The Major Fork Mistake You Might Be Making At Fogo De Chão Brazilian Steakhouse

Fogo de Chão is a meat lovers' paradise where patrons can enjoy a roving, all-you-can-eat meat buffet brought right to the table. Anticipation builds as prime cuts are sliced tableside, while you eagerly wait to dart out a hand for the carved slices. But using your fork to bring them to your plate is a major faux pas that's one of the biggest mistakes people make when dining at the Brazilian steakhouse chain.

Diners are each given small tongs with their table setting that they're supposed to use to take the slices as the gaucho carves them with a large knife from skewered pieces of meat. Reaching for the slices with the fork you've been eating with — instead of the tongs — is unsanitary; The same fork that's been in your mouth could touch the knife or the rest of the meat. The tongs also make it less likely that the carved piece could accidentally fall on the table as you transfer it to your plate.

Guests take their meat portion themselves because the gauchos don't have a hand to spare. As they walk around the dining room bringing different meats to tables that have their signaling tabletop discs on green (meaning they want more), the gauchos are holding both their knife and a large meat-filled skewer. Gauchos stay away from tables that turn their coaster over to red to show they don't want any more, at least for the time being.

Brazilians love beef — It's one of reasons Outback Steakhouse is an unexpectedly massive hit in Brazil — and Fogo de Chão cooks its beef and other meats in the country's churrasco or barbecue style, over fire. It also remains true to churrascaria (or Brazilian steakhouse) tradition with its rodízio service; gauchos rotating with different meats they then carve at diners' tables. That unique, personal service that also features the interactive fun of the tongs likely has a hand in its success.

Of course, that's all in addition to the opportunity to eat lots of really good meat, which is what made Fogo de Chão one of The Takeout's choices for chain restaurants to visit if you're looking for high-quality steak. The restaurant's signature Full Churrasco meal, which it claims led to the chain's worldwide notoriety, gets you unlimited meat that includes beef, lamb, pork, and chicken seasoned with sea and rock salt. Among the cuts offered as part of the experience are the most well-known Brazilian steakhouse hits: picanha, called sirloin cap in regions of the U.S.; and fraldinha, which is flank and skirt steak together. It also comes with the unlimited Market Table salad bar, and traditional Brazilian side dishes, including pão de queijo cheese bread.

Whatever the biggest reason is for Fogo de Chão's success, it's working. After starting with a single restaurant in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1979, the chain now has more than 100 locations worldwide. Some 80 of them are in the U.S., where the first one opened in Dallas in 1997. Grab a fork (and your tongs) and taste a bit of this iconic culinary experience.