Fogo de Chao A taste of Sao Paulo in Addison. Fogo de Chao is the first churrascaria restaurant in Texas. OK, stop me there and ask, "what is a churrascaria?". I'm glad you asked. It is a proud tradition from Southern Brazil that dates back to the 18th Century. They believe that roasting meat by direct fire exposure is key to meat preparation and flavor enhancement. For more than three centuries, the old gauchos have pierced big pieces of meat and put them in a cavity in the ground around a fire while talking about their adventures on the plains. Folks, this is cowboy cookin' plain and simple, and they serve you all the meat you can eat. And it's good meat; over 10 kinds, including chicken, lamb, pork and different cuts of beef. It ought to be a big hit in Texas. Here's how it works. After you're seated, you serve yourself from a large and sumptuous salad bar in the center of the restaurant. This is beautifully arranged with a multitude of ingredients including hearts of palm, asparagus spears, artichoke hearts, buffalo cheese, potato salad, Caesar salad and more! You'll notice a red coaster next to your plate-do not turn this over to the green side until you are ready to try the meats, because as soon as you do, the myriad churrasqueiro, or meat specialists, roaming the restaurant will begin offering you the different selections of meat. They will continue bringing it to you until you signal "enough!" by turning over the coaster to its red side again. It is fun and it is delicious. The roasting over the fire really seals in the juices. The meat is moist and tender. Remember, the meat keeps coming as long as you want; so bring an appetite to Fogo de Chao. It's a fixed price of $25.50 per person and that includes the salad bar and side dishes with the meat. They offer a number of desserts, but we only had room for a smooth and wonderfully flavorful papaya cream. The wine list is rather modest and only one cabernet and one chardonnay are offered by the glass. Service? Well, it is friendly and accommodating, but they still have some opening glitches to deal with, and there might be a bit of a language barrier if you want to deviate from the established program at Fogo de Chao-unless you speak Portuguese-because most of the servers are from Brazil. It is a wonderfully simple concept. Our dining companions loved it. One of them said, "you know, after a crazy day at the office, it's nice not to have to make any decisions". Yep, you just sit back and say, "feed me" until you've had enough. They have three locations in Sao Paulo, just in case you're traveling. Fogo de Chao Addison at 4300 Beltline 972-503-7300 On The KRLD Restaurant Show Review Scale of One to Five Forks: Food is 3 and a half Forks. Service is 3 Forks. Atmosphere is 3 Forks. Price is 3 and a half Forks-but a value (depending on how big your appetite is). Send me an Email: jwdineline@aol.com