Fogo de Chao

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While we’ve been told that Fogo de Chao means “Fire of the Ground” or “Campfire,” we’re convinced that the direct translation is actually “Food Country.” Fogo de Chao is a churrascaria, a Brazilian-style barbecue where the meats are roasted over an open fire. It has almost a dozen locations across the U.S., and five locations in Brazil. Its Philadelphia location, at 13th and Chestnut, is a beautiful space, with high ceilings, huge chandeliers, and walls lined with wine bottles behind glass cases.

A meal at Fogo de Chao is like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, except the pages are made of delicious, fire-roasted meat. Each person is given a two-sided disk at his or her place setting. Turn it over so the green side is facing up, and the gauchos (on double duty as both chefs and servers) circulating throughout the restaurant will bring fresh, sizzling cuts of skewered meat to carve directly onto your plate. Turn the disk back over to red, and you’ll get some time to clear your plate until you’re ready for more. No need to worry about running up the bill—the meal is prix fixe, and all-you-can-eat. With 15 different cuts, the selection is excellent: you can choose from filet mignon, bacon wrapped filet, garlic marinated filet, top sirloin, bottom sirloin, bacon-wrapped chicken breast, pork sausages, parmesan-crusted pork tenderloin, lamb chops, chicken drumsticks, beef ribs, pork ribs, leg of lamb, and two house specialty cuts of beef. If you find that you enjoy a particular cut, your waiter can simply locate the gaucho with that cut and request that it be brought to your table.

While the meats form the centerpiece of the meal, the excellent accompaniments are also worthy of mention. To begin with, the restaurant includes a top-notch salad bar. This not only includes fresh vegetables, but also delicious marinated vegetables (artichokes, hearts of palm, and olives), sliced cured meats (proscuitto, salami, etc.), and some excellent cheeses (fresh mozzarella, shaved parmesan, etc.). In addition, several side dishes are brought to each table and are replenished throughout the meal, including cheese bread, fried banana, polenta, and mashed potatoes.

A meal at Fogo de Chao isn’t cheap ($44.50 for dinner, $24.50 for lunch), but it’s well worth it. Of course, you need to bring your appetite, and be prepared for a meat-induced coma for a few hours after the meal.

Jeff’s Take:

Before I get to the meat, I’d like to emphasize how great the cheese bread is here. Bite-size, crispy on the outside, and pillowy and cheesy on the inside, like a popover. If I didn’t need to save room for the barbecue, I could easily fill up on these.

Now on to the main course. My favorite cut here is the top sirloin. It has a salty, crispy crust that seals in the juices on the tender inside. It’s a little fattier than the other beef cuts, but the flavors and combination of textures is unbelievable. I also enjoy the lamb chop, which I think is the best non-beef option. Finally, I recommend the picanha, the “house specialty” sirloin, which is cooked a little rarer than most other cuts.

The one flaw I have to point out about Fogo is the tradeoff that comes with having each gaucho prepare what he serves. Every once in awhile, the quality is inconsistent. The first time I dined here, I tried some bacon-wrapped chicken breast, which was a dried out disappointment. I tried another piece later (prepared by a different gaucho) and it was much juicier. I understand the importance of having each gaucho prepare the meat that he serves. When you serve food that you cooked yourself, it brings a sense of pride that shows through in the service. But when the quality suffers because of this, it’s time to train your gauchos a little better.

Despite that quibble, this place is one of my favorite restaurants. In fact, it might even be the national restaurant of Food Country.


Mike's Take:

Fogo de Chao is an excellent restaurant and quite the unique experience. I cannot emphasize the inconsistency between the meats as a result of the mix of chefs/gauchos. When I was there, the picanha, the house specialty sirloin was unequivocally the best prepared meat there. In general, I found the red meat stronger than the chicken dishes, but it could have just been that day (and the fact that I was served one of those dried out chicken breasts). The constant hustle and bustle of the gauchos moving throughout the restaurant detracts from the atmosphere. The salad bar is a nice diversion from all of the meat, but nothing extraordinary there. The sides are very good, particularly the cheese bread and fried bananas. While the diversity and inconsistency of the main entrees is a downer, ultimately each visit becomes an experience in finding what's best that night. Since Fogo is all you can eat, you can't really fault them for that.




1337 Chestnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 636-9700
http://www.fogodechao.com/

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