Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Santa Monica

On the Labor Day Holiday, September 1, I presented to Fogo de Chao in Santa Monica for dinner with my daughter. My daughter and I were having dinner to celebrate her first week in college. It was a special dinner for us, as I am sure most can imagine. As we arrived, we noticed the restaurant’s hostess was under stress and visibly overwhelmed with the amount of work she needed to perform. She verified our reservation, asked us to wait and a while later took us inside the restaurant to our table. Once we arrived, she dropped the menus on the table and left. We were seated at a small two-seat table that was barely large enough to accommodate our dinner plate, beverage glass and silverware. For dinner I ordered the full churrasco experience which includes all-you-can-eat servings of barbecue brought to the table by waiters and also includes their salad bar. As good as the barbecue of Brazilian restaurants tend to be, their salad bars can be even better with an impressive variety of items. After we were greeted by the waitress, I proceeded to the salad bar to serve myself. I was immediately disappointed and not in a small way. Many of their salad containers were empty, near empty or dirty. One of the most popular items in any Brazilian barbecue is their salsa also called ‘Molho `a Campanha’. It’s difficult to imagine a Brazilian churrasco without farofa (toasted manioc or yuca flour) and salsa on top of it. The salsa container was nearly empty with only some liquid at the bottom. The hot foods section was another great disappointment. The pot containing black beans was open (without a lid anywhere in site) and the black beans looked thick and dry. Black beans are a staple of Brazilian cuisine and it’s difficult to imagine a Brazilian restaurant that can’t prepare this dish without proper respect for culinary tradition. Filled with disappointment I served myself only a few items and returned to my table. After I returned to the table, I flipped their round card from the red side to the green side to signal waiters passing by that they should stop because I was ready to eat barbecue. Let me make a long story short: We were there from a little after 7:00 PM (approximately 7:10 PM) until approximately 8:30 PM when we decided to leave. During this nearly one and one-half hour I was offered one cut of beef four times (Picanha with Garlic) and offered one piece of sausage. In a typical Brazilian barbecue restaurant, I would have been offered literally dozens of cuts of meat and other items (cheese, pineapple, etc…) by numerous waiters coming to our table in alternating fashion, in this same amount of time. Immediately before I asked for the check and we left, one of the waitresses came to our table and asked if we wanted anything in special to which I replied that we wanted all different cuts of meat and in particular Picanha. We were there for another 15 minutes and not a single waiter brought any barbecue to our table. At that point I decided we had enough, paid the bill and left. My experience that evening was the worst I have ever had at a Brazilian restaurant. There were issues involving the interior decoration and the arrangement of tables and seats, issues involving employee training and scheduling, faulty staffing with fewer employees than necessary to run the restaurant particularly on a busy evening such as Labor Day Holiday, the appearance of the salad bar and how clean it wasn’t, food prep and the periodical stocking of the salad bar, the hot food section with its reduced number of items and preparation not suited for a restaurant of this caliber and in this location, but most of all there was the absence of the one item people come to the restaurant to experience: BARBECUE MEAT. This is not my first negative experience at Fogo de Chao. They need to improve their product (food), the quality of their service and, most of all, must deliver a pleasant and flawless dining experience that is a reflection of the high prices...

I’ve been to several Fogo de Chão locations before, including the one in Boston, and always had a great time. Unfortunately, the Santa Monica location gave me and my friends what was by far the worst churrascaria experience we’ve ever had.

First of all, the service was incredibly slow – especially the meat service. I’m not picky, I eat everything, but the meat just wasn’t coming. After waiting long periods with no skewers coming by, my friend and I decided to time the gaps between meat servings just out of curiosity. Shockingly, at one point, we waited 12 minutes between skewers. In one full hour, we were served maybe 5 different meats total – and that’s being generous. It was clear we weren’t being served properly, and it wasn’t even a full house.

Second, we asked one of the servers about specific meats like bife ancho, lamb picanha, and filet mignon, and were told that these are only brought by request. That surprised us a lot, because at other Fogo de Chão locations, especially the Boston one, premium cuts come around regularly as part of the standard rodízio experience. Later, the general manager, Logan, came by (very polite and genuinely trying to help), and we explained what was going on. He told us that all meats, including the premium ones, are supposed to be served regularly to every table – no request needed. So what’s going on here? The staff is clearly not aligned, and we, the customers, are left frustrated and confused. For the first full hour, we were waiting for food that apparently should’ve been coming all along.

Third, and possibly the most uncomfortable moment, was when a staff member walked by and told us that we would be charged for 4 rodízios because “sharing” wasn’t allowed. We were four people. We had always intended to pay for four rodízios. But the way this was brought up was incredibly inappropriate – he didn’t ask, he accused. He came to our table and said, basically, “You’re not allowed to share, so you’re being charged for four.” This was said out loud, in front of everyone, without even confirming if there was a mistake. It was insulting, honestly – like we were trying to cheat the system or something. Completely unnecessary and unprofessional.

All in all, this was a terrible experience. The service was slow and disorganized, we didn’t get the full rodízio as advertised, the staff wasn’t aligned on how things are supposed to work, and at one point, we were even wrongly accused of trying to “share” a meal we fully paid for.

I would never recommend this Fogo de Chão location. Save your time and go to one where they actually respect their customers and understand what a proper rodízio...

The Nervous Service

Last night, a friend and I decided to check out the brand-new Fogo de Chão near the Santa Monica Pier. He’d never been, loves a novelty, and we were in the mood for something a little out of the ordinary. What we didn’t expect was to have front-row seats a surreal dining experience.

To be fair, some of the food was great, easily some of the most flavorful cuts I’ve had at a Fogo, and I’ve been to a few locations on at least two continents. Once they figured out we liked our meat medium rare (about halfway through the meal), the quality really shined. That said, it took a bit too much effort to get there. The restaurant was maybe a quarter full.

Which brings me to the service: I’ve never seen anything like it. There were so many employees and not a single moment of peace. Let me preface all this to say the staff works so hard and I truly appreciate that, I feel like they may work too hard. Between the meat servers, the actual server, the person whose job seemed to be offering new plates, the manager, the customer service rep, etc it felt like we were seated in the middle of a high-stakes hospitality training simulation. At one point, four staff members were lined up waiting to speak to us. It was overwhelming.

The meat rotation system in particular needs more breathing room. The frequency and intensity with which servers approached was too much, and don't seem to let the red medallion stop them if they're carrying things that aren't meat.

There was some levity in a few theatrical characters among the staff. One in particular—an Italian guy with strong Jersey Shore energy—ignored the red medallion as he seemed to be workshopping a role, and we were the unintended scene partners. I liked him haha.

I jokingly floated a few theories about what was going on: We were in an A24-style horror movie about a cult-run steakhouse. This is all part of a hidden-camera social experiment we’ll see on a streaming service next year.

After dinner, we had to return after leaving because my friend forgot his card. Of course we did. 8 staffers had to conversate in the effort to get my mate his card back. They do get a whole star for calling us and letting us know it was there though! Very appreciative!

The food? Often great. The service? So well-intentioned, but chaotic. I hope with a little time and training, they can smooth things out. Because right now, dining here feels less like a night out and more like being a guest star in someone's fever dream. I will give it a few months to find its sea legs...