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Categories: Latin American, Brazilian, Steakhouses [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Near North Side, River NorthChicago (Purple Express, Brown)
Chicago (Red)
Mon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Mon-Thu. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Fri. 5:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Sat. 4:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Sun. 4:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
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Excellent food fest!
From all the meats, the salad bar, etc... EVERYTHING was excellent! I took a large group here and everyone had the same "wow" factor. From the sirloin to the garlic chicken, the meat was perfect.
Not much else to be said. It is not cheap, but worth every penny. The service was outstanding, the wine list extensive and the atmosphere was festive.
Have you ever walked up to a restaurant, seen something right in the front that just makes you go "Oh my god, this is going to be amazing!"? Well, I did last night, and it was at Fogo de Chao. Dig around the photos for this place and you'll see a flame with four beef ribs spinning around it - a carnivore's vision of joy - and that is *right in the front of the restaurant*. To say I was enthusiastic at that sight would be an understatement.
The interior is separated into a waiting area, a bar and then the main dining area. The restaurant is beautiful with lots of beige and orange colors throughout. The feel is very modern but with flair. The staff are dressed in uniforms inspired by the "Gaucho", a loose analogy to cowboys in the old west. This includes a festive scarf around their necks. The staff is attentive, friendly, knowledgeable and most of all patient as you ask them 100 questions about the food. The facilities are clean and beautifully presented.
The salad bar is often the trap of a churrascaria. You want to taste some of the stuff there, but not fill up so much that you can't enjoy the main feature: the meat! I sampled some veggies including asparagus (some of the biggest I've ever seen, and crunchy), mushrooms sautee with white wine (wonderful flavor that hits the nose nicely) and huge beets that were meaty and tasty. The cheeses that were put out were deep and delicious, especially the parm. reg. right out of the wheel, yum!
The meats were extraordinarily tender and tasty. It's always a bit sad when you go to a steak house and you have to drown the meat in sauce to get flavor. Not here. The lamb had a deep flavor without being overly gamy, the beef had a wonderful flavor to it and the lamb chops were to die for. I wasn't as crazy about the filet mignon, but I think that's because I got a well done piece instead of the medium rare I usually prefer (I had forgotten to specify and just said "yes!" when the guy swung by. The capper for the night were the *huge* beef ribs that are slow roasted for 4 hours. I was full at that point but there was no way I could pass this up. Fortunately one of my friends shared it with me. The meat was tender, juicy and it had just the right amount of saltiness. It was awesome.
Be warned however, this place is not light on the wallet. Be prepared to spend at least $60 per head, but I promise it will be worth it!
Of the four Brazilian steakhouses in the area, this one certainly is the best!
Yeas-
nice lamb chops (not game-y)
best beef ribs
the softest popovers ever!
NO CHARGE to bring your own cake!
Nays
salad area just a compliation of cold cuts, cheese and steamed veggies
Fogo de Chao, Brazzaz, and Texas de Brazil are the key Chicago Brazilian steakhouses. I haven't tried Texas de Brazil yet, but between the other two, I have to recommend Brazzaz. Three reasons:
1. Brazzaz has fried plantains (bananas?) as a side, while Fogo de Chao offers bananas that are a bit too sweet and soggy. Brazzaz wins on sides.
2. Fogo de Chao doesn't have shrimp.
3. Brazzaz has more of an upscale feel, which is difficult to specify, but I've noticed it each time I'm there.
The line between Fogo de Chao and Brazzaz may be thin, but even so I prefer Brazzaz.
I can't believe I haven't Yelped this place yet. We come here at least 4 times a year, while making numerous stops to other Brazilian steak houses and South American restaurants. This one, BY FAR, is our fave.
I love coming for dinner - the turnover rate of the meat is high and the service is super attentive. Whenever we'd asked for anything, it would magically appear within 1 minute, like they're communicating via telepathy. The bread was always warm and soft and replaced instantly as soon as my fiance polished off basket after basket (he inhales food!) The polenta dish is much better at dinner than at lunch b/c it's actually warm and soft on the inside and crispy on the outside - I usually avoid it at lunch meals when it's cold and dense (gross).
