Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Minneapolis

My wife and I had a dinner reservation on NYE to celebrate our anniversary. It would be our 3rd time returning to Fogo in Minneapolis. Our first two experiences (several years prior) were excellent, so we were excited to return. We arrived slightly earlier than our reservation time, as we knew downtown would be busy.

We stood in line at the front door for about 5 minutes to check in at the host stand. The host informed us that it would be around 15-20 minutes before our table was ready, which we thought was a little long given that we were on time to our reservation, but ultimately not a huge deal. She handed us a buzzer. My wife went to the bathroom while I tried to order us drinks at the bar. I found an open spot at the end of the bar and was waiting for a bartender to walk over with a drink menu. After a few minutes of waiting for a bartenders attention, I decided to move to a spot that had opened up at the middle of the bar, closer to where all the bartenders were. I picked up a drink menu that was left on the bar from the previous couple, however it was covered in something sticky and the bar top was a mess. Again, not a huge deal, it's just surprising to see at a higher class restaurant. I read over the menu for a minute or two while still waiting for one of the bartenders to take my order. As I continued to wait, my wife returned from the bathroom. She told me that it was absolutely disgusting in there. She said she had to wait in line to use the bathroom because 2 of the stalls were so filthy that they were unusable. She also said the entire women's bathroom floor was soaking wet from a leaking toilet that had towels wrapped around the base. We waited at the bar together for another 5 minutes, waiting for someone behind the bar to even look at us. No one ever did. I spent nearly 15 minutes waiting at the bar and not 1 of the 4 people working behind it ever even made eye contact with me... Our buzzer went off so we gave up on the bar and went back to the host stand. She took our buzzer and asked us to wait in an area around the corner. We stood and waited in this area for about 5 more minutes wondering why they buzzed us if they didn't have our table ready yet. We stood and watched as 5 people behind the host stand were chaotically trying to figure out what was going on when one of them finally told us to follow them. They led us towards what appeared to be an open table near the bathrooms, but as we got closer they saw that it hadnt been cleaned off yet. They stopped, turned, and walked us in a completely different direction back across the restaurant towards another open table that was in the process of getting cleaned off. We sat down as they rushed to clean off our table. While we waited for our server, we opened the menus which were dirty. The table cloth was also dirty and appeared to have mold spots in multiple places. As we waited for our server, I got up to use the Men's bathroom which I found to be nearly as filthy as the Women's. I swatted at some fruit flies as I walked out from the hallway of the bathroom. When I sat back down, I saw more fruit flies flying around near our table. That was really concerning. My wife and I were considering leaving just as our server came over. She asked if we were doing "the full experience" (which I laughed in my head because up until now, it has been an awful experience). She told us to help ourselves to the salad bar. We walked over to stand in line at the salad bar and both of us immediately looked at eachother at the same time because there was a strong sour / rotten smell. At that point, we had both seen enough. We grabbed our things and walked out.

I get that it was very busy being NYE, but if they have to lower their service quality down to that level because they are busy, they shouldn't even open the doors. If management allows the customer facing part of the restaurant to be in that condition, what does the kitchen look like? Is it even sanitary? It honestly felt like a rundown old country buffet. Management should be ashamed or...

Tonight was supposed to be special—it was our wedding anniversary, and I wanted my husband to have a great time. Instead, we walked into an absolute nightmare.

The disaster began the moment we arrived. The first thing we saw was a filthy door handle, covered in grime and fingerprints. Disgusting! I had to tap it with my fingertip just to avoid direct contact. This should have been my first warning to turn around and leave.

We were quickly seated, but not before they tried to shove us into the worst possible corner of the restaurant—far from the service, almost like they wanted us out of sight. With some insistence, we managed to get a different table, but that did not improve the experience.

Before eating, we went to wash our hands, and that’s when the horror escalated. The restroom was absolutely appalling! The floors were filthy, and I was horrified to see parsley scattered everywhere—why was there parsley in the bathroom?! Was the kitchen so disgusting that ingredients were falling out on the way to the restroom? The smell in there was unbearable, and I almost lost my appetite right then and there.

