Tiff and I took her brother out to dinner at Fogo de Chao in Minneapolis this weekend. It was great! None of us had been to a churrasco-style restaurant before, so we didn’t really know what to expect.
The meal starts with a serve-yourself salad bar, which was filled with most excellent selections. You could grab a wedge of asiago and carpachio, go with a pasta salad, or anything you desire. Of course, we were warned by our waiter not to fill up on the salad bar – just try it out, and then get down to the meats!
Meats are served by Gauchos (chefs for this style of cooking) who walk around with a variety of meats on skewers. When you arrive, you’re given a card that has a red side and a green side. Red side? The Gauchos leave you alone. Green side? You’re immediately flooded with a variety of meats on skewers, with very helpful Gauchos asking how rare you want your beef, etc. All the meats I tried were delicious! My favorite was the Picanha.
Of course, we saved some room (well, technically we didn’t, but we managed to pack some more in) for dessert. We tried the flan (best flan I’ve had in ages!), and the Papaya Cream (which is great for soothing the stomach.)
I’d highly recommend trying this place out some time – I’ve heard reviews of their other locations that are just as positive. The service simply can’t be beat – you don’t have a dedicated waiter/waitress who you need to find, you just look up and someone will come help you.