I was very surprised that when I asked the server what kind of wine he recommends for me, he offered one of the cheapest ones. And it was right on the money. Normally I feel like the server offers the most expensive ones to make a few more bucks in tip- in this case, he made more $ in tip b/c he actually listened to me. Good job :)
I went here with my brother for his bday. Being a bostonian, i used my fellow yelpers to assist me in picking the best place for the meatlovers. Then I met Fogo de Chao. Can I just start off by saying best SERVICE EVER???
We had like 5-6 people helping just our table every 20 seconds whether it was replacing our side dishes, refilling our water, changing plates, delivering meats and meeting our additional special requests. I think I had my water refilled about 6 times in 40min I was there. That's solid.
Their unlimited salad bar was fresh, clean and high-endish (i hate cheap salad bars). On top of that, they kept giving out unlimited amounts of 4 side dishes (all of them were really good but I want the readers to know that their garlic mashed potatoes were impressive).
Now, I've been to at least 3-4 Brazillian BBQ places. What they have in common is that they sprinkled more salts than we could ever bear and that the quality of the meat weren't very good (it can get very tough and chewy). The meats they offered were out of this world....fillet minion, rib eyes, beef ribs, lamb chops, picanas, ahhhh...i can't even name em all because i'm in meat coma right now. They were tender and salted evenly for once.
After we were so full, the waiter asked if we wanted any desserts....i was like yea...ok, i can't even breathe right now. But he said that they have this papaya smoothie that has enzymes that can assist our stomachs digest/breakdown all the meat. So i said why not. Let's try it. Oh boy...i don't know about this whole digestion thingy but we could not stop eating this papaya smoothie.
All in all, it was one of the better brazilian bbq experience, but after dropping $150 for my bro's bday, I'm not sure it's it is 5 star worthy.
You take my money, I'll take a star from you Fogo. =)
This was my first exposure to a churrascaria, which is a Brazilian steakhouse. OMG, where have you been my whole life? And now I've lost you.
But I remember you well. A hefty price tag, to be sure (though lunch abates it quite a bit and you only lose some expensive meats and upper end salad bar items), but what a MEAT experience. You start off with the salad bar - not just cold salad, but all sorts of grilled veggies, pasta salads, caprese, and it goes on and on. At dinner you get some lobster and other items in the buffet, too. The temptation to fill up on you is great, but I was warned not to on my first trip, and oh did I learn.
Because then there's the MEAT.
They have cooks walking around with skewers of kebabs, seasoned meats, sausages, pork, all sorts of MEAT. You are given a paper disc that is red on one side and green on the other; it starts red. If you flip it to green, the chefs stop at your table and offer their fare. So I started with two, well three, oh god that looks good four okay STOP. Quickly I had amassed four kinds of meat on my plate and didn't want it to get cold (and that's one of the great things about this system; you just get as much as you want and then stop for a while, to eat while still hot - and then repeat.)
Repeat how often?
However much you like. It is limitless, and you had better keep some modicum of cognitive self-control about you, or else the flavor will let you gorge to the point of pain.
Yes, they were delicious. Strongly spiced in fantastic ways to bring out the meat's flavor best. Granted, I didn't like the taste of everything there, but what I did like... oh, blissful MEAT.
Yes, it's a multi-city chain. But it still rocks. Their tagline is "The Gaucho Way of Preparing Meat ®" If you want to see pictures of the amazing salad bar and meat skewers, go to their web site (http://www.fogodechao.com).
Apparently they have a decent wine selection (I only skimmed) and large desserts - but who has room? I don't. Or at least didn't, when I could still go there.
Go for me. Have outrageous amounts of delicious MEAT. Just don't bring a vegetarian date, unless they don't mind being surrounded by meat and you're willing to pay a huge amount for them to eat from the salad bar all evening (which is wonderful, but not worth *that* price).
Maybe one day....
