Fogo de Chão's first U.S. restaurant (1997)
Fogo de Chão opened its first American location in Addison, Texas, a Dallas suburb. The restaurant brought the chain's churrasco format of fire-roasted meats carved tableside to the US market for the first time.
The Addison restaurant became a template for US expansion, leading to new locations across Texas and the Southeast.
Fogo grew to dozens of US restaurants, went public in 2015, and was taken private in 2018. The Charlotte opening follows the same expansion playbook.
The 1997 debut shows the model Fogo is applying in Charlotte: enter a new market with a flagship restaurant and grow from there.
