Rio de Janeiro bars and restaurants

If all my recent posts haven’t inspired you to visit Brazil, I hope this last one will. Below is a list of all my favorite restaurants, bars and foods in Rio, with links to all of the places I‘ve written about over the past few weeks. So what are you waiting for? BOOK. YOUR. FLIGHTS. NOW. And remember to print this out before you go!

BARS

Academia da Cachaça (Rua Conde Bernadotte, 26): One of my favorite places for caipirinhas. You can't go wrong with a classic one (made with limes) but if there's any place to experiment with other fruits (grape, strawberry, and pineapple are all delicious), it's here.

Bar do Mineiro (Rua Pascoal Carlos Magno, 99): A great place for beers and delicious food from Minas Gerais. Try the black bean soup or fried yucca, and make sure to gaze up at a starry sky from the roof-top garden.

Hipódromo (Praça Santos Dumont, 108): Great for a big group, this loud and lively bar attracts a lot of college kids, but is still a fun place to grab a chopp.

Bracarense (Rua José Linhares, 85): A classic boteco where Cariocas like to drink chopps and eat salgadinhos (little salty snacks).

Rio Scenarium (Rua do Lavradio, 20): An eclectic tri-level antique shop-cum-bar with live music and an unbelievable selection of quirky trinkets.

RESTAURANTS

Bibi Sucos (Av. Ataulfo de Paiva, 591): One of many great places to sip a freshly squeezed fruit juice.

Café Severino (Rua Dias Ferreira, 417 ): Hidden inside a great bookstore in Leblon, this charming cafe has wonderful homemade cakes and good, strong coffee.

Capricciosa (Rua Vinicius de Moraes, 134 and other locations): Brazilian pizza isn't my favorite (they like it really, really thin), but this restaurant serves up thicker pies more similar to those at sit-down spots in NY (like Grimaldi's or Lombardi's).

Carlota (Rua Dias Ferreira 64): A cozy, 10-table spot where a popular chef from São Paulo blends Brazilian, Portuguese and Asian flavors. Portions are on the small side and prices are a bit high, but I still love it. Get the guava and cheese soufflé for dessert if you go.

Carretão (Rua Visconde de Pirajá, 112): I’d say to skip Porcão and try this cheaper all-you-can-eat meat mecca.

Cervantes (Av. Prado Junior, 335): A classic, late-night sandwich spot in Copacabana.

Confeitaria Colombo (Rua Gonçalves Dias, 32): A Victorian tearoom that's been open since 1894. It's the perfect place to kick back with some coffee and pastries after touring Centro.

Confeitaria Gávea (Marques de São Vicente): All of the pastries here look good, but I'm in love with the meia-luas.

Couve-Flor (Rua Pacheco Leão, 724): Brazilians take their buffet-style restaurants (called kilos) very seriously, and this is one of the best in the city. It’s also across the street from Globo, Brazil’s mega media conglomerate, so that handsome man dining next to you could be the Brazilian Matt Lauer.

Doce Delícia (Rua Dias Ferreira, 48): This restaurant has one of the best guava and cheese desserts I’ve ever tasted. The guava paste is heated up so it’s warm and gooey and then served along side a velvety scoop of cheese-flavored ice cream. PURE BLISS.

Garota da Urca (Av. João Luís Alves, 56 A): Urca, one of the most serene neighborhoods in the city, has a great trail where Daniel and I like to run. And we always fill up on picanha, rice, beans and fried bananas at this restaurant as soon as we're done.

Guimas (Rua José Macedo Soares, 5): A sophisticated, open-air spot that’s been keeping Cariocas happy for over 20 years.

Jobi (Av. Ataulfo de Paiva 1166): One of my favorite places to have a chopp or a casual lunch or dinner. Try the chicken with catupiry if you go.

Lagoa Kiosks: All of the kiosks that line Rio’s Rodrigo Freitas Lagoon offer stunning views, especially at night. My favorite is the Arab one where kibbeh, ice-cold chopps, and live music always ensure a splendid evening.

Mil Frutas (Rua Garcia d'Avila, 134): One of Rio’s best, and most expensive, ice cream parlors. Sample as many exotic fruit sorbets as you can. Maracujá (passionfruit) is my personal favorite and Daniel loves the pitanga (which doesn't exist in the States).

Nova Capela (Avenida Mem de Sa, 96): Our friend Richard is a huge fan of the rice with octopus and broccoli at this laid-back spot in Lapa, one of Rio’s liveliest neighborhoods.

Olympe (Rua Custódio Serrão, 62): Dinner at this lovely little house in beautiful Jardim Botânico will break the bank, but the exotic Brazilian-French food is definitely worth the splurge. We went for the first time on this past trip, and while we loved everything about our multi-course meal, I still can't stop thinking about the gourmet, pepper-flecked biscoitos globo that came with our bread basket.

Pizza Al Taglio (Rua Carlos Góis, 234): When I was studying Portuguese in Rio and on a very tight budget, this was where I went for a cheap after-school snack. Rectangular pies are snipped with scissors into strips, allowing you to have as little -- or as much –- as you’d like, and they have a variety of sweet and savory toppings. And although guava or bananana and cinnamon once seemed so strange on top of pizza, I'm now a proud convert.

Porcão (Avenida Infante Dom Henrique, Parque do Flamengo): One of Rio’s priciest all-you-can-eat meat spots. It’s fun for a group and has a beautiful view, but go very, very hungry if you want to get your money’s worth.

Pizzaria Guanabara (Av. Ataulfo da Paiva, 1228): This restaurant in Leblon serves typical Carioca pizzas. For a New Yorker like myself, cutting pies into tiny square pieces and eating them with toothpicks is pure blasphemy. And don't get me started on the ketchup they like to squirt on top. But it's still a fun place that's always packed and great for groups.

