Fogo?

So as you might have guessed, I love to eat meat, especially beef. So naturally, when considering welcome dinner options for our Taiwanese wedding guests, this Beverly Hills restaurant came to mind:

One of the most memorable meat-intensive meals I've ever had was at Fogo de Chao Chicago. I was so impressed by the quality of the over a dozen types of meat, and blown away that a salad bar could have so many delicious fruits and high quality vegetables. It wasn't even a salad bar in the traditional sense. It was more like a "meat accompaniments" bar. We ate so much we walked over five miles home to our friend's apartment and didn't feel tired or hungry.

So even though I've never been, Fogo Beverly Hills is a top contender for a pre-wedding family get together for these reasons:

• they have a private room that seats 20-35 guests.
• the pace of eating can be as fast or slow as people like, leaving plenty of time for socializing. This is, after all, my time to catch up with my relatives as well as a chance for our two families to get to know each other before the wedding.
• the restaurant is large, spacious, relatively new, and beautiful.
• the food is unique and there's nothing like it in Taiwan, but it's mostly simply grilled meats so there won't be strange flavors or unfamiliar items.
• the quality of food and service, if it's like the Chicago branch's, is excellent.
• it's pricey, but the price per person is set going in and is in the middle range of Los Angeles possibilities.

Another possibility is always a Chinese banquet because the food is so delicious, but:

• it's just as expensive as Fogo if you want to order anything exciting and unusual.
• ambiance is bleh and the restaurants are always crowded and noisy.
• even if you have a private room, you feel rushed into eating as soon as each dish hits the table
• there's no concept of lingering over a meal or hanging out afterwards to enjoy each other's company (dessert? coffee? huh?).
• these people are coming from Taiwan. They've had better.