Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Bellevue

I was very excited to try this restaurant. I very much enjoy brazilian barbecue and looked forward to bringing my guests.

The location, is right in downtown on Bellevue way, love this area. We were going to see a movie at Lincoln center and scheduled an early reservation. Planned for 1.5 hours at dinner. I made reservation for party of six.

Food The the the best part was the salad/sides bar. There was a nice variety to choose from. The items were fresh and the presentation beautifully done. This area is self served. So you will leave your table, get a plate, self serve your choices and return with them to your table

Grade: A

Unfortunately, the rest left a great deal to be desired. Speaking only to the meat products being offered, for beef we received multiple offers of top sirloin. Offers of more expensive cuts were very few and far between. We did finally ask one of the servers if they could send ribeye or new york or fillet, brisket or garlic steak. Something other than top sirloin. This request brought an bit more varied offering by our table.

Unfortunately, high amounts of gristle, fat also very tough and also often overcooked. We were often passed by and sat for extended periods waiting for meat offerings.

Also, twice a server came with a meat offering, offered and served to only one person at the table and left, FAST. No inquiring to anyone else at the table. All with green side up. (If you've never done Brazilian barbecue, you were given a circle, red on one side green, on the other. If the green side is up, it means that you would like to be offered, meat.)

Unfortunately, most of the beef was tough and well done, often under seasoned to my liking. Seasoning is very subjective. I wouldn't allow seasoning to be the reason you choose or don't choose.

I'll point out that if you are somebody who prefers your meat well done, you might be quite satisfied. But for me, I am a person who prefers my beef rare.

Service

Unfortunately, I cannot endorse our service experience. We were seated 4:45p.m.

It started off looking like this was going to be a great experience. A the host welcomed us. Our server came to the table and ask for our drink order. Two of 6 ordered cocktails. Those came quickly. We informed our server that we would need to depart by 6:15 p.m. for a 6:30p.m. show.

We ordered an upgrade that was to include a lobster tail, and by 5:50 p.m , we still had not received it. Upon request, the lobster tail was promptly brought to the table. Taste for this item was reasonably good, not great. That and based on portion size and quality, I'd say don't bother. I don't recommend adding it. For all intents and purposes, we did not have engagement from our server. We had to ask meat servers and others to locate her. Once to ask about the loster that wasn't delivered. Once, to ask if mashed potatoes might come? Finally so we could get our bill. At 6 o'clock, she came to our table, and we reminded her again about our departure schedule. She asked if we would like dessert (meal upgrade included a dessert) and we informed her, we did not feel we had time. She kindly did offer to box it up to go.

Our bill did not come until almost 6:30 p.m.

Two members of our party were not seeing the show and agreed to stay and enjoy our dessert, and requested the vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce. The ice cream showed up at the table 6:30. No caramel sauce on it. And when they asked the server, she said, "It's in there. It is mixed in." Had we been asked sooner? We had multiple people who very much enjoy dessert.

Service grade is D

Atmosphere This is a very lively, bustling, fast paced environment. We enjoyed it. Note, if anyone in your party is hard of hearing out or utilizes hearing aid, there will be ambient noise that would likely be make it hard for them. Our party of six was seated at a large round table, which I very much appreciated. The tone, decor are nice and relatively upscale. One could come easily in casual or more formal attire will fit in quite...

This was an utterly dreadful experience, beginning with the reservation process and culminating in the waiter's insistence on a significantly larger tip than we intended.

We selected this venue for our 23-person corporate event.

Since online reservations for large groups weren't possible, I attempted to contact them by phone several times on different days and times, but no one answered. I left a voicemail with my contact information and requested a call back, but never received one.

Next, I contacted them via their website's chat function. The following day, the sales manager reached out via email and provided their package options, which I had already researched online. I was prepared to book a package but found the sales manager's email responses infrequent (only once a day). We needed a quicker confirmation to determine whether we needed to book an alternative restaurant. Consequently, I called the sales manager directly to make the reservation. I still question why they didn't proactively contact me by phone to expedite the process.

We had a reservation for 6:30 PM, but upon arrival, were informed that no tables were available and we would need to wait. We were finally seated at 7:24 PM – a one-hour wait for a party of 23 with a prior reservation. They promised a complimentary bottle of champagne, which we never received.