(Note: I really wanted to give it 4.5 stars. I went back and amended to 5 stars because of these types of steakhouses, it really is the best I've run across, though it's not the best pure *steakhouse* - but that's not what they are trying to do.)
I took my dad to Fogo de Chao for a surprise birthday dinner with some of his friends.... though I must insert a disclaimer here: I do not eat red meat. So how the hell does a girl like me review a Brazilian steakhouse, you ask? Because the look on my dad's face said it all as he bit into his Filet Mignon. Basically, he won't quit raving about the place.
As for my own personal feelings on what I had (salad bar & side dishes)... oh, & I had the Tropical Caipirinha from the bar before we started (HOLY crap, i think my taste buds died & went to heaven!)... I admit I was expecting a little more from this salad bar after everyone I know kept raving about it, but either way, I ate my face off. I was a big fan of the polenta & potatoes they serve on the table, also. The other highlight of the evening? There were 3 birthdays being celebrated at our table, and they gave us 3 free desserts, something I was definitely not expecting!
If you drink, be prepared to drop some serious buckage, but it's worth it. The great service we received (those servers are like freakin' meat snipers... the minute your card gets flipped over, they're all over you!) definitely makes this worthy of a 4-star review.
Fogo de Chao never disappoints. They have mastered the dynamic combination of classy ambiance, attentive service, and mouthwatering meat. I should say though, it isn't only the meat that is out of this world. I love the mashed potatoes and plantains that get constantly refreshed at your table and the cheeses and what not at the salad bar. The only downside I see to Fogo de Chao is that you can only eat so much. After a while, all the red meat goes to your head so while you want to keep going, you just can't.
This Brazilian steakhouse; my friends, is where you should drink, be merry, and allow yourself to be a gluttonous fool..for after the dinner, you will be dizzy with food coma delight!
This is where my fiance took me for a long overdue date night after reuniting for being apart for 1 month across the nation. Perfect atmosphere, ambiance, and service where the waitress goes into depth about how this type of restaurant works. Red card up: No meats for now; Green card up: Bring the meat on!
My favorite was the garlic beef, Fillet Mignon, and lamb cuts. The salad bar balances the meal out perfectly as well: cheeses, bread, dips, mixed greens, veggies, etc.
And if that doesn't sound like it's enough to fill you up for a season long shooting of Survivor, the waiter brings you a side of fried plantains, mashed potatoes, cheese bread, and an additional side of fried potatoes.
Dessert? Forget about it!
Thank you Chicago for having the finest Brazilian BBQ any girl could ask for!
The food at Fogo is fantastic and never disappoints......15 varieties of meats and a wonderful buffet full of gourmet meat, vegetables, and cheeses. This is a brazilian steakhouse, so there is no menu (except for dessert menu); each patron eats the same buffet and meat selections...but the quality and service is outstanding. The salad bar is top notch! This is a MUST try when visiting Chicago! Honestly, the whole experience at this place is incredible. Personally, it's one of my top dining experiences. They have other locations in various cities such as Dallas, Austin, and Atlanta........but i've only had the opportunity to go to the Chicago location during a recent trip. Wonderful!
I wish we had this here in San Francisco! The meats were perfectly cooked. There was an abundance of them - lamb, chicken, sirloin, tri-tip, garlic beef...you name it, they have it. The salad bar was fresh and complete. I wish they had fried plantains but I guess the fried bananas were good enough. I didn't care much for the polenta and sweet potatoes. We shared the papaya creme for dessert and that was very refreshing. I will definitely come back here the next come I visit Chicago.
I visited Fogo de Chao about a year ago and just realized that I never reviewed it... gasp!
I like it very much. I went for lunch with a group of co-workers. It was great and as far as I know it's the exact same menu that they offer for dinner except that it's about $10-$15 cheaper. Plus, it gives you the rest of the day to try to digest all of that food rather than falling asleep with it.
The food was great, the buffet was huge, the meats are tasty and they have an extensive variety (so pace yourselves), and the service was great. The first gaucho asked me how I liked my meat cooked and returned every time with what seemed like specially cooked meats just for me.
