Fogão Gaúcho Brazilian Steakhouse Bloomington — Restaurant in Bloomington

UPDATE: This place continues to amaze me every time I come. It’s my go-to place to impress family and friends. The gaúchos and whole staff are always so impressive. Especially impressive each and every time I’m there is Pepe. That guy has serious hospitality skills and runs around busting his tail to make everyone’s experience incredible. He’s so kind and attentive to everyone’s requests. A shout-out to the owner as well. A seriously kind, friendly, and humble man. He’s the kind of guy you want to give your business to. I was just here a few weeks ago with my son and plan on coming back again tomorrow with my daughter for what I’m sure will be another incredible experience. Can’t say enough great things about this place! Continues to be my favorite restaurant EVER!

This place is top-notch on all levels. I have been here a few different times in the last year (including today), each time thinking there is no way they can match the service of the previous visit, but they always do. So much so that our last two visits to the Twin Cities (we live 1.5 hours from Fogão Gaûcho) have been specifically to come here only. The meat is always cooked to perfection and they make sure to give you the doneness you request when slicing off the skewer. I had the pleasure of meeting the owner a couple of visits ago who was very warm and friendly. And then there’s the rest of the staff. They are all very polite and good at what they do, but I’ve been especially impressed with Pepe, who first introduced me to the top sirloin with cheese (a MUST HAVE when you go!) and was helping with all of our requests today. Pepe goes above and beyond, helping with refilling water, whisking dirty plates away, bringing dipping sauces for the table to try, joking with the table, and making sure all of our meat (and other requests) were filled. You can tell he is a joy to all of his customers and also his co-workers and always has a smile on his face. He’s the best at customer service of anyone I’ve ever encountered in the food industry. The atmosphere of this place is really nice, too. Relaxing atmosphere with nice lighting, decoration, and music. Definitely a great place to take a date or have a business meeting. I would highly, highly recommend this place to anyone that lives in or is visiting the Twin Cities area! It’s rare to find such a gem these days in this industry. It makes you want to keep coming...

My girlfriend and I are on a mission to try all 5 of the Brazilian steakhouses in the Twin Cities. So far we have tried Fogo De Chao and Bullvino’s, so I will compare my experience to those.

The salad bar is fairly standard, a little smaller than Fogo De Chao, but with the addition of some warm side dishes like rice and soup. We only care about the palm hearts and cheeses, and both were delicious here.

The selection of meats included everything you would expect from Fogo and Bullvino’s, and was every bit as delicious. Fraldinha is always a favorite for us, and it did not disappoint. The lamb steaks were also fantastic, and considerably better than Bullvino’s in my opinion. They also appear to be trying some new things here to differentiate from the competition. The offered us a cheese-infused sirloin that was very fun to try, in addition to some tasty sauces to compliment the meat (though you don’t need them!)

The service here is phenomenal. We love Fogo De Chao but they are so big and so busy that sometimes the service falls behind. Whereas here, we are warmly welcomed and closely attended to the whole time. Our hosts, Gauchos, and our server Pepe tonight were delightful and went out of their way to make us comfortable, like offering my girlfriend a hangar for her purse or repeatedly clearing our plates and returning with fresh ones. The Gauchos really get around the room with the meats, and we have had a constant supply of meats and excellent variety both times we’ve been here (both on a busy Valentine’s Day and a slow weekday night). We were also treated to a free upgrade on one of our Caipirinha‘s (the premium one is worth it btw!) and received a coupon to use when we return.

Finally, the location here is great! We don’t enjoy the hassle of going downtown for Fogo or Bullvino’s, and the Bullvino’s Bloomington location just doesn’t impress us with the strip mall location. This place is in a classy building in a convenient location right off the highway.

We will continue on our mission to try the other two Churrascarias in the area- but we will be returning to Fogao Gaucho, and I suspect this will become our...

My family and I have been loyal guests of Fogão Gaúcho for many years, celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions with you. We actually used to go to Fogo de Chão but stopped because the quality declined, and we followed you here because of the care, quality, and hospitality you consistently provided. Over time, that choice has been reinforced by the generosity and kindness you and Pepe have shown us — from sharing news about your new location to the way you often send our youngest daughter home with cheese bread “for later.” These gestures have made your restaurant feel like more than just a place to eat; it has felt personal to us.

That is why I feel it’s important to share our disappointment with our visit last night. The quality of the meat was well below what we’ve come to expect — much of it was dry and tough. When my wife, who is a chef herself, politely shared this feedback with our server, the server handled it with professionalism and kindness. However, when the Gauchos came around afterward, their demeanor changed significantly. They began pressing on the cuts of meat in front of her before slicing, and one even remarked “See, not hard” in a sharp, dismissive tone.

Instead of receiving the same hospitality we’ve always appreciated, we were made to feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. My wife lost her appetite as a result, and we ended up leaving early. On top of that, the pieces of meat they continued to offer us were only the end cuts — the scraps left after the rest of the dining room had already been served. This felt like an intentional slight, which was deeply disappointing.

We have always chosen Fogão Gaúcho because of the excellent food and the warmth of the experience. Last night, unfortunately, neither were present. I am sharing this because I know how much pride you take in your restaurant and because I believe you would want to know when an experience falls so short of the standard you’ve built.

I hope you’ll take this to heart, as we’ve long considered Fogão Gaúcho our family’s go-to place for special occasions, and we’d like to continue...