Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Indianapolis

Always enjoyed going for dinner at Fogo de Chao. My family and I have dined many times at the Rosemont, Chicago, San Juan and Orlando locations and have absolutely loved the Brazilian experience, service and food we were given. We've also enjoyed dining at other Brazilian restaurants but always noticed the difference of standards in regards to the service, atmosphere and food weren't as high as Fogo de Chao. Having moved from IL we were excited to see Indy has a Fogo de Chao and couldn't wait to go for a family dinner. Unfortunately after last night, we would rather drive 2 hrs to a different Brazilian restaurant than dine at this location again. The hostess didn't greet us and tried attending 2 guests that came after us. When I called to her attention that we were there 1st she said she's seating guest with reservations which I said we do if you asked. After this awkward conversation we did get seated. During our dinner we all had the green card up and had only 5-6meats offered. Bone-in Ribeye Bottom Sirloin Pork Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Bacon-Wrapped Steak Beef Ribs Double Bone-in Pork Chop Chicken thigh Chicken breast Never came to the table. I asked the waitress if she can get the chicken brought since it was one of our favorite. We waited 10-15mins then asked ANOTHER waitress for the chicken. After another 15mins the chicken finally came to the table. (I will later find out by the manager that the chicken takes 5mins to make- so clearly a 30min wait is not reasonable)Flagging down the waitress started becoming more often now. When it came for dessert- it was the last of my patience. We ordered our usual 4desserts and 2 coffees. After 5mins we were told the lava cakes were out which was fine things go out of stock- we just needed the menu again for my daughter and mother in law to choose. Another 10mins until we got the waitress attention to put in the other 2 desserts. After a while the coffees were brought but no sugar was given. More time passes and a different waitress brings only my husband's dessert with in a to-go container. Then we're told the dessert my daughter ordered was out of stock but the 1st one she asked for wasn't- she was going to now get the lava cake (eventually). At this point it's been 20mins- all we have on the table is 1 dessert in a to-go container, 2 lukewarm coffees, no sugar and disappointed faces. I call over the waitress and ask to put the remaining 3desserts to-go and to please remove the coffees off our bill since we had waited way too long and are now cold and weren't touched since the surger and desserts were never brought to be enjoyed. She said she understood, was sorry and had no problem getting that off. The 3rd waitress that appeared interfered and brought us our bill wanted to just give the lava cake for free "for the inconvenience" but still have us pay for the coffees. After telling her the 1st waitress was going to fix it she ended up getting the manager since there was a lot of back and forth with the 3 waitresses. Adding to this fiasco the 4th dessert was never brought. Now the manager is at our table and we're explaining this whole situation. He was defensive, saying that they were in fact fully staffed and they work as a team and "if I wanted a certain meat I could have asked a manager to be faster"

I've heard amazing things about this place since coming back to Indiana, and I must say... It doesn't live up to the hype.

Let's start with the food. If you've ever been to a good Brazilian grill like Tucanos in St Charles, MO, you will immediately notice the churrasco (salad bar/ buffet) is sorely lacking in options. To make matters worse, many of the items were out when we arrived, and they were NEVER restocked. Pineapple for example. We got none. Then the meats. I'm sure they were great by some peoples' standards, but everything was cooked rare or well done, with nothing in between save for a single sirloin that came around. It's worth noting that despite being there seated for well over an hour, we didn't get to try all the meat, but I'll get to that with service. I pushed through a few different steaks, some pork, and a bacon wrapped chicken. My wife liked the pork. My piece was nothing but fat. The only meat I actually enjoyed was the chicken, and compared to the parm crusted chicken at Tucanos, this still fell flat.

Let's talk about service. As mentioned earlier, we didn't get to try nearly everything. I found out as we were leaving they had another chicken dish. It hasn't come around in the entire time we were there as far as I know, which is sad. Even if it did, we probably wouldn't have gotten any. We were by a table with a party of eight. Almost every time a meat came by they stopped there first emptying the lot and never returning with more to complete the rounds. We asked a few times for specific things. They didn't deliver on any of them. To top this off, one of the (I'm guessing) managers actively chewed out our waitress on the floor in front of a room full of customers. Not cool lady. Even if she was struggling, that's very poor management. Shame on you. You're the one that took our cheese bread away and never brought the replacement. She was at least trying and clearly overwhelmed.

Then the price... For this mediocre at best food and experience for two people, it was over $100. We didn't order anything outside of the buffet and drank water. If the food was good I wouldn't have an issue here, but for half that at a better Brazilian grill you would have better food and a better experience.

I supposed if I didn't know any better when it came to this type of restaurant I would have just decided I don't like the food and moved on, but since I do, take my word for it. This place is not worth it. For any travelers out there, find better option in a different city. This one doesn't hold a candle to them.

Just because it looks upscale doesn't...

We went for the first time 2 days ago for our anniversary. We had a reservation and were seated about 10 minutes after. I requested a table away from people and unfortunately we were seated right in the center of everything. The server came over and since it was our first time, she explained everything thoroughly. She was patient and answered all of our questions.

Since it was our first time, we ordered the $44 special so we could get a feel for how everything works and 2 cocktails. I have to say, with a couple exceptions, the food was delicious. The steak was amazing, all the cuts. It was juicy and hot. The bar had a wide variety of foods and a charcuterie "board". Everything was great. Our only food complaint is the chicken was extremely dry and really inedible.

The cocktails were INCREDIBLY strong. So strong we couldn't drink them. Luckily they were kind enough to remove them from our bill. If you like strong drinks, they are definitely for you.

They did provide us with a delicious lava cake dessert. It was fantastic. The ice cream is impeccable. Creamy and bursting with vanilla flavor (I am an ice cream connoisseur). Simply delicious. They also wrote Happy Anniversary on a plate and presented it to us. We thought that was incredibly gracious.

Our 2 biggest complaints are as follows:

1. We were asked to be seated in a corner or away from everyone. It was totally the opposite. Right in the middle of everything. As a result, the dining room was so loud we couldn't hear the server nor could we talk to each other. NOT what we wanted on our anniversary and we were absolutely not happy by this. I have issues with being surrounded by people anyway, this was a special occasion for us. While this doesn't seem like a big deal to some, it's a HUGE deal to us due to my anxiety.

2. While we understood there is no formal dress code, it's recommended you wear smart casual attire. We were mortified by the attire allowed to be worn by some. This is an upscale dining establishment, not aisle 7 at Walmart. Perhaps a change in policy should take place here. We certainly did not expect those dressed as such would be allowed entry into such a restaurant.

Despite the great food, because of these 2 things, we are up in the air as to whether or not we would be back, particularly at full price. The dining room gets far too loud and without a formal dress code, it drags the atmosphere and feel of the restaurant way down. The food was fabulous though as are the desserts.

I just hope that next time someone makes a request in the reservation, they...