Fogo de Chão expands to the United States (1997)
Fogo de Chão, a Brazilian churrasco chain founded in Rio Grande do Sul in 1979, opened its first US location in Dallas in 1997. It introduced Americans to gaucho-style rodizio dining, where servers carve grilled meat tableside, and grew into a national chain that went public in 2015.
The upscale all-you-can-eat format found a wide audience and drew imitators across the country.
Churrascaria became the dominant image of Brazilian food in the US, anchored at the high end of the price scale.
Little Brazil is the mirror image: an everyday, affordable padaria and market serving the diaspora that steakhouse pricing never reached.
