Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Pasadena

It is hard to give just a star to our favorite restaurant specially because its a new location. Nevertheless, being new should not be a reason to be unimpressive.   We've been to other Fogos which are far better in terms of service and food, and a couple of these locations are also in LA.   Although it's unfair to compare, it is hard not to, since they are of the same brand of establishment and they should have the same standards.

Hopefully, this will help them pinpoint what needs to improve since they are the newest in the Fogo family.

Service made a reservation through phone.  They had a hard time finding it when we arrived 15min early.  It took  a while and 2 people to look for our reservation. maybe they were short staffed because it took 30 min for us to get our drinks, whether new order or refill. some of the gaucho chefs are not that used to cutting and serving meats yet.  To the point of cutting meats for a person sitting on the other side of the table, hence the need to reach out for the meat.  One gaucho chef who served us  was pretty good though.  She cuts meats perfectly where the slice comes out as a whole and not a half piece.  She has that leather gaucho belt which has a knife holster. the only crew who were very on top of things and made sure we got what we requested in a short period of time are Bri, Juaquin and Carlos.  We noticed some staff wanted to be helpful but then doesn't follow through.  Takes your glass and tells you that the refill is coming but nothing comes and then you just see them standing, looking around for other people to ask something from them again.  My thoughts are, if you have not delivered the prior request 15 minutes ago, how will you be able to deliver the next? Maybe it's their system or protocol, but clearly there is a gap that prevents them to meet expectations.

Food their market table is definitely lacking compared to other locations.  There were also times when some selections ran out like papaya, tomatoes, etc. but there are whole fruits and veggies on display.  Only after requests from guests did they cut those exact same displays.  Also they prepared some of the items right on the salad bar counter, cutting tomatoes etc. right then and there. Not saying it's bad but it's the first time i saw that kind of exhibition. I expected everything to be prepped in the kitchen where it is more convenient for everyone specially the guests. There were times when the lines in the bar was a bit long. we asked for a speific meat numerous times which was in their menu and we were informed  it is available and will be brought out to our table but never came. Then when we asked a different crew, he said it is actually not available.  The 1st person we asked about it did not come back to tell us it was actually not available, had we not inquired again we might have paced our dinner more pointlessly to make room for something not coming at all. had to ask for their cheese bread, not sure if its by request for this location because they didn't serve it until we asked. we had to watch out for crews bringing out meats because sometimes they miss offering to all tables even if they still had plenty to offer. We spent almost half of our time eating salads and appetizers from the market table. they seem to have more chicken coming out than other meats. Or maybe that was just the kind that were offered to us most of the time. most of the meats were overcooked, hard and dry.

Unless we are tempted to go to their other locations, we will try out this location again in a few weeks or months.  Hopefully, the almost $70/pax will be...

Thanks FOGO DE CHAO for the WORST BIRTHDAY! $200 down the drain at this place.

I don’t even know where to begin — this was hands down one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had, and I’m genuinely shocked that a place like Fogo de Chão can operate with this level of dysfunction and still call itself a high-end restaurant.

From the moment we sat down, it was clear that no one was communicating. The staff was uncoordinated, management was nowhere to be found, and the servers? Completely untrained. They carved meat so carelessly that hot oil and pieces of meat literally flew onto our laps. Not just once — multiple times. No apology, no awareness, just slice, drop, splash. One server cut such a huge portion so quickly that it fell straight onto the small silver plate already full of grease, like it was the most normal thing in the world. Absolutely disgusting.

And before we could even reach for the meat with the tongs — which is how it’s supposed to work — it was already hacked off and dumped. It felt like we were being rushed, like they just wanted to throw whatever at us and move on.

We paid for the full-course option, yet the variety was nonexistent. The same meats came around repeatedly, especially this awful, dry, overcooked parmesan chicken. We asked multiple times for the sausage, and were told each time that a request had been put in — yet nothing ever came. What did keep coming? More of the same dry, over-salted parmesan chicken. Over and over and over again. It honestly felt deliberate and because we were seated by the kitchen we could see them laughing about it before coming — like after we raised concerns about the service, they decided to ignore our requests and keep sending out the worst option just to shut us up.