I will definitely return. We all had a great time and returned to work in a food coma.
Simply the best.
Very good food. Nice presentation. Excellent service. Come with a hearty appetite because there is "mucho de foodo" (No, I don't know Portuguese) is served. It seems especially popular with guys, because most tables we saw on our visit were all-guys or predominantly guys, who evidently like to eat a lot of meat. If you don't like meat, you probably should skip this place.
It's not a place to go to every week, at least not for me. Plan on spending easily $60-70 bucks a head, because the main service basically comes to about $50 for the customary, salad bar and all the meat you can eat, minus beverages and dessert.
And, those servers watch those cards on the table carefully and have effective service, so cover up your card or take it away if you are finished. Bravo.
Simply the best Brazilian Churrascaria around. Truly authentic with the hospitality that all of its patrons deserve. Everytime I miss Brazil I come here to bring those memories back. Highly recomend to bring your loved ones.
This place is, "As good as it gets"....when it comes to eating meat! We came here for my brother's bachelor party dinner and let me tell you, the food and service was amazing. Now i've never ate at a Brazilian steakhouse before but this wont be my last. They have a huge salad bar once you enter, which I believe is put out there so you can stuff yourself with rabbit food instead of eating the meat, which is really what you should be there and what are paying for.
They sit you down and give you a card. One side is red and the other side is green, red side corresponds to no more food as the green is a go. The way this works is they walk around with this plate filled with 1 type of meat, but there are different people walking around with different meats. Well if your card is green, they come to your table and ask you which piece you would like. They sometimes have meat that is cooked either medium-well and below. Don't come to Fogo De Chao expecting to eat your well-done steak here. For steak fanatics, they know well-done is killing your steak. Anyway, they have over +10 different types of meat they serve. Also as for the sides, they have fried plantains which were delicious and I forgot what the other side was, but you get 2.
I would definitely recommend skipping the salad bar and diving right into the meat extravaganza! Meat is very juicy and has plenty of flavor. I wasn't able to try the salad bar so I can't give my review on that. But from everybody else at the table, I take it that its very delicious as well. Be warned, this place will get you very very tired after eating all that meat so choose your destination after Fogo wisely haha. Overall, it seemed that everybody that came to eat at Fogo was dressed nice and was down to spend some money! Pretty expensive, but very worth it. Great experience and would love to come here again.
All I can say is this Brazilian Steakhouse is amazingly delicious. I recommend this restaurant if… Read more »
Fogo has to be the best Brazilian BBQ I've been to, there is nothing more I could have asked for.
Within five minutes of walking in the door, we were seated, given the welcome spiel, and had our plates full of around $30 worth of meat. I've been to a few Brazilian BBQ's before, but nothing like this. The quality was superb, and the meat was non-stop. I guess when you're paying $50 per person, they can afford to keep sending out the freshest cuts. Normally the longer you stay, at a BBBQ, the more likely the are to send out the older, lesser cuts of meat. Not at Fogo.
Halfway through my meal I ventured to the salad bar to see what I was missing. The selection of vegetables and cured meats was as vibrant as the presentation. I ended up returning with some slices of meats, cheeses, artichokes, and tomatoes, and built a sick roast beef sandwich with some bottom sirloin from the skewers.
I also liked the caramelized bananas that came as sides. A lot. I ended up asking for another serving to accompany my dessert. Yeah, that's right, I'm the guy that goes to a buffet, blows it out, and still piles on dessert.
I'm sure it's been said before, but Fogo de Wow.
Great salad bar... Meats are good not seasoned as well as other places of same chain... Parking is horrible
The food was great, I was not pleased with the service.
Green means go, not wait, and I don't like to wait until my stomach reminds me that I'm full when I go to a place where you can eat meat until you pass out.
It took forever to get our drinks and even longer to get the check. I was debating between two and three stars, but after remembering their sirloin, I tilted towards three. This sort of place should be all about service!
Going to Fogo de Chao is at least a 2 hour experience at the dinner table. The phenominal salad bar is enough to keep me going back. Unfortunately, I had to leave room for the meat.
