Latest visit: May 2024 (downtown)
First visit: Jun 2017 (Sao Paolo - Jardins)
HQ: Plano, TX (founded: 1979 in Porto Alegre, Brazil)
Locations: 67 in the US and 19 for the rest of world, mostly in Latin America. There's 2 up in Denver. DFW has 4 locations, but none in Tarrant County. The closest from our former homestead would have been in North Irving.
It's graduation season, and this time it's for one of my official nephew's college graduation up in Denver. Scheduled for Friday morning, I took the day off from work, and Mrs. RJG, her mom, and myself made the rush hour trek to downtown from the Springs. Then we get to listen to hundreds of names of people we don't know and scream wildly for our guy. Everyone who has been to these things knows the drill. Boring as all get out, but you have to be there for "support". My nephew is just like Uncle RJG and didn't even want to do it (I was the same in college), but the parents insist... After sitting through that torture, we get our reward. Lunch time! And on this occasion, Uncle RJG didn't even have to pay for it. Even better!
So as you may have noted my first visit to Fogo de Chão was in Brazil itself. I was in Sao Paolo for business while working for the global education company, and they treated us here one night (walking distance from the hotel too). The experience there was pretty much exactly the experience we had in Denver. If you've been fortunate enough to go one of these places, it's all about the meat. Skewers of them. Non-stop if you like. I highly recommend you go in as hungry as possible to enjoy the restaurant at its finest. They also have a salad bar with all sorts of interesting selections including deli meats and cheeses as well.
Because I did have this knowledge from prior visits, I had a bagel and juice in the early morning to tide me over through the ceremony. My stomach started growling by the 633rd name called out. A couple of hours later, we're sitting down, and I'm ready to eat the table. Stick with water to drink. While in Brazil I made the mistake of a having a beer. You don't want to fill up on anything heavy like that. I did have a side of excellent white rice from the buffet for a light balance. And a salad with an excellent dressing. As for the meats, most are of the steak variety, with some pork (parmesan pork was my first offering on this visit), chicken, sausage, and lamb. I had one of everything they brought out. The only major meat they offer that I didn't get to try were the ribs. That was a bummer, but no matter, I was completely full. Didn't even have dinner though we were done by 2:00. Even as I'm writing this the next morning, I still feel full. Haha. BTW, I have to say that the meal is an absolute bargain in today's world. The lunch "Churrasco Experience" is $44. That's a steal considering how much great meat and other food you get. I swear you pay more at a Thai restaurant these days. Of course laying off alcohol will keep your bill way down. Which I advise in this case for appetite reasons.
Fortuitous that I heard from Mr. Music on the same day. We had gone to a couple of different Brazilian steakhouses the first year we moved back to DFW (2003), but not Fogo de Chao. He offers a "strategy" for how to eat at one of these places:
Ahhhh, Fogo de Chao! I love going there... I used to overstuff myself every time, but learned to really just enjoy the experience and not worry about "eating my money's worth". I still eat plenty, but I love the atmosphere and excitement of going. I've been for lunch when it is 1/2 priced, bought gift cards when they offered an extra $25 for $100 of gift cards and even done the salad bar only for 1/2 price. I totally enjoy that since they have supreme prosciutto and homemade mozzarella as well as killer capicola, smoked salmon and the pork sausage and black bean stew (with maple bacon, rice and hot sauce fixins) all on the salad bar. I love all those weird salad items like artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, marinated mushrooms, the giant beets, asparagus and the tabouli salad too. But sometimes I just gotta have the meat!
I've learned what my favorite meats are. The pichana, parmesan rolled pork, and lamb chops with mint jelly. So I focus on them and sometimes have a little filet, ribeye, top/bottom sirloin or garlic beef but never all of them. I like the wine marinated chicken drumstick, but I don't like filling up on that either, so I indulge sometimes. I don't eat the mashed potatoes and only have a little polenta (if any) and maybe a cheese roll. I do love them but they fill me up fast. I've been wanting to go for happy hour and get the 1/2 pound pichana burger when it is 1/2 off.
Well, I wasn't planning on writing a guide to Fogo de Chão eating strategies, but there it is!
6/27/17; 5/10/24 (new entry)
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