Olá! Você está com fome? or as we say, “Hello! Are you hungry?”
Fogo de Chão is one of Brazil’s best known restaurants for its delicious churrascaria. The term churrascaria describes the traditional BBQ cooking-style of Southern Brazil’s gaúchos, or cowboys. Meats of all varieties including beef, pork, chicken, and lamb, are barbecued and served by cutting slices off a long metal skewer. Fogo de Chão serves its BBQ meats in 16 different cuts, including Brazilian signature picanha, or prime cut of the sirloin.
Waiter slicing beef off the skewer!
Yummm, picanha…
Cured meats, smoke salmon, and gourmet cheeses.
Some other cuts include:
- Top and bottom sirloin—alcatra, fraldinha
- Filet mignon (bacon-wrapped also available)
- Rib Eye—bife ancho
- Beef ribs—costela de bife
- Leg of lamb and lamb chops—cordeiro
- Pork tenderloin and pork ribs—lombo, costela de porco
- Chicken legs (bacon-wrapped also available)—frango
- Garlic beef—bife com alho
- Garlic chicken—frango com alho
How it works:
For the first part of your meal, there is a buffet salad bar. You can fill up your plate with endless amounts of gourmet aged cheeses, salads, cold pastas, vegetables, prosciutto, smoked salmon and some hot dishes including rice, feijão (black beans cooked in pork and bacon), scalloped potatoes and sometimes fish.
Once you are ready for the unlimited meat, turn the little card at your table over to reveal the green side, meaning “I’m ready for meat service!”
Green side = YES MEAT! Red side = I need a meat break.
Servers in the restaurant carrying different cuts and types of meat will come to your table and offer to slice off portions according to your desired level of doneness (rare, medium, well-done). Our favorites were picanha and the beef ribs. The picanha is perfectly seasoned with the right amount of salt, and the beef ribs…all we can say is WOW. It literally melted in the mouth, and was probably the most tender meat I’ve ever eaten in my life. The filet-mignon wasn’t disappointing for a classic, and although I didn’t try the chicken, Will said the garlic and parmesan-covered chicken were pretty tasty.
Will grabbing a delicious slice of fraldinha.
You can expect your dinner (or lunch) to run at least 1.5–2 hours in the restaurant, because of unlimited trips to the salad/pasta bar and flipping your meat card back and forth to eat more meat between short breaks. At $54.50/person for dinner and $34.50/person for lunch (not including drinks or dessert), you definitely want to get the most meat for your buck!
Drinks:
Between all that beef, pork and chicken, you’re probably going to end up parched, so we recommend these tasty drinks to wash down all that meat!
Guaraná ($4): A soda made from the juice of the native tropical fruit by the same name, guaraná was used in the past for medicinal purposes in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Over time, it became popular in energy drinks (Red Bull, anyone?) and is now a national favorite soft drink for Brazilians. After your first pound of meat, sipping Guaraná will help you refresh for the next round!
Bubbly served with a slice of orange!
Caipirinha ($13): Known as Brazil’s national cocktail. Made by crushing limes with liberal amounts of sugar, followed by a hearty pour of Brazilian rum known as cachaça, this sucker can pack a punch! Tart and sweet, you might want to keep in mind how many you order or you may end up swaying your way out the front door. But it’s a must for those who want the authentic churrascaria experience!
Lots of lime and sugar…stir for best taste.
Mango Refresco ($15): Will ordered this one, it was a great fruity cocktail, but also quite strong (Brazilians love their booze don’t they?) The mango flavor was tasty with several mint leaves to balance it out. Served in a tall glass, it complimented the savory meats and cheeses well.
Delicious fruit + mint combo!
In conclusion, Santana Row’s Fogo de Chão is definitely a perfect venue for special occasion dinners or lunches, like a birthday, anniversary, or party. Located in a great area with night life and shops to browse, it has a great atmosphere for the weekends and weekday afternoons and evenings. With the amazing buffet style salad, pasta, and gourmet cheese bar–and more importantly, the endless beef, pork, and chicken coming around–it’s sure to fill even the hungriest of family, friends, and co-workers. It might be just a tad too pricey for the average night out (with dinner and drinks for 2 wrapping up to $165+ with tip!) However, Will and I loved this churrascaria, and will definitely be visiting again in the near future! Até logo! (Until later!)
Written by: Jocelyn
377 Santana Row, Ste. 1090, San Jose, CA 95128
T: (408) 244.7001
Lunch:
Mon-Fri 11:30-2:00
Dinner:
Mon-Thur 5:00-10:00
Fri 5:00-10:30
Sat 3:00-10:30
Sun 12:00-9:00
