The cost of a Fogo de Chao meal
I got this info from a local pr person about the pricing. I couldn't eat enough to make it worthwhile personally, but readers spoke so passionately in the Brazilian chain's defense in response to an earlier blog entry, I'm guessing a lot of people can:
The Baltimore Fogo de Chão will seat 300 guests, including tables suitable for large groups and semi-private dining areas. Diners pay $22.50 for lunch and $42.50 for dinner, which includes unlimited trips to the salad bar and all meats and side dishes. Drinks, dessert, tax and gratuity are priced separately.
A mid-August opening is still being planned at 600 E. Pratt St.
Comments
You're not alone in not being attracted to the all-the-meat-you-can-eat concept. I don't crave more food, I crave better food.
Posted by: Hal Laurent | July 13, 2007 7:15 PM
Ughhh! Why spend $42.50 on an overpriced buffet when Chef Cindy Wolf is a stone's throw away crafting beautiful, thoughtful cuisine?
Posted by: Shayna | July 13, 2007 8:41 PM
Little pieces of Filet mignon aren't thoughtful. They just taste like heaven. :-)
The cost for dinner is sky-high, but the lunch price (for the same all-you-can-eat) is at least less expensive.
Posted by: Ron | July 14, 2007 8:30 AM
In defense of Fogo, the food is good, but it's the general experience that is what makes it worthwhile. At least once.
I liken it to the dining experience at Marrakesh in Washington DC. The food is good, but the whole thing is an experience.
Posted by: Jamie | July 14, 2007 8:37 AM
As someone from Brazil, where we have these in almost every corner, I have to say that in a "Rodizio" or "Churrascaria", the way the meat is grilled is nothing like what you see in a regular "steak and potatoes" restaurant. The "salad bars" are usually great, with a lot more than salads and generally include some typical brazilian dishes (beans, collards, palm hearts, grilled "white" cheese etc.). Yeah, it is not some place I would compare to the Charleston, but it is a great place to go with friends while experiencing a not so common type of cuisine (and we need other places to go other than the Cindy Wolf's restaurants, right?). As far as I know, Fogo de Chão one of the best chains in the "Rodízio" business in Brazil, and we ate in their restaurant in São Paulo (It was great). I am looking forward to their restaurant in Charm City.
Posted by: Marcelino Suzuki | July 14, 2007 11:58 AM
$42.50?
So for my girlfriend and I to eat dinner, order drinks and cover the tip, it would be about $125? Yikes!
Posted by: Sam Sessa | July 16, 2007 9:54 AM
Last Sunday was our first and LAST TIME at Fogo.
This "so-so" buffet for our family of 4 adults and 1 child cost us a whopping $341.25! Next time, we'll stick with Cindy Wolf's Charleston, Oceanaire, or Morton's, etc...
PROS: great salad bar (albeit self-serve and trough-style); great desserts; easy location
CONS: categorically overpriced; on a scale of 1-10, the food quality was only a "5"; the initial menu did not include prices and when we inquired about pricing, our waiter simply started rambling in a heavy accent about how to flip our red/green markers to signal for more food; our numerous servers were too busy tossing out the next round of meats to really connect with our table; the ambience was rowdy, the entire dining experience was impersonal, almost barbarian.
Never ever again.
Posted by: Anthony | October 25, 2007 11:35 PM