Brazilian style (Churrascaria) fire roasted meat, with the amazing seasonings is incredible. Whether I was eating the chicken, sausages, or steak, it was all so good it would be hard to choose which one was best.
The cool thing is the way dinner works, get your salads, cheeses, fruits at the salad bar but when you want the main course you will get a family style size bowl of fried bananas and a bowl of potatoes. You get a round card that is red on one side and green on the other. Green side up will bring servers carrying what looks like a sword skewered with meat. Each server has a different meat. And they keep coming until you flip that darn thing over to red.
It's a great restaurant with wonderful food and great service. The wines with dinner were as good as the food. We can't wait to go back.
I always thought a good name for a churrascaria would be Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeat, as that's certainly what you get there.
Fogo was wonderful, and I doubt I can say anything different than what the other 337 folks have said. Exceptional service, perfectly cooked meat, and fried bananas. They are on top of their game there. If we wanted a certain cut, they'd send it our way. Our glasses were never empty, our plates were always removed, and our bellies were always full.
I probably would normally give it 4 stars, but I got engaged right after dinner there, so it holds a special memory with me now, and hence gets an extra star. ;) Oooh, I guess that's something that hasn't been said yet, right? Yay!
I do prefer Brazzaz to Fogo de Chao, but that's not to say this place isn't worth a visit as well for the service alone.
Let's start with the popovers. A basket arrives on your table as you are seated, and as soon as the staff suspects they not be piping hot anymore, they replace it with a new one. Then, water. As soon as my class got less than 3/4 full, it was refilled.
So, yeah, service is amazing. But the thing is, I NEVER saw the people refilling water and replacing baskets until they were at my table doing so.
I swear to god, I dropped my fork, and as it was falling someone was replacing it.
I don't know how they do it, if they have little cameras and microphones at each table so as soon as they hear that you might need something they're already on it, but it's great.
I wasn't a huge fan of the salad bar though. It was fine for your average restaurant, but for Brazilian grills, it left something to be desired.
Since I didn't fill up on the salad bar (and somehow have a tolerance from the number of pounds of meat I can consume within an hour), I was able to get and thoroughly enjoy dessert. The chocolate mousse/ganache/cake/whatever I had was delicious, and a great finish to the evening.
Listen, if you are a man or a meat eater this is the place for you. There is so much meat running around that you get full by just seeing the waiters walking by with meat. It's not a romantic first date restaurant. I think it's $50 a person if you eat or not. Of course you want to try every piece of meat coming your way, but you are looking around to see what's coming next that you don't get a chance to enjoy the food. It's certainly a conversation starter.
This is the place I come to when I feel like ODing on meat. I've been to Sal & Carvao and Texas De Brazil, but I still prefer Fogo de Chao. The have a massive salad bar . They have gaucho's serving many different cuts of beef, chicken, pork, and lamb served table-side. The meat will continue to flow as long as you have your card flipped to the green side for Go and the offerings will pause whenever you have it flipped to the red side for Stop.
The bacon wrapped filet is awesome (I know, everything is better with bacon).
They also bring you fried plantains and mashed potatoes. They are delicious, but whatever you do don't eat too much. I'd rather fill my stomach with more meat.
The all-you-can-eat menu is about $30 for Lunch and $50 for Dinner (includes more cuts of meat).
I've wanted to go to Fogo essentially since I moved to Chicago. Flat rate for unlimited anything food related sounds appealing to me, so obviously this place sounds fantastic. I wish I could have gone there under better circumstances, but the first time I went to Fogo was because I lost a bet and owed my boss a lunch of his choice. We had discussed previously that the bet was going to be a high end lunch, so this wasn't a dick move or anything on his behalf. Anyways, I was hungry and ready to eat. Lunch crowd is pretty light considering how big this place is, so we are seated immediately. The service is pretty good. The nature of how your food is served at Fogo, the service better be good! I had an excellent time, the food was great, and I would definitely be interested in coming back.
The one recommendation I could make would be not to take the Bills -3 at home on Monday night football.
Absolutely delicious!!
