Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Denver

Great food and the buffet and wine selections are excellent. It was my partner's birthday so there was a complementary dessert offered as well. Our original server was Maxine and she was just outstanding!

Gotta say though that save from the positives I listed above, there were huge cons to coming here for Valentine's Day that nearly made the entire experience neither worth the trouble nor worthy of the hype:

I made a reservation for a specific time, and when we arrived I went to check in and the man (pictured) asked my name, looked at the screen they use to seat guests, and then told us I would receive a text when they were ready for us.

It was busy so we didn't think much about the wait since we arrived early and people who hadn't made a reservation were told it would be about an hour. We waited 45 mins past our reservation time for a text and got none.

I went back up to ask about it and a different woman actually pushed buttons to look up my name and selected another button to actually check-in! So the other guy hadn't done anything useful that entire time and it took a real employee 5 secs to get the most basic step done!

15 mins later we were seated in the far back of a room next to the window. It was a nice spot where Maxine explained how dining works and was very attentive to serving our wine and appetizers.

Because we were at the back of a crowded room, many of the tables were being served cuts before us and running out before they could reach us. Especially a large party just ahead of us who seemed to be getting preferential treatment by one particular gaucho (the servers who bring the cuts of meat are called this). So we went to the buffet to have something easily accessible to eat while we waited. Those things are mainly sides so it's not as if that would've made complete meals on their own.

We finally were able to choose cuts because not enough people at the large table wanted medium rare that a different gaucho was offering so he had to come by and ask us. He was at least aware of our existence whereas it took the other gaucho who was serving the large table over and over more than an hour to come to our table, and then complained that it was so busy. It was busy no matter what, so I just think he couldn't bother going a step to the right to get to our table. At one point he was literally at the closest end of the large table from ours, had meat left over, and didn't even bother to look behind him. But he sure was busy! He doesn't even know corners exist.

The gauchos combined with the man who originally neglected to check us in, made us think that we were being overlooked on purpose, especially since we didn't speak Spanish and are obviously a gay couple.

I know I can't really do anything, or really complain about this next one, but it really put me off as far as management goes. Maxine's shift was ending not too long after our appetizers had been served, so she gracefully introduced the new server who would be helping us. That one hadn't even gotten to do anything for us before she was also replaced by another server. It made it hard to get refills of drinks or even bring up our concerns that we weren't getting served any of the meat cuts. I just think it's kind of silly that our second server had to attend to us at all seeing as how she was close to ending her shift as well.

Luckily our third and final server was able to deliver my partner his birthday dessert and took care of our check very quickly. So no complaints about our servers, just the guy at the front who neglected to check us in and the gauchos who couldn't be bothered to come by. It's kind of hard to enjoy the main draw of going to Fogo de Chao when it seems like they are actively avoiding you.

So there you go, maybe don't go on a busy day or at night. And make doubly sure that you are checked in by somebody if you make a reservation. I would hate for your date and dinner plans to be ruined by some neglectful mistakes, maybe even discrimination.

Thanks anyway Fogo, but I'd rather go to...

My husband took me here for our wedding anniversary. He loves his meat, while I am a vegetarian. Since I don't cook a lot of meat for family meals, he was really looking forward to dinner. And I was too, as I've had great experiences at the salad bar at other Brazilian steakhouses.

We had reservations, and they actually seated us right away, even though we were 30 mins early. The greeter / man to took us to our table were both kind and friendly.

Our server was introduced to us as Moses. He was soft spoken, so hard to understand, but knew it was our anniversary from the notes my husband left with the reservation and also after asking us what we were celebrating. He then mentioned, "dessert is on me tonight". I replied - wow, thank you so much. He then took our drink order, and my husband and I don't drink alcohol or sugary soda/drinks for health reasons, so when we asked for water is probably when things started to take a turn. Then he asked us if we wanted "bottled spring water or sparkling water". I replied that just regular water would be fine (thinking in my head, what is wrong with tap water and there is no way those other options are free...). That was my first annoyance. If you are going to play those games (and I'm sure this isn't Moses' fault but rather direction from management), then at least mention that those do have a charge up front. Good thing we didn't fall for that trick.

We proceeded to dinner where my husband ordered the full experience and me the salad bar. The food was good. I don't think the salad bar is worth the $36 price tag, but it still has plenty of options and had good labeling on what is vegan/vegetarian. My husband also enjoyed all of the meat, other than the rare filet mignon -- but that was his fault. We did struggle to understand some of the meat guys (not sure what to call them) -- seems like maybe just speaking a little louder/annunciating would have helped, but they were all great.

By the end of the meal, Moses came back and asked if we wanted dessert (strange question I thought, since he mentioned it was on him at the beginning of the night). We thought sure, we're stuffed, but since it's free, we'll get one to share. My husband picked out the chocolate cake and we shared it.

The bill comes.... $122 (surely on the lower end for this restaurant for 2). Full charge for the dessert. I guess we didn't spend enough on drinks/food to get the free dessert he promised at the beginning.

It just all left a bad taste in our mouth. The service seemed to go downhill after our order of waters and my salad bar. We just didn't realize how much we had annoyed them until now looking back. And it absolutely was seen in body language, too. No -- thanks for coming in. No -- I hope you enjoyed your meal....

Your food is good, so I'm bumping it up to 2 stars instead of 1 for that. But the rest of the experience was the worst way to spend a happy evening celebrating our...

Came here for a special occasion celebrating a bride-to-be and was terribly unimpressed. I’ve been here many times but not for a few years, and won’t be back. We walked in and immediately noticed a very off-putting odor. Thankfully it was only in the entryway and not the dining room, otherwise it would have definitely affected our appetites. Women’s restroom was also horrible and no one attended to it in the 2.5+ hours we were there.

Moving on, it’s no longer a one price inclusive menu. The server gave a 10min rehearsed speech when we sat down about all the $100+ “indulgences” that used to be part of the regular gaucho service. The meats offered in the full experience were good, but very limited. The gauchos did not come around often and we were offered chicken and pork 3x as often as beef. We asked several times for certain meats to come back and they never did, even after the manager came over and asked if we wanted anything specific. For example, we were never offered anything on a bone, even though I saw several offerings go by. I honestly think we each consumed maybe 6oz of meat in total - less than you would get for $15 at Outback. The gauchos just never came around so we filled up on sides and salad - part of their business plan I’m sure. At one point we asked for the grilled cheese with honey to come by. It was at least 30min later, our plates were cleared and our check was paid, and he was insulted when we didn’t take any. We literally didn’t even have plates left on the table because it had been so long since we made the request.

Our server was okay at best. When we asked to start with water, she offered us still or sparkling. We opted for still, not knowing we would be charged $8/bottle. I guess we should have asked for tap, but since she didn’t mention tap as an option, we assumed still would be tap (and complimentary as in every other restaurant in America). Service was slow. Both rounds of drinks from the bar took forever. We asked several times for cheese bread which never came.

When the bill came (after the shock of being charged $30 for water), we split the bill evenly 3 ways. The “suggested gratuity” at the bottom of the receipt suggested that we ALL tip 20% of the entire bill instead of just our portion. The suggested tip was $49 on my $96 tab. Just felt shady since people are drinking and celebrating and trying not to pay so much attention to the bill. I’ve never seen this tactic at any other restaurant.

They also used to have valet parking which is gone. And they used to validate parking. Maybe they would have but our server didn’t mention it as they have in the past, and there was no one at the front to ask on our way out.

Everything about the experience felt like the restaurant was being shady and conning us into spending more. We usually go to Rodizio since it’s a little cheaper for a similar experience but thought we would do Fogo for a special occasion....