Brazilian cheese bread and Brazilian dumplings.

Lunch is $18 per person and dinner is $29 per person, which does not include drinks, dessert, tax or gratuity.

Desserts: Brazilian flan, tiramisu, passion fruit mousse and passion fruit cheesecake ($7.50 each).

Appetizers is a weekly informational column about new developments on the Las Vegas dining scene. Items should not be considered reviews or recommendations and none is a paid advertisement. Contact Ken White at 383-0256,