This is a great place to go when you are hungry. The salad bar is superb, the side dishes were excellent, and of course the meats are outstanding.
Just an amazing experience with excellent service.
Perfeiço! (Translation: Perfection!)
I have had the fortune to dine here many times and have had a great culinary experience every time. The service is impeccable and it is obvious that they take great pride in it, as they should. They anticipate your every need.
The meat is top-notch, the wine list is impressive, their cocktails are delicious, especially the traditional caipirinhas and caipirosas (my favorite). The appetizers are very tasty with my favorites being the crispy polenta and the cheese bread. For dessert, have the strawberry cream. I know they boast about their signature papaya cream but trust me, I've had both more than once and the strawberry cream is better. The salad bar is well-stocked and has some interesting selections like heart of palms and sun dried tomatoes but honestly I would skip it and get down to business: meat, meat, and more meat!!
A word of caution: eating here leads to food comas. It is very easy to overeat because the meat never stops coming! Do exercise your power to flip that card to red and stop the barrage!
Review #321. It's that good.
Yes, Fogo de Chao was everything I had hoped for and MORE. I chose this destination as the fine dining for my 24th birthday celebration (I know, what a weird, useless year). I invited my family for a lovely evening of fine cocktails, awesome salad bar, and gorging ourselves on meat. Lots and lots of meat. Be prepared when you come here. I seriously wouldn't eat for the entire day just because you will ingest an unholy amount of delicious meat once you arrive.
My mom and I started the evening with a Caipirinha - a traditional Brazilian cocktail. Yum! I had the Strawberry Caipirinha and my mom had the original. My cocktail had mulled strawberries right in it and it was divine. It had just the right amount of strawberry and sugar to make it sweet without being overpowering. My mom tried the Lime Caipirinha later and said it was delicious. My boyfriend ordered a Coke that came in a cute little glass bottle - nice touch! Their drink menu was extensive so there is something to please everyone. Oh, and did I mention they have a nice, big wine cellar right in the restaurant? There were tons of selections and the servers know their wine so don't hesitate to ask them for a pairing suggestion.
Our group was seated once everyone arrived and we were immediately greeted by a server. He explained the entire Fogo de Chao dining experience to us and offered to freshen/bring more drinks. He was super friendly and was always around when we needed him. Awesome! We made our way over to the salad bar to begin our meal. Now, be careful. You will be so hungry from fasting all day in preparation for your Fogo de Chao meal, that you will want to go overboard on the salad bar. Don't do it! Get a small salad and wait for the meat. I will say, though, that this salad bar was pretty extraordinary. Tons of options, sides, fresh veggies and cheese. Oh, and the Romano cheese was inside a giant wheel and you chipped some of it off for your salad yourself. That's good cheese in my book.
Now for the meats. Turn your little token over to the green (for go!) side. The Gauchos will literally appear out of thin air and start offering you piping hot meat of all varieties (beef, lamb, chicken and pork). I will not tell you exactly how much Fillet Mignon I actually consumed, but let's just say it was an unholy amount. It is so perfectly cooked and delicious it's unbelievable. And all of the meat is that way! Seriously, everything was cooked to perfection and I was not disappointed with anything that I had. Highlights of the meat (for me): Fillet Mignon (obviously), Costela (beef rib), Frango (chicken breast wrapped in bacon), Linguicha (pork sausage) and Fraldinha (bottom sirloin). All delicious, all perfectly cooked, all amazingly seasoned.
Oh, and they brought me a piece of strawberry cheesecake for my birthday - how sweet! This dining experience was amazing. I like Fogo much better than Brazazz and will come back here the next time I have a hankering for Brazilian food. A mere $49.95/person is all you need to enjoy a slow, meat-filled evening of heaven on Chicago's near north side. Seriously, go here if you haven't - it's so amazingly delicious. Make your reservations early (it's harder to accommodate large groups) and know that the service is fantastic. You won't be disappointed.