Still, trying to keep the night special, we approached the salad bar—only to be greeted by the saddest, most unappetizing selection of food I have ever seen. The vegetables were limp and lifeless, as if they had been sitting out for days. The dressings looked congealed, and the whole setup reminded me of a cheap, depressing funeral buffet. It was Friday night, a time when a restaurant should be at its peak, yet everything looked abandoned and stale.

And the worst part? The meat selection was an absolute scam. They promised 13 types of meat, but all we got were cheap sausages and low-quality pork cuts that tasted like they had been sitting in a salty marinade for days. It was oversalted, full of gristle, and even had sand in it—SAND! How is that even possible?! At this point, I started to feel physically sick.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, our utensils were filthy—so dirty that I wouldn’t even feed an animal with them. We had to eat with our hands because there was no way I was putting their disgusting silverware in my mouth. Calling the waiter? Impossible. The staff acted like we didn’t exist. They were rude, slow, and gave off the impression that we were inconveniencing them by simply being there.

By the end of the meal, I was beyond furious. My anniversary was ruined, my husband and I were miserable, and I deeply regretted choosing this place. But the worst was yet to come.

As the night went on, I started feeling unwell. By the time we got home, the stomach pain was unbearable. I ended up in the Emergency Room and was diagnosed with a severe intestinal infection!!! I can’t believe this—I PAID to be poisoned.

This restaurant should be shut down immediately. It’s a disgrace to the food industry. The filth, the attitude, the health hazard—it’s beyond unacceptable. I feel like I betrayed my husband by bringing him here, and honestly, after this disaster, I might as well divorce him out of shame.

People, stay FAR AWAY from this place! If you value your health, your dignity, and your sanity, avoid it at all costs! This was not just a bad experience—this was a total violation of basic...

Sadly, Fogo is not what it used to be. Tonight was my 4th or 5th time here, and sadly, it was a poor experience. We had a reservation for 8:30pm came to celebrate my birthday. Upon arrival, we were greeted promptly, and the hostess gave me a birthday card for a complimentary dessert.

After being seated, our first server came over, introduced herself, and took our order. She saw the birthday card, we briefly chatted and wished one another a happy July birthday. Shortly after, she told us that her shift was about to end, but said another server would take over (I forgot the name she told us, but she said the lady would not be dressed like her and the other servers).

Before she left, we asked if someone could come by the table with ribeye, as the guys with meat kept walking right by us, even though our cards were flipped over (we suspect they were trying to service the larger tables first and we were a table of two).

The ribeye eventually came, but unfortunately, the new server did not. I believe we were asked twice by different people, if we wanted more bread and sides. We said yes both times, but the items never showed up. Then, we had to ask one of the meat guys for new plates.

After what felt like 15-20 minutes of no server, we decided to give up. We were hoping for more variety in the meat, but didn’t see anyone come by with lamb chops or ribs, as we’ve seen in previous visits.

I was really excited for the dessert, as our original server had brought the menu over, so I would know what I wanted when the time came. But, at this point, we just wanted to leave. However, we didn’t know who to ask for the check. Eventually, someone came by and asked if they could take our plates and we said yes. Still no server.

Then, I saw an employee go up to a young lady who was serving another table near us. From their looks toward us and the surprise on the server’s face, I assume that she was supposed to take our table, but didn’t know. Sadly, neither of them ever came to our table. So, we stopped the employee who’d taken our plates, and asked her for the check.

She brought the check over, then we waited for someone to come get it. No one came. About five minutes later, a black woman who I’d seen serving tables in another section, came over and asked if she could help. We said yes, and she got us cashed out. I can’t imagine how much longer we’d have sat there, if she hadn’t offered to help.

For as pricey as Fogo de Chão is, we expected better. Sadly, this type of service (or lack there of) is exactly why we’ve stopped dining out as much. I felt horrible for suggesting that we come here, when we could’ve spent a fraction of that for the same poor service elsewhere.

I rated the atmosphere 3/5 because while it was the usual calm vibe, there appeared to be two employees arguing near our table. We were seated by the salad bar, in a high traffic area, and the employees just stood there loudly talking. I’m not sure if it was a lover’s quarrel or if the man was scolding the young lady, but they definitely should’ve taken it off the floor. As with many restaurants nowadays, more training and attentiveness from managers could easily resolve the problems we...