LYNDHURST, Ohio — Fogo de Chão, the Brazilian steakhouse chain known for its open-flame churrasco cooking and tableside carving, has signed a lease for a new restaurant at Legacy Village in Lyndhurst, the company announced in an Oct. 29 release distributed by GlobeNewswire. The restaurant will be the chain’s second in Ohio and its first in Northeast Ohio.
The new restaurant will be located at 24325 Cedar Road, in the space formerly occupied by Brio Italian Grille, according to Cleveland Magazine, which reported the opening is planned for sometime in 2027. It joins the chain’s existing Ohio location at Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus.
"We’re excited to bring Fogo de Chão to the Greater Cleveland area and continue growing our presence in the Midwest," Barry McGowan, chief executive officer of Fogo de Chão, said in the company’s GlobeNewswire release. "As we expand into new markets, we look for destinations that align with our commitment to exceptional hospitality, and Legacy Village is a strong fit."
Legacy Village, the lifestyle center in the Cleveland suburb of Lyndhurst, is home to more than 40 restaurants and retailers, many of them unique to the area, according to the release. Its dining lineup has been changing quickly, with Magnolia Bakery opening its first Ohio location at the center in October and other new restaurants arriving along its central lawn.
"We’re pleased to welcome Fogo de Chão to Legacy Village," Legacy Village General Manager Susan Windle said in the company’s GlobeNewswire release. "Fogo brings a distinctive dining experience to the center, and we’re excited for guests to enjoy a new era of international dining at Legacy Village."
The concept traces back 47 years to Brazil, where churrasco — roasting high-quality cuts of meat over an open flame — is a culinary tradition, according to the company. In the Full Churrasco Experience, gaucho chefs butcher cuts daily, season and grill them over the flame, and then carve them tableside for guests in a continuous service.
The Legacy Village restaurant will showcase the chain’s newer design, built around a 360-degree view of an open churrasco grill where guests can watch the gaucho chefs butcher, hand-carve and grill the cuts, according to the release. The dining room will also offer the chain’s Market Table of seasonal salads, charcuterie and other items, along with lunch, dinner, weekend brunch and happy-hour service at Bar Fogo.
The Lyndhurst signing is one piece of a wider 2026 growth push for the company. Recent openings include restaurants in Charlotte, North Carolina; Gilbert, Arizona; and Peabody, Massachusetts, with international openings planned in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Tegucigalpa, Honduras, according to the release.
For Legacy Village, landing a national steakhouse name fills one of its most visible restaurant spaces — the former Brio site on Cedar Road — after Brio’s parent company closed the Lyndhurst restaurant amid its bankruptcy, as Cleveland Magazine has reported. A full-service anchor restaurant is the kind of tenant lifestyle centers compete hard for, because it draws evening traffic that also visits neighboring shops.
Diners in the eastern suburbs have until now had to drive to Columbus to visit an Ohio Fogo de Chão. The Lyndhurst restaurant will put the chain within a short drive of communities across Cuyahoga County’s east side and the neighboring suburbs in Lake and Geauga counties.
Related coverage from NewsForce247: read about another recent Northeast Ohio investment in Akron-Canton Airport’s $6.7 million west apron project in Green, and about a Columbus dining and retail draw in the Sistine Chapel exhibition opening Nov. 6 at Polaris Fashion Place, the Columbus center that is home to Ohio’s first Fogo de Chão.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on: the lease is signed and the address and 2027 timing are confirmed in the company’s announcement and in Cleveland Magazine’s reporting. The company has not yet announced a specific opening date, a hiring timeline, or the size of the restaurant’s staff, and construction and permitting milestones at the Cedar Road space have not been made public.
What happens next: watch for build-out work at 24325 Cedar Road and a firmer opening window from the company as 2027 approaches. When an exact date and reservation information are announced, they will be posted at fogo.com, according to the release.
Photo: Eduardo Gerhardt Martins, CC BY-SA 3.0