This place was amazing. I brought my dad and his wife here to celebrate my his birthday. I love the staff here. Talk about attentive, almost makes you want to spend the entire day here. It's a meat lover's haven. Their buffet table is outstanding. The food was all fresh, I even tried things from it I would not have simply due to the presentation.
I love the fact that all the food is so fresh. The here are so amazing they bend over backwards to get you your selection up on request. Don't forget to turn over your card because they just keep on coming.
This place is terrific ambience. I will probably have a private party here in their dining room that is sectioned off but, allows you to still see the main area. They also have a fantastic wine list.
This is definitely a place that I will return to many times when I'm home. LOVE IT!!!
One of the steak place in the USA
Me encanta este lugar!!
Tiene un muy buen salad bar! , es la segunda vez que voy y supero mis expectativas, las carnes deliciosas y perfectas.
El servicio de los mejores! Recomiendo este lugar por eso y mucho mas!
Traten Polenta !
I really Love this place!!!
Salad Bar excellent! It's my second time here, and LOVE IT!!!!!!
Meats are delicious!
Try polenta , easy on the salad bar!
Service Excellent! night perfect!
Highly recommended!
Unlike other reviewers, I've never been to another Brazilian steakhouse so I don't have any points of comparison. However, I've now been to Fogo twice -- once for lunch and once for dinner -- and I can say that it's worth every cent it costs you. Every. Cent. I am never going to manage to be a vegetarian as long as I'm in the vicinity of a Fogo de Chao. What can I even say about it? The service is excellent, the food is amazing and just keeps on coming. My main recommendations are the bread (so gummy, so delicious), the fried polenta, not filling up on the salad bar (though I do love me some hearts of palm). As far as the meats go, make sure to save room for the picanha (top sirloin) and fraldinha (bottom sirloin): but honestly, it's all good. And the strawberry cream is pretty fantastic. Actually my main recommendation is "go to Fogo de goddamn Chao." Do weekday lunch -- it's much, much cheaper and it's the same thing.
Meat coma! Meat coma! I always swear off this place when leaving but that's just the meat coma talking. I'm on a quest to find something...anything here that does not taste good mixed with the fried bananas they serve. Fried bananas and steak...yum. Fried bananas and mashed potatoes? Also yum. Fried bananas and chicken salad AND basil dressing all mixed together? You wouldn't think it works. It shouldn't work. It does.
On a beautiful sunny day last summer, Mr. N and I got married! Later that day, our families and guests all met at Fogo de Chao to indulge in a meat feast, because, let's be honest, could there be a better way to celebrate the union on the two biggest fat kids in the world? I think not. We'd been to eat here at lunch a few months before, just to see what it was like. Lunch there is great, for those who would rather fork over 30 dollars (as opposed to 50). We talked to a manager and made reservations for our party of 30 (small weddings RULE). Easy peasy!
On the night, we had to wait a little for our tables, but it was a Saturday and the place was PACKED. We got to sit next to the big mural in the back room, which was beautiful. The service here is impeccable. Our server, Marcus was really patient and nice. It seems pretty hard to explain the concept to a big group of people who had never been there and were talking amongst themselves. He was so attentive and brought us a flan with "Congratulations" written on the plate for us.
As for the food, what else can be said? Filet mignon wrapped in bacon! Parmesan pork! Lamb chops! What a dream! Our vegetarian friends were happy too. The salad bar is fantastic. Every time I eat there, I pile so many marinated mushrooms on my place. Then I return to the table and gorge myself on the cheese bread balls, parmesan polenta sticks and fried plantains. Remember to pace yourself so you don't explode during the meal. :)
Astounding - I hadn't been here in a couple years, and I had forgotten how amazing the food, service, and overall experience is here!
The GF and I went there last night for our anniversary dinner celebration. Fun to be in a lively place for such an event - and going there late on a Friday turned out to be an excellent idea: 9:30-ish with no reservations meant instant seating!
Salad bar is a feast itself. Many little cuts of meat, cheese, marinated this, chopped that, prepared salads, all the toppings you'd expect at a salad bar but gourmeted-up here!
