Fogo de Chao
Average user Rating: 91
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Fogo de Chao is an upscale Brazilian steakhouse featuring slow-roasted meats cooked over an open flame. The numerous cuts and varieties are carved tableside from skewers by Gaucho servers. Vegetarians will appreciate the fresh and prodigious salad bar.
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96
A guy's fantasy of meat, meat, and more meat
2/4/2010
My husband and I went to Fogo De Chao in Beverly Hills last night, and the place was as busy as busy could be. Our reservations were for 6:00PM, and we checked in slightly late (about five minutes). We had a short 10 minute wait, and headed over to the bar for pre-dinner drinks. I had the caprihina which was completely refreshing with strong hints of lime. My husband just had a vodka tonic. We were seated shortly after getting our drinks in the dining room that was buzzing.
Once they gave us a rundown on how dinner works, we set off for the salad bar. I'm a cheese fiend and was quite happy to see the fresh mozzarella and the huge wheel of parmiggiano reggiano. There's something special about fresh parm...tastes so much better than pieces that have been cut and sitting there for days before its purchased. I found myself to be a fan of the marinated shiitake mushrooms...I loved the vinagery brine they had. I know blanched asparagus might not be anything special, but it paired so well with the fresh cuts of meat off of the skewers. There was a selection of salami, prosciutto, and smoked salmon...which were more okay than good.
The table-served sides for last night were garlic mashed potatoes, crispy-fried polenta cakes, fried bananas, and the famous cheese rolls. I tasted a litte of each because I didn't want to fill up on the starches, and thought they were all good. The mashed potatoes were ordinary to me...I could have made that at home. I did enjoy the polenta cakes...very crispy, not too dense, and I liked the sprinkling of grated parm on top of the cakes...made for a salty, nutty finish. I love fried bananas/plantains...whatever or however you call them, and this was a very good rendition; however, I wish they had fried them longer to get more carmelization and a crisper crust for texture. The cheese rolls didn't do it for me...I don't understand what the big fuss is all about. They were light, but dense...they had some sort of cheesy flavor. They crust of the roll was nice...but they didn't wow me. Maybe perhaps I didn't eat them immediately when they arrived at the table so they're not as wonderful cooled or cold, but everytime they arrived, I was busy eating the delicious meat.
Now to the meat...truly the best Brazilian steakhouse that I've ever been to. The cuts of beef are all black Angus. One of the managers told us that the men serving the meat are also the chefs, who come in early to marinate the meat in the morning before returning back to the restaurant to cook later in the day. We also learned that the beef receives just a light coating of Brazlian salt in the morning, and a little bit more prior to placing it on the fire. My husband fell in love with the filet mignon cut, and the sirloin cuts, and the sausages, and the lamb, and the chicken....okay, so there wasn't much that he didn't love. But he did not enjoy the ribeye (I agreed) which was strange because that's our favorite cut of steak. It was cooked well enough (medium rare for me, medium for him) but didn't have a bold, beefy flavor we were looking for. We did not enjoy the filet wrapped in bacon because even though cooked to perfection, the smokiness of the bacon completely overshadowed the filet. Bacon was good, however, when wrapped around chicken breast...but we still preferred the dark meat chicken over the bacon-wrapped one. I also loved the filet, but loved the lamb (chops and leg) even more. Cooked to a perfect medium rare, it was seasoned very well and very lamby...in a very good way. The only thing we did not have a chance to try was the prime rib cut because we were quite full by the time it was brought around the dining room...which at that point, was fine by us.
For dessert, my husband was completely jazzed that key lime pie was one of the offerings of the night. I had the papaya cream drizzled with Bols liqueur. The third choice was flan, but I had the flan a couple doors down at The Bazaar was so spectacular I don't think anything else could come close. The key lime pie was not key lime-y enough for my husband. He did not want a sour-pucker face, but wanted the depth of flavor from the pie. There was a heavy layer of whipped cream on the pie as well, but the key lime flavor was already so weak eating without whipped cream did not make much of a difference. I was quite happy with my papaya cream. A lot like ice cream, it had a good papaya flavor and the shot of Bols gave it a nice jolt. It was a nice palate cleanser for a night of heavy carnivore-style eating.
Service for the night was spectacular. Vitor, our server, mentioned that they were short-staffed for the night and we couldn't tell the difference. The waitstaff was always busy scurrying through the restaurant taking care of guests. Many times, Vitor came to our table to ask if we had any special meat requests to be delivered. The sides were refreshed without us needing to request it....even if there was only 1/4 of a ramekin left. Water glasses were refilled without request, and any extra plates were cleared away immediately. We were very impressed with the service, and found it to almost rival the service we received at Bouchon (Bouchon was significantly better and quicker at refilling water glasses) in November.
89
2/3/2010
Flip your card to the green side and the men will come bearing skewers of various meats to your tableside. Fogo de Chao offers a variety of cuts and meats - 15 to be exact.