Then came the cherry on top of this disaster. A manager named Thomas came to the table, acknowledged the issues, and told us directly that our meal would be comped. We didn’t ask — he offered. But by the end of the meal? Only one plate was comped. No explanation. Just a different Waitress that came saying “umm i was just asked to bring this here” . That wasn’t just unprofessional — it was dishonest and misleading.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, that last waitress made everything worse. Instead of simply running our card (which she already had in her hand), she decided to stir the pot. She looked at the rest of the table and apologized to them for “having to see that” — referring to us voicing valid complaints. Who does that? Who takes it upon themselves to publicly shame customers to their own guests at the same table?

It honestly felt like we were being held hostage. We were done. We wanted to pay and leave. Instead, we were forced to sit there and endure one last round of unnecessary conflict from a server who clearly forgot she was still holding our payment and not performing on some reality show.

Sure, the restaurant looks nice. But the service? A disaster. The food? Repetitive, dry, overcooked, and overly salted. The management? Disorganized and dishonest. I left feeling insulted, frustrated, and embarrassed for even suggesting this place.

Fogo de Chão should be ashamed of this kind of experience. No amount of décor or branding can hide the fact that this location has completely lost sight of what...

8/4/24 Update: Called into the restaurant and spoke with the Manager. He allowed me the time to voice my opinion regarding my experience. He was very polite and gave a very genuine apology. And was able to rectify the situation.

*A series of never ending let downs and false promises * is what I would call my most recent visit to Fogo de chão in Pasadena. What should have been a nice Birthday Dinner turned into a very upsetting experience. First off, while we understand that you were busy, the wait time was quite long past our reservation; we waited over 1 hour. A simple text about the surge in traffic would have been nice. Nevertheless, we waited without a problem. Jennifer (the one with neck tattoos), I single you out because you said you were the Lead on Shift (but your service said otherwise). You inquired what the special event was, and we of course mentioned it was a Birthday. Then you promised a free dessert (this never came)— just some advice: if you can’t follow through, don’t even offer it, especially during someone’s birthday. Clearly that means nothing to Fogo de Chão of Pasadena. We requested a drink from the bar and it never came. You said you’d be back to check in and you never did. Two other people then started serving us (or picking up after you). The wait for the meats to come by was long, which defeats the purpose of the experience. We had more food from the salad bar rather then the meats. We had to constantly ask multiple people for service. I asked for A1 sauce three times. It came 40 minutes into the meal. And of course, how can forget the #1 rule of service: always give a water refill. We went the whole meal with the 1 cup of water we started off with. We asked for water 2 other times, and it didn’t come until we were served the bill. Overall, we spent $100+ for terrible service. Now, I have a backbone, so I wouldn’t dine and dash, but you bet I was annoyed at paying for the terrible service. Overall, zero stars for you; I only gave the 1 star so I can let others know and leave this review. I’ll make sure to tell my friends, family, and anyone else about the experience. I don’t want them wasting their money here. There’s plenty of other restaurants that are better. Maybe try the Flemings across the street. Chao

8/4/24

As to your response below I can tell this is not a genuine apology. This is clearly a generic response which is pre-generated, I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t actually take the time to read the review. And as to your “we cannot verify the details shared” comment, you come off very speculative which is a bit insulting. You should just apologize (a real apology) and request to speak with me directly. No need for the speculation because aside from the horrible service I would hope you aren’t attempting to call me a lier. Now let me know when your manager is in and I’ll call you no problem. And if you would like proof review your cameras ( I really do hope you have working cameras) and see for yourself. My reservation was for Friday July 26 at 8:15 pm we didn’t take our seat until 9:15 pm we sat at the table closest to the entrance next to...