Kansas City Food Blog

Last night I crashed Fogo de Chao, which is pronounced Fogo de Shooooon or Fogo de Shawn, depending on what employee you ask. The Country Club Plaza's latest restaurant officially opens today in the space formerly occupied by Fedora's and most recently George Brett's at 222 W. 47th Street.

Fogo de Chao is a Brazilian steakhoues chain with 14 locations in the United States (interestingly, 12 are in the south or Midwest). It's based in Brazil and owned by two Brazilian brothers so it does have authenticity. And like at all Brazilian steakhouses, the menu at Fogo de Chao is idiot-proof: You either get the salad buffet for $19.50 or the meat (which includes salad bar) for $42.50.

But as I saw diners overwhelmed by choice upon choice of meat, I was reminded how wine-tasting beginners are encouraged to never try more than four or five wines at a time, else the flavors start to blend together. Last night there were 15 different cuts, mostly steaks but also chicken, lamb and pork.

Most of the cuts have Brazilian names like alcatra (sirloin), fraldinha (different cut of sirloin) and picanha (another cut of Sirloin). I trust that many meat-loving Kansas Citians will be able to distinguish and enjoy that many cuts, something I didn't attempt.

If you're familiar with the format of Brazilian steakhouses, Fogo de Chao is no different.
A team of pantaloon-attired gaucho servers bring monstrous skewers to the tables and cut the meat to your order. After much cajoling, I talked one of the servers into letting me borrow his knife and can attest to it being one serious instrument. It makes my chef knife look like a butter spreader.

Fogo de Chao is open for dinner Mondays through Thursdays from 5 to 10 p.m., Fridays until 10:30 p.m., Saturdays from 4 to 10:30 p.m and Sundays 4 to 9. This coming Monday, it will start serving lunch Monday through Friday and Sunday. Lunch is 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays and noon to 3 p.m. Sundays. Lunch is $24.50 weekdays and $32.50 Sundays. There is no lunch Saturday.

Fogo de Chao's phone number is 816-931-7700 and they also have a Web site and take reservations.