Looking for Fogo de Chao vegetarian options? You have more than you’d guess at a Brazilian steakhouse built around fire-roasted meat. The Market Table is a full salad-and-vegetable spread you can order on its own, and the kitchen rotates real plant-based entrees through the year. This guide covers what to order, what to skip, and how to eat well here without the churrasco. We’re the site that asks what about the vegetarians.
A Quick Look at Fogo de Chao
Fogo de Chao is a Brazilian churrascaria, a steakhouse where servers carve fire-roasted meats at your table. Brothers Arri and Jair Coser opened the first one in 1979 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, with partners Jorge and Aleixo Ongaratto. The first US restaurant followed in 1997 in Addison, Texas, just outside Dallas.
The chain went public on the Nasdaq in 2015 under the ticker FOGO. Rhone Capital took it private in 2018, and Bain Capital bought it in 2023 for about $1.1 billion. Today Fogo de Chao runs roughly 65 restaurants across the United States, which puts it among the country’s 100 largest chains by sales. So why read a vegetarian guide to a meat house? Because the menu is built around the Market Table, and that changes the math for anyone who skips the meat.
Fogo de Chao Vegetarian Options: What to Order
The best Fogo de Chao vegetarian options are the Market Table, the family-style sides, and whatever seasonal plant-based entree is on the menu that day. Here’s the short version before the details.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Market Table (salads, vegetables, hummus) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Mostly* (skip cheese salads) |
| Polenta | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Warm Pao de Queijo (cheese bread) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (Parmesan) |
| Garlic Mashed Potatoes | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (butter) |
| Caramelized Bananas | ✅ Yes | ⚠ Check (butter) |
| Seasonal plant-based entree (tofu bowl, veggie power bowl) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Farofa | ❌ No (bacon & sausage) | ❌ No |
| Fogo Feijoada (side) | ❌ No (sausage) | ❌ No |
| Churrasco meats (fire-roasted) | ❌ No (meat) | ❌ No |
| Desserts (molten cake, key lime pie, papaya cream) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy/egg) |
The Market Table
The Market Table is the heart of the meal if you don’t eat meat. It’s a large produce and salad bar, and Fogo lists it as 100 percent gluten-free. Here’s the part that matters most: you can order the Market Table on its own, separate from the full churrasco, usually at a lower price. Ask your server for the Market Table dining option. That one move turns a steakhouse into a vegetable-forward meal.
The spread rotates by season. Recent menus have carried baby kale and mango salad, an apple Manchego salad, hummus blended with roasted garlic and citrus, power greens with microgreens, a tri-bean salad, a crispy chickpea kale salad, and a cauliflower steak. Some items include cheese, so a strict vegetarian is fine but a vegan should skip those. Build a plate, go back for more, and you’ve got dinner.
Brazilian Sides
Fogo brings several sides to the table family-style, and a few are great vegetarian options. Polenta is vegan, just cornmeal cooked soft and crisped. Garlic mashed potatoes are vegetarian but made with butter. The warm pao de queijo, those soft cheesy rolls, are vegetarian thanks to the Parmesan, though strict vegetarians should know Parmesan can carry animal rennet. Caramelized bananas land between a side and a dessert, so ask whether butter is used if you’re vegan.
Two sides are off the table for vegetarians. Farofa is toasted yuca flour sauteed with bacon and sausage. The Fogo Feijoada side is a black bean stew cooked with sausage. Both look meat-free at a glance and aren’t, so leave them.
Seasonal Plant-Based Entrees
Fogo has leaned into plant-based cooking in recent years. One past entree paired chimichurri-marinated, seared tofu with black bean pasta, green onion, Napa cabbage, and a carrot ginger-miso dressing. Another, a roasted vegetable power bowl, served marinated mushrooms, roasted zucchini, asparagus, and baby peppers over chimichurri spinach rice. A roasted eggplant and beet tartare has also made the menu. These dishes rotate by season, so check the current menu or ask your server. Built to be vegan, they’re the one hot, protein-forward Fogo de Chao vegetarian option that doesn’t lean on the salad bar.
Desserts
The dessert cart is friendly to vegetarians and rough on vegans. Molten chocolate cake, key lime pie, papaya cream, and Bolo de Fuba, a sweet cornmeal cake, are all vegetarian. None of them are vegan, since they all carry dairy or egg. If you keep dairy, this is the easy course. If you’re vegan, end on fresh fruit from the Market Table instead.
What’s Vegan at Fogo de Chao?
Yes, you can eat vegan at Fogo de Chao, but the vegan options take some care. Lean on the polenta, most of the Market Table salads and vegetables, the roasted garlic hummus, and whatever seasonal plant-based entree is running. Skip the apple Manchego salad and any other cheese-topped item on the bar. Skip the pao de queijo, the garlic mashed potatoes, and every dessert, since they all carry dairy or egg. Tell your server you’re vegan up front so they can point you to the day’s safe items.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
Always tell your server about a dietary need or allergy before you order. Fogo trains its teams to walk you through the table, and the kitchen can flag what’s safe that day. A few things to watch for as a vegetarian:
- The pao de queijo uses Parmesan, which can be made with animal rennet. Strict vegetarians may want to ask or skip it.
- Farofa and the Fogo Feijoada side both contain pork, even though they read as plant dishes.
- The Market Table is listed as 100 percent gluten-free, which helps if you avoid gluten, but confirm with your server since menus change.
- This is a churrasco house, so meat is cooked on shared fire. Ask how the plant-based entree is prepared if cross-contact matters to you.
- Some salad dressings, like Caesar, can contain anchovy. Check before you pour.
Tips for Vegetarians at Fogo de Chao
- Order the Market Table on its own if you’re not eating meat, and ask about the lower price.
- Tell your server you’re vegetarian or vegan before the meal starts.
- Build a salad-bar plate, then add polenta and pao de queijo from the family-style sides.
- Ask whether a seasonal plant-based entree is available that day.
- Skip the farofa and the feijoada side, since both have pork.
- For a vegan meal, lean on polenta, the non-cheese salads, hummus, and the plant-based bowl.
- Go when the Market Table is freshly stocked, around the start of lunch or dinner service.
Conclusion
A Brazilian steakhouse sounds like the last place for a meat-free meal, but Fogo de Chao vegetarian options are real and worth the trip. Order the Market Table on its own, add polenta and cheese bread, and ask about the day’s plant-based entree. You’ll eat well for less than the full churrasco price. For more on dining out, see our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants and our full list of restaurant guides. If you like a steakhouse, check what’s vegetarian at Texas Roadhouse, LongHorn Steakhouse, and Outback Steakhouse.
