The Battle of the Brazilian Steakhouses

I am by no means a "Foodie," but I do appreciate a good meal. Recently, I have had the opportunity of visiting the two more popular Brazilian Steakhouses in our area, Fogo De Chão and Texas de Brazil. While each restaurant has certain pros over the other restaurant, it is my opinion that one restaurant is "better" than the other restaurant. For those that have not been to a Brazilian Steakhouse, it is described as an all you can eat restaurant, which usually includes a salad bar, and several side dishes that are delivered to the table, including bread and bananas. Additionally, the restaurant has Gaucho chefs which come to each table with a skewer of certain meat and offer it to the diner. While you are able to state a certain preference of meat, it is definitely a different experience from going to a traditional steakhouse and ordering a certain cut of steak cooked at a desired temperature. With that said, on with the comparison . . .


Fogo De Chão is located at 1101 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW in Washington, DC. With DC always being in a state of construction, the constant workers and barricades that are setup diminish the splendor of the exterior of the building. The décor at Fogo De Chão was not as flowing and more distracting as Texas de Brazil. It felt like my guest and I were constantly looking at the décor (not out of interest but more out of distraction), which prevented a flowing conversation. The waiters, while trying to be helpful, were always close to the table, to the point that it felt like they were hovering over our conversation. When they stepped away, I asked my friend if that meant they were bored with our conversation, which was truly minimal. The one good thing at Fogo De Chão is I found their meats to be less salty than that of Texas de Brazil. With that said, the Gauchos at Fogo De Chão did not seem able to cook a single piece of meat to medium well. One time, a Gaucho sliced off a piece of meat that was redder than a fire engine, and then asked if I wanted another piece that was medium well. Needless to say, I said no thank you.

Texas de Brazil is located in the Fair Oaks Shopping Center in Fairfax, Virginia. I found the décor at Texas de Brazil to be more elegant and not distracting. I also found the waiters at Texas de Brazil to be less intrusive, which allowed for more of a flowing conversation. Considering the fact that Gauchos are constantly coming to the table, the less intrusive the wait staff could be, the better. For example, at Fogo, the waiter stopped our conversation to ask if I wanted a new plate. At Texas de Brazil, the waiter just brought be a new plate. As described above, the food cooked by the Gauchos at Texas de Brazil tends to be a little bit saltier than that at Fogo De Chão. However, I do have to give credit to the Gauchos at Texas de Brazil, because when I ask for my meat cooked to medium well, I actually get meat that is cooked to medium well.

All in all, I think the overall atmosphere and food at Texas de Brazil is better. Just wanted to share my thoughts.