What do you expect when you hear of a Brazilian steakhouse; a place where they serve over a dozen different cuts of meat, delivered on swords to your table? That’s what you are facing at Fogo de Chao.
Well, they really do serve meat on a sword and they do have over a dozen varieties. But what’s really shocking is that the idea came from Brazil
So how are the sword-meats? Overall, pretty dang good. They offer several varieties of chicken and different cuts and flavors of steak, as well as several pork options, lamb, and sausages. All are brought to you when you turn a marker from red to green. And they come fast.
The steak options were a little disappointing. The filet was flavorful, but fatty. Most of the sirloin options were forgettable, except for the Picanha, which has a salt and garlic rub on it. The sausages were surprisingly good; one of the items I never turned down. But the best, most flavorful selection was the chicken wrapped in bacon. It was moist, tender, and has the most exquisite flavor.
Fogo also boasts of its salad bar but this was the biggest disappointment of the night. It can best be summed up in this wise: cooked vegetables should not be served cold.
Along with the salad bar and meat selection, you are also served some Brazilian favorites to your table: fried bananas, fried polenta, mashed potatoes, and rolls. The rolls are infused with parmesan cheese and are a nice, light juxtaposition to the piles of meat. The mashed potatoes were of the instant variety.
The atmosphere at Fogo is . . . dark. The attempt is for “intimate”, but the restaurant is too crowded for that. The tables are so close together that it is difficult to move without banging into someone else. For the price you pay for this extravaganza of meat, you would think that they could remove a couple tables.
Overall, Fogo de Chao merits a 4 out of 5. It was good, but not great. Probably someplace worth going once, for the experience more than anything else. But I can’t say that I‘ll be back next week.
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