As a large group, we were entitled to a complimentary appetizer as stated on their website, but this was also not provided.

Our package included the option to substitute fish for meat at no extra charge. When I requested this, I was told it would incur an additional cost. After explaining that our package covered the substitution, it became apparent that they were unaware of our pre-booked package dinner. They consulted their schedule, which did not reflect our reservation, indicating a miscommunication between the sales manager and the restaurant.

Throughout the evening, I had to constantly remind the staff about our package and ensure we received the included items. Desserts were not delivered to everyone in the group, and we had to repeatedly request the included tea. I even had to order my cocktail three times before it arrived. The staff, with the exception of one helpful individual, were generally unfriendly.

Following this disastrous experience, we initially intended to leave no tip. However, we decided to leave a $200 tip as a gesture of goodwill. When the waiter approached to collect payment, he demanded a minimum tip of $411, which equated to 18% of the total bill. He then threatened to call a manager if we did not comply. I was relieved to finally speak with a manager to express our concerns.

The manager offered to reduce the bill to $1800, which we agreed to. However, the revised bill presented was for $2150. Feeling exhausted and eager to leave, we paid the bill and decided to tip only the helpful waiter. When we attempted to give him a cash tip, another waiter (who had earlier pressured us for a larger tip) intervened, stating that we could not tip only one waiter and were obligated to tip the entire serving staff. We were then pressured to retract the cash tip and include it in the bill. He did not relent until he confirmed that the helpful waiter received no individual tip from us.

If you value your sanity and wish to avoid a ruined party, I strongly advise against dining at this...

This restaurant has good reviews, and I had good experience with Brazilian steakhouse in other cities, so my wife and me went to this one in Bellevue for lunch on a Friday. Sadly, I would never imagined that I would lose a tooth because of this decision. We started with the salad in the island, and that was very good and satisfying. When it comes to the meat, I enjoyed the slides for a few round, and they are good. Then in one round, I had a slice of beef, that was pretty dark on the outside with some particles which i thought should be seasonings. I felt something rough when i took a bite, but thought maybe some species are not very find grounded, and that should be fine. Anyway, this piece of mean was not supposed to contains bones at all, so I was not guarded. Then with one mouth full, i was happily chewing the meat, and suddenly I chewed on something really hard -- the sharp pain immediately gave me a shock. Slowly, i moved the food in my mouth and try to feel my tooth -- i really was begging the sharp pain would be gone, and that my tooth would somehow recover. To my dissapointment, the tooth becomes very sensitive. I tried a few times, and i sensed it was not good. I spit out the meat, and called the waitress. He looked concerned, and said he would report to the manager. My wife was concerned, but there was nothing much we can do. I was still thinking at the time the pain was due to the tooth being hurt by the impact, and it may takes days to recover. I used the other half of my teeth the continue my food, but the sharp pain was making this really difficult. I went to the bathroom once, trying to check if i can see the condition of the tooth, but there is no way i can see what the condition was. At the end no once came to us, so we called the manager again. He came and offered the meal for free. I said my tooth still hurts and asked for his contact. I was hoping the pain would dissappear and back to normal, however days past it was still in sharp pain whenever food touches it. I went to periodontal office a week later and the dentist told me there was a crack in the tooth that goes down to the bone. there was no way to save it. I called the manager and told him about this. Long story short, though slow to respond, they decided to use their insurance to cover this accident. However after providing the dental record, and the one 1 month earlier where my teeth are perfectly fine, and 3 years's prior dental records, the insurance company denied my claim. I finally sent a message to the manager again, complaining their insurance company denied my claim. There was no more response. That is about 2 months back already. If you are visiting the restaurant, I sincerely hope they have addressed the issues with their food, and you enjoyed your food while keeping your teeth safe! This is my first lost tooth. First implant. In my early 40s. I hope I had not visited the restaurant that day, and still have my original tooth with me.

-- Update after Fogo's reply to my review: I appreciate the fact that you replied to my review swiftly. I did send an email and left my number as suggested, and followed with a reminder email in the past 2 weeks, but I did not get any call in...