The first draft of this post was overly formal and somewhat satirical, a la the narrator of Pride and Prejudice, but then I realized I am not and never will be Jane Austen, so here’s what I’m going to say instead: yoooooooooo, you gotta check out the beef at Fogo de Chao!
Fogo de Chao is an all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse with really nice and expensive cuts of meat for relatively accessible prices. There are locations across cities nation-wide, like Boston and even in random places in my home state of Michigan. Waiters carry these large skewers of filet mignon, lamb chops, ribeye, and more and serve it fresh onto your plate. Also sometimes they serve these really nice cheese that they fry up and slather honey over, which is really mindblowingly good, and now I’m salivating.
I especially love this place because the cuts of meat are truly delicious and affordable. If you go during the lunch hours, you can get all-you-can-eat high-quality meat for $40 + tax + tip. The equivalent at a normal restaurant, in terms of sheer quantity if you have a bottomless stomach like I do, could possibly run you hundreds of dollars. I’m not saying to eat here everyday, but if you’re going to eat out occasionally, you might as well do it in a high-value sort of way.
My friend Chris, an actual carnivore (as in he literally has only eaten meat and some scant pieces of fruit for the past 1.5 years) gave rave reviews of Fogo de Chao. He was impressed by how affordable the meat was and is considering making Fogo a part of his regular rotation.
Here are a few suggestions:
Only go during the lunch buffet or weekend brunch. Dinner is around $20 more expensive for the same meats.
Only eat the items I didn’t cross out:
Yes, I crossed out all the chicken and pork because only the beef and lamb is worth eating, both from a financial and a taste perspective.
I told Alex this the last time we went, and he responded with “Valerie, what if you don’t have to eat to get your money’s worth and you eat for enjoyment instead?” Then he asked for some chicken and pork, tasted it, and realized that I was right from the taste perspective. Then he stuck to the beef and the lamb only. (He still disagrees from the financial perspective.)
3. Be very specific about which cuts and which quantities of meat you want. “Hey, can I have a fatty portion of the meat?” “Hey, can I a few more pieces of the garlic steak?”
4. Bring your friends. I’ve taken my friends out to eat here for birthdays and for thank yous and for celebrations, and they’ve all enjoyed it immensely. I also enjoy it too because I get to treat my friends where they can eat a shit-ton and still spend less than a nice meal at a nice steakhouse.
5. Eat the garlic steak. Trust me on this one.
Disclaimer: Heard from a friend on the Boston location: “They are not good with cross contamination and I had a bad allergic reaction to lobster when I went there without eating lobster”, so be wary if you have allergies.
Thanks for showing me this place:) went again yesterday with some friends in London