Thoughts on the "Full" Experience at Ohio’s First Fogo de Chao
The popular Brazilian steakhouse chain opened in Polaris in March. Should you go?
Should You Go to Fogo?
By Erin Edwards
Let’s set the scene at Fogo de Chao’s new Brazilian steakhouse in Polaris: You walk into a dining room full of large chandeliers, a beautiful back bar stacked with liquor bottles, arresting black-and-white equestrian-themed photos, a massive salad bar and servers gliding across the room carrying large vertical skewers of meat. The tables, donned with white tablecloths, are set with surprisingly heavy silverware and a pair of silver tongs.
It’s a long way from the early 1800s when South American gauchos (nomadic horsemen) developed the style of cooking for which Fogo de Chao is known for: churrasco (aka Brazilian barbecue). This type of cooking, in which skewered meats are cooked over fire in a barbecue pit, hails from Brazil's southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul, which has a long tradition of gaucho culture and ranching.
Indeed, Fogo de Chao is a high-end take on a churrascaria, a Brazilian restaurant specializing in churrasco. Today, churrascarias seem to be one of Brazil’s biggest cultural exports to the U.S. Churrascarias are all over Brazil, too, but as my Brazilian friend, Riella, told me, most aren’t as high-end as Fogo, which was founded in 1979 by two pairs of brothers in Porto Alegre, the largest city in Rio Grande do Sul. Now owned by Bain Capital, Fogo de Chao—which means “ground fire” in Portuguese—has more than 70 locations in Brazil, Mexico, the U.S. and in the Middle East.
What is Rodízio-Style?
Fogo de Chao, like its more casual competitors Texas de Brazil and Rodizio, is a churrascaria specializing in rodizio-style service. Rodizio is an all-you-can-eat format in which “gaucho” servers continuously bring out a rotating selection of skewered meats such as steak, lamb, sausage and chicken. At Fogo, each guest receives a coaster meant for communicating to your rodizio server: Flip the coaster to green to say “more meat please.” Flip it to red for “stop!”
Although you could order your own steak at Fogo—they have “indulgent” cuts like 30oz. wagyu porterhouse—you’re really there for the Full Churrasco experience ($65 per person), which includes continuous rodizio-style service plus an AYCE salad bar. According to my Brazilian friend, her countrymen and women love all-you-can-eat restaurants. (There are even rodizio-style pizzerias and rodizio restaurants specializing in crepes.)
Advice for Dining at Fogo de Chao
If imbibing, be sure to kick off dinner with Fogo’s caipirinha, the classic Brazilian cocktail made with cachaça, lime and sugar.
When it’s time to hit the AYCE salad bar, which Fogo calls its Market Bar, don’t overdo it. The Market Bar has ho-hum salad greens but also a nice apple and manchego salad, fruits, Brazilian potato salad, chicken salad and a traditional black bean and ham soup called feijoada. There’s rice, too, but don’t fall for it. I recommend you go very easy on the salad bar—after all, you’re really here for the churrasco.
Before the meat arrives at the table, servers will drop off bowls of the wonderful Brazilian cheese bread known as pão de queijo—a real highlight. The golden puffs are crispy on the outside and wonderfully chewy thanks to the key ingredient: sour cassava flour (or tapioca flour). (If you want pão de queijo to buy and take home, check out Brazilian Grill & Bakery.) Fogo’s seemingly bottomless bowl of pão de queijo can be another dangerous temptation. Stay focused.
My friend Riella tells me that at most churrascarias in Brazil, servers drop off even more sides at the table, like potatoes, rice, etc. At the Fogo in Polaris, our table received lovely small plates of grilled bananas and perfectly crisp rectangles of polenta. We were also served espetinhos de queijo de coalho (grilled cheese with honey), a salty-sweet snack that is not to be missed. Additional sides were either on the salad bar or offered a la carte, and that’s probably for the best.
When you finally turn your coaster to green, the meat starts arriving at a furious pace. (The strategy seems to be to fill up diners as fast as possible, thus allowing the restaurant to turn tables faster.) Don’t forget your tongs, which you’ll use to grab the meat as your server slices it off the skewer.
During the ensuing parade of meats, the primary cut I recommend is picanha. This tender cut features a nice fat cap and is what Brazilian barbecue is best known for. It’s wonderful. Your best bet is to focus on items like picanha, rib-eye, lamb chops and pork belly. Linguica sausage can be a nice break from the beef. Forget distractions like pork chops, chicken thighs and bacon-wrapped chicken that will just fill you up and aren’t that exciting.
Should You Go?
Personally, rodizio-style restaurants are just not for me. I love barbecue and Brazilian cuisine, but I prefer thoughtful pacing at a restaurant, and this is the opposite of that. This is over-the-top and carnal. It can be a good value if you focus on the best cuts and don’t fill up too fast, but I was overstuffed (I blame the pão de queijo!) well before the—whew!—desserts arrived.
Yes, you can practice discipline and turn your coaster over to red, but when your tablemate turns theirs to green and a nice waiter with a skewer of juicy, medium-rare picanha walks over—that’s when FOMO kicks in.
Before you know it, you have your tongs in one hand and with the other hand you’re turning that coaster to green.
Surely it’s no coincidence that Fogo includes the word “go.”
Look, you should definitely check out Fogo de Chao at least once for the experience, but here’s my best guess on who will (and won’t) enjoy it:
Fogo de Chao is good for:
Folks who love all-you-can-eat restaurants
Celebratory occasions (see below*)
A novel and interactive dining experience
A post-marathon dinner
Bachelor parties
Expense account business dinners
Growing teenagers with limitless appetites
Fogo de Chao is not good for:
People who prefer a longer, slower-paced meal
*Any special occasion in which post-dinner intimacy is important, like an anniversary or a date. You won’t feel sexy afterwards, trust me.
Vegans/vegetarians. Yes, they offer plenty of vegetable dishes and a glorious salad bar but if you can’t stand the sight of large slabs of juicy meat then you won’t enjoy this experience.
Folks on Ozempic, Wegovy, etc. may not find it a good value.
People who’ve had bariatric surgery. Just kidding, according to the restaurant’s website Fogo de Chao actually offers “special pricing for guests who have undergone bariatric surgery and require limited portions.” You’ll just need to show your WLS card.
Find It:
Fogo de Chao
1425 Polaris Parkway
Extra Reading» Don’t want to spend your paycheck at Fogo de Chao or another steakhouse? Read our story “Where to Find Great Steak Without the Spend”