Every cut of meat was exceptional - never had to reach for the salt or pepper once, never had to knaw thru any toughness - it was all perfect.
Bacon wrapped chicken and filet mignon, as well as the parmesan pork tenderloin and plain pork tenderloin were my faves. But I could be alone on an island with any one of the meat offerings and only eat it for the rest of my life and die a happy man!
Service is as good as it gets. Prompt, attentive, super friendly, professional servers!
Worth every penny!
PS - as I sit here, delirious in a Fogo coma 24 hours later, I am reminded:
The starters they bring to the table are incredible: those poofy liitle buttery buns, the fried bananas (all thats missing is the ice cream!) the oh-so-fluffy mashed potatoes, and my favorite of them all: the fried polenta sticks topped with parmesan. Oh, I think a business could survive selling ONLY fried polenta sticks - what an amazing little finger food!
This was a very plesant dining experience.
The only reason I can't give it a 5 is because the salad bar is a bit lacking. Also, some of the items I got from the salad bar seemed a bit salty.
On to the good! The service was the absolute best I have experienced and I'm super picky and this. The manager stopped by when he saw he give the slightest twitch. MY DH loves his meat cooked a certain way so after I mentioned it, every single piece of meat that came our way was cooked to perfection. The caprinha (sp?) was excellent and not too sweet like I'd had elsewhere. Dare I say save room for dessert! That too was yummy! It's a big heavy for someone like myself that is not a true red meat eater, but it was well worth the experience!
Again, 300+ reviews with an average of 4.5 stars? You likely don't need to read my review to be convinced to try this place.
Service is spectacular with just the right amount of doting on customers. The meat cuts are flavored well and delicious. The salad bar is exceptional with plenty of chartucerie, cheeses, salads, which are phenomenally fresh.
My only issue (being the frugal person I am) is that the dinner is very high priced. ($50 bucks a person or so?) If you can swing it, go for lunch... it's half the price, and you get the same quality of food and service.
Otherwise, Fogo de Chao in Chicago has set the benchmark to judge all other Brazilian Buffet Steakhouses against. Other chuscarria's need to come experience how it is done here before attempting to set up shop. They'll be hard pressed to meet the similar expectations.
Even when you're stuffed at the end of your meal, do your best to order up a papaya cream dessert... not only does it taste great, it's good for digestion. I'm not a fan of the splash of alcohol (raspberry I believe) they put on the top, so you can decide for yourself if you want it sans raspberry.
Verdict: Delicious, and well worth your money... and I've had out of this world food and service all five times I've gone.
This place is a meat lovers paradise! I normally try to go for lunch since it's half price. I steer clear of the chicken (not that its bad, but I'm there for steak). Their salad bar has a huge selection for you to choose from, unlike any other I've ever seen. Everything is really good especially the lamb chops. Just writing about it makes me want to ditch work and go downtown!!!! Very, very good and the service is exceptional!
I can't confirm the medical accuracy of this hypothesis, but there seems to me to be an interesting effect here where the volume of meat you will inevitably consume causes your stomach to tell your brain it needs all available blood diverted to itself, such that it can work as hard as possible at digesting the absurd amount of unnecessary calories that you have just consumed. After every meal I've ever had here (or at any Brazilian steakhouse) I have felt a lightheaded buzz that I can only deduce comes from this selfish requisition of resources by the stomach. I guess it's alright though... the less oxygen my brain has the less aware it is that I have just dangerously over-gorged myself on enough red meat to last a small bear an entire winter's worth of hibernation.
With that said, everyone's already covered the stop/go buttons, the fantastic diversionary salad bar, and just about everything else about this place. I will say one more thing which is that I find about half of the meat options to be fantastic, and half of them to be either overcooked, exceedingly dry, or simply an inferior cut of meat. Find the ones you like, and let the green light of your 'feed-me' token guide you to a blissful meaty slumber.
3-course meal for $39.95
Neighborhood: Near North Side
New Vegetarian Plate $8.99
Neighborhood: Humboldt Park
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Brazilian
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Steakhouses
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Seafood
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Steakhouses
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Steakhouses
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