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Recommended Dishes
Picanha, lamb chop, pao de queijo
96
6/24/2009
Recommended Dishes
Picanha, alcatra, fraldinha, ancho beef, pao de queijo, capirinha, maionese, palmitos, vinagrete, farofa...
93
Great place for a group of foodies
2/19/2009
Best brazilian in LA, hands down. Service is exceptional. Wine list is creative and approachable. The meat, every cut imaginable, just keeps coming. If you like it done a special way (I only like rare) just say the word and they are happy to accommodate you. THe salad bar is also of high quality, and I really love their mashed potatoes. Don't skip dessert if at all possible, they have some great options. And get LOTS of lambchops. I think that is their best meat item
Recommended Dishes
lamb chops!
85
Chasing Down the Rare Meat
10/14/2008
I've eaten at Fogo de Chao in Atlanta so I felt I knew what to expect from the Beverly Hills location. The restaurant is very elegant for what is essentially an all-you-can-eat dinner.
The Atlanta restaurant was much more serene than my experience here. When you start you are invited to the salad bar and then after that the gauchos come by with their skewers of meat. I felt a bit swarmed by gauchos as it seemed one after another came until I had about 6 cuts of meat. We were at a large table so it might have exacerbated the situation but I felt like there was always a flurry of activity.
The service was incredible. From the bar where a fellow companion spilled wine on me and before I could ask the bartendar came running over with a towel and then later a napkin with one end dipped in sparkling water for removing any wine stains. It was truly outstanding the way they anticipated my requests before I could even utter them. At dinner the managers would check in repeatedly to make sure that we got to try everything we wanted.
The food. The salad bar is excellent and I had a cut of meat that I think was the top sirloin that was fantastic. Other than that piece the different cuts start to blur. I had a problem with many of the meats being too overcooked. Even when I asked for medium rare they would turn out more medium. I'd suggest asking for rare.
Overall it was a fun experience with excellent service. If you like your meats on the rarer side I think you have to be a bit more diligent in chasing it down.
Recommended Dishes
top sirloin rare
93
Best brazillian BBQ
8/20/2008
I loved the different varieties of meat (they have 15 different kinds). My favorites were the pork ribs and ribeye steak. The ribs aren't the tender dripping off the bone kind, but the seasoning was excellent. The ribeye was tender, juicy and delicious. The one knock for me with this place (and brazillian BBQ's in general) is that it's a crap shoot if you're gonna get your steak cooked just the way you want it. Kinda depends on how knowledgeable the carving guy is. If he knows where to carve out the medium rare pieces. If i were looking for just a phenomenal filet or ribeye, i'd just go to Mortons or Cut. But if I wanted to eat a bunch of good meat in a fun, casual but upscale atmosphere, i'd go to Fogo.
Can't forget to mention that their salad bar is excellent. My wife's a vegetarian and she loved it as well.
96
Brazilian Dim Sum: A Meatlover's Dream
8/19/2008
I normally wouldn't go here because I am a poor college student but my generous bosses decided to treat me here for my last day at work! First off, the salad bar is not that great. At anywhere else, it would be. The meat, however, just totally makes the salad bar worthless. JUST EAT THE MEAT. It's more worth it that way too. The picanha, sirloin (both beef and pork), and the ribeye were all delicious. The sausage and chicken were both disappointing (and probably cheaper) so don't get those.
Service was great. The way the waiters came around and offered you cuts of meat lead me to deem this place Brazilian Dim Sum.
Next time I plan to pair my meat with some of their exquisite wine selections!
Recommended Dishes
Picanha, Sirloin, Ribeye
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89
Brazilian steak house
8/19/2008
A restaurant that any carnivore will delight in. Start with selections from the salad bar then sit down for a endless cascade of grilled meats presented by the courteous waitstaff. I like to take small samples of the meats before going to my favorite, the picanha. The salsa from the salad bar is a nice palate cleanser in between the different meat courses.
Recommended Dishes
Picanha
96
Unending meat
6/23/2008
Any place that serves unending meat already gets a gold start in my book. Fogo de Chao, with restaurants across the globe, has this chursascuria formula down pat. The experience is fun and satisfying. There's always a giddy thrill from turning down the guy with the filet mignon to wait for the bacon-wrapped filet mignon.
93
Meat Fest!
3/29/2008
Be ready to eat at this Brazillian BBQ. They bring out the meat fast and furious. It's pricy but a good place to go if you want to impress someone.
They have a great salad bar as well.
Be sure to take the papaya desert at the end to help digest all that protein.
80
6/17/2009
93
3/5/2009
80
8/26/2008
85
7/2/2008
96
7/1/2008
96
3/13/2008
89
2/20/2008
96
2/13/2008
89
1/1/2000
96
1/1/2000
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