Customer beef
East side restaurant's unexpected shutter scorches Thanksgiving Day customers
East Austin restaurant Fumaça Gaucha has suddenly closed after a short run. The Brazilian steakhouse quietly opened in late January as a competitor to locally owned Arboretum mainstay Estancia Churrascaria and international chain Fogo de Chão, serving all-you-can-eat grilled meat, salad, and desserts, as well as a few traditional Brazilian dishes like pao de queijo.
The restaurant announced the closure via a Facebook post on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, saying, “Dear customers, we'd like to inform you that Fumaça Gaucha Brazilian Steakhouse … will close its doors starting today due to [a] location matter. We want to thank you all for your past business and support. We're grateful in having you as customers. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and interruption this closing may cause to your reservations dining this coming days. This decision is sudden and would never be our intention.”
Tipsters told Eater that the restaurant did not contact reservation holders prior to closure, and customers reportedly arrived to locked doors and notices of nonpayment of rent. The reports were confirmed by two reviewers on Yelp, who claim they were left in a lurch on Thanksgiving day.
The restaurant’s OpenTable account, along with their Facebook page, was disabled early Monday, November 27.