Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

UPDATE 7/28. After I reached out on their site and made my review I was contacted by the restaurant. They were kind enough to offer me a chance to try the churrasco experience again at no cost to me. I have to say the second time was a lot better. I was sat more toward the middle seating area right by the cold bar, our server/all the servers that night were very attentive checking in regularly. We ate our fill as the food came around much more frequently and was much better quality with more options. Compared to the 2 hours we were there last time we were seated for about 30/40 minutes and had just as much if not more meat come around. I even tried stuff I hadn’t before. Overall, much better experience this time around. Thank you.

Original review was 2/5 stars.

So i'm not typically one to complain or rate but with how expensive this place is and it being new i feel like this has to be said, if only just to give the restaurant a chance to improve.

Best thing was the ambiance. the vibes are immaculate and i was so excited when i walked in to sit down and eat. Front of house hostesses were kind and attentive.

The food was mid at best. When we went, maybe it was just too early or something but there were very few options - bone in chicken was all drier than the sahara, and the beef options were all either leather dry or rubber chewy. Everything was either over seasoned or under seasoned. The only decent things were the flak steak and the sirloin. The cold bar was like a giant charcuterie board which was cool but the hot bar was LACKING. The little hot sides you get were not good at all - I think its fried polenta? They yellow sticks. They were very crunchy and i'm not sure if that is intentional? The potatoes were fine but under seasoned, and the plantain was so overcooked it was almost pudding. They also didnt come around with the meat enough. It was like a 4-5 minute lull between cuts at best at the start, pinking up in pace toward the end. overall, food, 5/10

SERVICE on the other hand. 2/10. Maybe its where we sat (back of the restaurant past the bar in the more private area) but our server checked on us once at the start then never again unless i flagged her down. I dont even think i got her name? It took 10 minutes between flagging her down and requesting a drink refill to actually getting the drink and the first time it was all seltzer no syrup. Then never got offered another refill for the rest of the meal. Then when we finally were ready for the check it took signaling her like 3 times to get her to come over, 10 minutes to get the check, another 10 minutes to actually get the check paid, then still had to wait 10-15 minutes for my to go dessert and leave. And it wasn't busy. We went at 6:15/6:30pm on a Wednesday

Oh and at the start of the meal they ask sparkling or flat water. i assumed flat was free so my bad for assuming but they charge $8 for flat bottle of water that im 99% sure was tap based on the taste.

Overall 3/10, would not recommend going anytime soon. maybe just growing pains but it SUCKED. I love Brazilian steakhouses. Texas De Brazil was a staple in my diet when it was in macarthur. This just really disappointed me. Oh, and did i mention we went for my birthday? Yeah salt in the wound.

Cocktail was great though so...

Let me start by saying I don't like leaving negative reviews, but sometimes experiences are so bad I feel the need to warn others against it. We had reservations tonight to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We sat, ordered wine and a caipirinha. We never received those drinks, and our water glasses sat empty most of the meal. We got food from the salad bar area, that was pretty disheveled looking, and picked over especially considering it was very early into the dinner service. We sat back down and it took several minutes for the sides to come to our table. It was pretty clear every one in the restaurant was very concerned with a large party that was coming in, and not so concerned with anyone else that was sitting in the restaurant trying to enjoy a meal.

You can really tell that they are pushing the cheap cuts of meat. Most of the food offerings skipped our table, with the exception of a flank steak that was so overcooked, it was unpalatable, that got offered to us about eight times as I don't think he could have even given it away for free. The few meat offerings that actually came to our table were VERY over cooked, to the point of being nearly uneatable. We sat there waiting for food to be offered to us, watching the me offerings walk by us without even a glance in our direction repeatedly through our meal. A server that wasn't our server, ours seemingly disappeared right after she took our drink order that never arrived, kept asking if everything was okay, not just the our table but the others seated around us as well. She never bothered to actually pause long enough for an answer but, It was pretty obvious a good time was not being had by anyone sitting in our section of the restaurant . This restaurant needs some serious training for the staff. If you're going to offer a higher-end dining experience, you need to follow through with the proper service. Wait staff should not be disappearing, or carrying high chairs and hitting people with them ( the bruise on my leg is okay thank you) or splashing puddles of grease on to people's laps. Don't worry the grease wasn't hot, and it didn't burn my husband. Our table was completely cleared while we were sitting at it, not yet finished with our meal. The bus boy scraped every crumb from the entire table then, acted as though he were about to scrape all that filth into my husband's lap repeatedly when the first time didn't get him a laugh. He didn't seem to take the hint that it was awkward and rude what he was doing. It's not funny to throw crumbs on people, and it's pretty rude to clear the entire table including the water glasses when people are not done with their meal. He made it pretty clear that our patronage was no longer welcome about halfway through our meal. Overall this place is kind of a nightmare to visit. And I would skip it, especially if you're trying to celebrate something special, as the food is underwhelming, the service is beyond terrible, and it's far too loud to carry on a...

Long ago in the days of my youth I went to a churrascaria by the name of Malibu Grill. It was the pinnacle of the dining experience. Men dressed like 1990's WCW superstar Silver King would bring you meat on a sword and they had ten different meats. All for the price of $15.99. This was the 90's so inflation happens, and Fogo de Chao is not Malibu Grill, but it is good.

I say all this to set the stage. To give you my reference point. Malibu Grill is long gone. It has been replaced by more upscale places like Fogo de Chao and Texas de Brazil, but my memories remain, and they are good ones.

Now to my experience last night. We had made reservations well in advance and were seated immediately. This is a large bonus. We had to wait awhile to get our drink order taken and for those drinks to arrive. My wife ordered the one meat option and I opted for the full experience. Our main waitress was nervous and inexperienced, but still did a good job. She will grow into the job. I can tell. She was friendly, good natured, and wasn't rattled despite being overwhelmed by the crowd and a little slow with out side dishes. Which I will point out that the fried bananas were something I was looking forward to and getting them 30 minutes into our meal didn't help as they should have been on the market table. The market table is sold for $36 by itself but is closer in value to $10. It has a few fruits and vegetables but no knock out offering like the fried bananas.

The food was high quality. I got the picanha, filet, sirloin, chicken thighs, bacon wrapped chicken, lamb, and bacon wrapped steak. The issue I have is I was offered sirloin multiple times while I never once saw the ribeye, sausages, or chicken legs. The gauchos should work more as a team to ensure every table gets an opportunity for each meat. Also with my wife ordering only one meat this should have been a kitchen meal like at a Korean BBQ. It caused confusion among the servers and they kept offering her meat she didn't want.

I also ordered a mango habanero cocktail that had both the spice level and alcohol level of Kool-Aid. I feel the word habanero should be one of those buyer be ware words that if someone orders it and can't take the spice level that is on them. This drink was too safe when I wanted to feel that kick.

If you are reading this you are probably wondering why I gave it four stars and that is because it was overall a good experience. It wasn't the luxury 5 star experience I would expect for the price point but I would go again, and there are some growing pains. If the servers work more as a team to deliver all the meats, the staff grows into their jobs, and they add some options to the market table then it will be a five star experience. There is a solid foundation and the quality of the food and the atmosphere already match it. They just have to bring the service up to par, and that is more...