Fogo de Chao at SXSW
By: Barnaby Dorfman
Published: March 15, 2008

I just got back from South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. If you aren't familiar with SXSW, it's a 3-way combo festival and trade show for Music, Film, and the Internet. I was there with Kyte.tv, who had a booth and announced very cool new live streaming features. It was a fantastic trip...highlights for me included panel discussions, playing Rock Band with a bunch of Canadians, about 10 films and many parties.
As is often the case with festivals, I had a hard time getting regular meals during the 5 days I was there. I did manage to make a reservation at Fogo de Chao for the first night. I feasted  with my friends from Vancouver startup Strutta.com, who were kind enough to pick up the tab! If you've never eaten in a Brazilian Churrascaria, it's an absolute meatfest. They typically have a great salad bar and then "Gauchos" roam the floor with long skewers of 10-15 types of grilled meat, which they cut off for you tableside. It's an all you can eat affair and pacing yourself is key to the whole experience. I think my favorite element is that you can get wonderfully crispy-salty-caramelized outside bits, backed with tender and juicy rare meat in the same bite....over and over! So if you are like me, and like the end part of roast beef, this approach to eating meat is a dream come true.


Below is a little video I created from my experience.

You might also want to check out some of the films I saw:
21
Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Battle in Seattle
The Matador
Super High Me
Sex Positive
Second Skin
Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Comments:
Dreama
March 15, 2008

Ohhhhh, that salad bar looks like something in a wonderful dream. I loved seeing the meats served at the table!! Thanks for the video.
Greg Bulmash

Made me want to see if there was anything similar in Seattle since the wife and I have booked a babysitter for our anniversary later this month.
Found a CitySearch listing for a place called Ipanema.  It had 53 reviews and around 20 of them were about horrible experiences.  Of course, most people only go online to rave or rant, and the people who merely just had a nice time don't go out of their way.
Still, when nearly half of the reviews are so negative over a period of years, seems like it'll be a crapshoot.  Guess I'll have to wait until I'm in a city with a good churrascaria before I try it.
Carla Saunders

cool
Barnaby Dorfman

Greg,
Have you tried the Buenos Aires Grill in Seattle? It's a bit different, but if you get their mixed grill it's quite good.
Jordan

It was a pleasure dining with you, "Foody Guy!"
It really was a delicious, meaty meal. I won't soon forget it.