Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Towson

My husband and I dined at Fogo de Chao on PALM SUNDAY April 13, 2025. This was our first time armt this particular location. When we went in I should have turned around because I'm guessing they have a brunch on Sundays that we just missed and the food on the salad bar was almost empty and dried out. The cheeses and meats need ed to be refilled and all. Soon.. almost immediately after leaving the establishment unfortunately, we both became quite ill. Literally within 2 hours of leaving the restaurant, we experienced severe nausea, stomach cramping vomiting, explosive diarrhea and headache. I mean we were both down bad. We know the food poisoning originated from Fogo de Chao because it was the only meal we ate at all that day, and our symptoms started around the same time. During our meal one of the floor managers asked if we were ok and I informed him that a lot of the meat selections were tough and not very appetizing. He stated he would have the staff bring out a "special cut" just for us. He asked what our favorite cut was and how we preferred it cooked. We told him the filet and medium cooked. I than went to the rest room and while I was it the sink washjng my hands one of the waitresses came ouf of the stall and straight to the door never attempting to wash her hands. I was disgusted. Soon after I returned to the table. The waiter came over with the special cut just for us. He cut my husband a little over half and me he gave the rest so there was no more meat on the fork. So no one else was able to get any of this specific specially cook cut of meat. This was a particularly disappointing experience as we were looking forward to a special meal at a restaurant known for its quality. Dealing with food poisoning is never pleasant, and it completely ruined our Weekend. Even had to call out of work the following day. We had high expectations for Fogo de Chao, but this experience has left us feeling unwell and hesitant to return. We would advise other diners to exercise caution. We may also be contacting the health department to report this incident. Rating: 1 star. When I reached out to the restaurant the next day and asked fir the management on duty he said husband name was Peiro. He informed me that it was policy to call more guests from that night to see if anyone else got sick. I work in food service so I know that's not true. But it was not my intention to get upset with him. He said he would call me back shortly. I waited until the next day and called back because he never returned my call. He said no one else called to say they were sick. I informed him that no one else had this special meat my husband and I had and I hope it was not done intentionally. He said he would call me back once again. This was on a Tuesday. I waited a day and called back a 3rd time this time I spoke to a manager named Marco. (PROBABLY NOT THEIR REAL NAMES) He was very rude and kept saying with a heavy accent "well no one else got sick". I asked for a refund and told him I was going to contact the corporate office and he said basically do what I need to do. He was very rude and uncaring. I have not heard anything else from the restaurant. THE MANAGERS NEVER SAID OR DID ANYTHING TO MAKE THE SITUATION RIGHT. and needless to say I will never step foot in this nasty establishment again. The worse...

Overall, we had a pretty good experience.

We did the Full Churassco experience

There was some confusion when we arrived because it was our first time, and we stood at the door, waiting to be seated, and people kept asking if we needed something.

And I'm like, "To sit down?" IDK what that was about. Idk if I was standing in the wrong place or what.

While we were waiting to be sat, a server dropped her tray, with 1 nearly empty plate on it.

The plate shattered when it hit the floor, and I got hit with glass and had to pull glass out of my skin and flip-flops

After we were seated, we received exceptional service from Isabelle (izzy) and Miriam.

They were some of the best servers I have ever had in any restaurant.

They were very pleasant, receptive to my dumb jokes, and acted like they actually enjoyed their job. They went above and beyond during our time there.

I dont really like the open dining room. The thought of sitting in the middle of the restaurant was very anxiety-inducing, and it would've really stressed me out.

I requested that the hostess sit me in more of a corner near the walls, and she was able and willing to accommodate my needs

Some of the food was overcooked, and I didn’t know I could make requests. So I wasted room in my stomach on well-done food that I could've ordered medium-rare.

(Obviously, some people like their steak well-done, so its not an issue. I just didn’t know I could make special requests until I overheard a table next to me do that.

One of the steaks we got was bacon wrapped, and I hate bacon, and I also didn't realize I could request the steak without the bacon.

The molten lava cake was a little disappointing. That's my favorite dessert, and I get it everywhere we go, and this was the worst molten lava cake.

The mashed potatoes, however, were sooooo good. I ate like 4 plates. ☠️

We went on a Thursday around 6 pm, which is about rush hour, and it was pretty slow. There were some big groups.

We didn't need a reservation.

It's probably pretty busy on weekends.

Before we left, the same server dropped a wine glass right next to me, and I had to dig glass out of my flip-flops and feet again. Lol.

The server that dropped the plate and glass never apologized and left the messes for other employees to clean up.

Maybe I'm bad luck. ☠️

I usually don't eat like this. But I was having a crisis and wanted to binge eat my feelings, and overall, my experience definitely boosted my mood.

Overall, despite this place being really good and having great service, this is probably not a place I will return to. For no fault of the restaurant or employees.

It was a great thing to go out and experience for the first time, but I think I'll just leave it at that. An experience I wanted to try and did. Like skydiving.

Even if for a special occasion, theres other places I would choose.

Thank you, Izzy and Miriam, for such a...

TLDR, I was disappointed. I have been to the Fogo in Baltimore City and it is better in every facet. To start, the buffet/salad bar is much bigger. I can say that this was the first red flag, it was probably a quarter of what the one in the city is, which is unfortunately, most likely a product of it's location. The seating was extremely tight at the Towson location as well. It was unfortunate that I felt like the stranger next to me could hear anything coming out of me or my partner's mouth at any given time. My biggest qualm was having to wait nearly 20 minutes to have any of the gaucho's visit our table while the tables around us were being served very noticeably more than us. In the city location, I am accustomed to being almost swarmed by gaucho's as soon as i flip my card over to the "yes, please" side to the point of it being almost overwhelming. Not once did I have to flip my card over until I was actually just ready to leave. However, I would be untruthful if I did not highlight the customer service of the wait staff. I believe that they were totally understaffed because everyone that I ran into was very kind and helpful. One of the waitstaff noticed my partner and I sitting there with nothing on our plates and made a point to ask us how everything was. I told her that we had not been seen by anyone for about 20 minutes and she immediately asked us what we would like to have. I asked her for anything beef, medium rare. Within minutes we had multiple gaucho's come to our table. Unfortunately it was not a continuous service as it is in the city but it was enough to keep us occupied until the next cut we wanted came to our table. I do not want anyone reading this to think that the waitstaff is to blame, etc, because they are actually wonderfully helpful and understanding if you voice anything to them. Lastly I want to address the food itself. The sides the serve with the churrasco menu option were the standard and up to par but every single time I received filet it was basically leather, gray inside and out, dry as a bone, and not what anyone who has had a good filet would expect. The picanha was pretty good, the one time that it came around to us and unfortunately skip us about 6 times, same with the bottom sirloin, which we received twice after being offered sausage and chicken over and over again. To add insult to injury my partner suggested going to Texas Roadhouse next time. I really hope that, whenever the next time I visit is, that this Fogo location steps up it's game, but for the time being, I'll be going to the city location...