Quadrifoglio (Rua J. J. Seabra, 19): I love the apple ravioli at this elegant restaurant which is considered to have the best Italian food in Rio.

Rio Lisboa (On the corner of Rua General Artigas and Ataulfo da Paiva): One of my favorite spots for breakfast, lunch or a late-night snack.

Shirley (Rua Gustavo Sampaio, 620): A no-frills spot in Copacabana/Leme that's known for its spectacular Spanish-style seafood.

Siri Mole & Cia (Rua Francisco Otaviano, 50): A great place to try foods from Bahia such as moqueca, vatapá and acarajé.

Zazá Bistrô (Rua Joana Angélica, 40): The eclectic food at this Carribean blue-colored spot is overpriced (and overrated), but I simply love the ambiance. The lower level is fun and flirty, while the second floor is dark and sultry.

FOODS

Aipim: Crispy, crunchy and perfect with just a sprinkling of salt, I think I might prefer aipim (fried yucca) over French fries.

Açaí: Don’t leave Rio without trying one of these, but be prepared for a caffeine jolt.

Bobó de camarão: I love food from Bahia in northern Brazil and this shrimp stew is one of my favorites.

Bolinhos de bacalhau: Brazilians love salgadinhos (little salty snacks) and these fried cod balls can be found practically anywhere. Try them with an ice-cold chopp.

Caipirinha: I'm usually a lightweight when it comes to liquor, but there's nothing better on a hot day than this mixture of cachaça (sugar cane liquor), crushed limes and sugar.

Chopp: Brazil’s draft beer

Cuzcus: Made with tapioca, this squishy, chewy sweet is sold by street vendors all over the city.

Guava & cheese: A very typical and delicious dessert that I'm obsessed with. On many menus, it's referred to as a Romeo & Juliet.

Média: Coffee makes me crazy, but I'm still a sucker for these Brazilian café au laits. Try one with a sweet and doughy pão doce.

Moqueca: Another delicious seafood stew from Bahia. If you won't be making it to Brazil anytime soon, try my mother-in-law's recipe.

Pão doce: All of the padarias in Rio sell these sweet breakfast breads. The selection will be overwhelming, but trust me, they’re all delicious!

Pão de queijo: Watch out because these chewy cheese breads are sooo addictive. And if you go to the movie theater on Voluntários da Pátria in Botafogo, you can get a piping-hot, fresh from the oven bag of them. I'll take that over popcorn any time!

Pastel: A fried pastry that can be filled with an array of sweet or salty fillings. They're one of Daniel's favorite snacks and now that Patricia has posted a recipe for them, I'm going to make some from scratch.

Picanha: A cut of meat that literally melts in your mouth. You can get endless amounts of it at any churrascaria (an all-you-can-eat meat restaurant).

Suco de laranja com acerola: A good juice to order at any of the open-air juice stands.

Suco de goiaba: Guava juice, another one of my favorites

The best meal I had in Brazil

See that big, beautiful bowl of spaghetti and clams? It was by far the best meal I had during my trip to Brazil. I've wanted to write about it ever since I got back, but unfortunately it's not the easiest story to tell.

Just a few days after arriving in Rio, I found out that Mankas, the inn and lodge where my brother works, had burned down. Less than a week later, my aunt died suddenly at 44. And just a few days after that, right before Daniel and I were about to leave for a weekend trip, I quickly checked my email. I should have known something else had happened when I saw the five emails, their urgent subjects begging me to click on them. But nothing could have prepared me for the news that my 16-year old cousin had died just hours earlier in a car accident.

We weren’t scheduled to go back to the States for another four days, and after trying to change our flights without any luck, Daniel convinced me to still take our trip. Going somewhere far away where no one could reach us seemed irresponsible or wrong for some reason, but I felt too numb to offer any other suggestions.

Our friend Felix lent us his family’s rustic beach house for the weekend. Sitting on a simple stretch of sand in front of a gentle, green sea, it was a little piece of paradise. Even the sky, which had been grey for so many days during our trip, finally decided to bless us with a stunning shade of blue.

Despite how idyllic it was on the island, I had a hard time appreciating the sea and the sky and the sand and just about anything around us. All I could think about was cold and dreary New York and how bad I felt for being so far away, on vacation no less. I didn't want to be somewhere so warm and peaceful. It didn't feel like a place where one comes to mourn.

At night, while trying to sleep in sheer darkness, the sounds of nature – leaves rustling, waves crashing, all sorts of nocturnal critters gallavanting – did anything but soothe me. Instead, they fed my already wild imagination and I lay there restless, concocting crazy stories in my head about all the other horrible things I was sure would soon happen.

During the day, I spent many hours in the shade reading, or at least trying to, while Daniel set to work in the kitchen, making all sorts of fresh and comforting food which he also so kindly photographed for me.

There was garlic shrimp with okra and tomatoes for lunch, followed by an afternoon snack of fresh palm hearts sprinkled with herbs. And one afternoon, he even tried to pick coconuts from a skinny tree that shot up so high into that blinding blue sky. I felt like we were a cross between Tarzan and Jane and that couple from The Blue Lagoon.

Daniel grew up coming to Felix's house, or Felix's Island as he and all his friends prefer to call it, since he was a kid. And no visit to the island was complete without diving for clams.

On the afternoon when he decided to gather a bunch for us, he bobbed up and down in the water, his tongue sneaking out over his lip as it always does when he's working intently on something. Within about an hour, he proudly held up a pot full of them.

This time when he started to prepare our meal, I was drawn to the sound of garlic and onion sizzling in a pan. It felt soothing and familiar. As he worked, I stood by his side, mesmerized by these underwater creatures he had gathered for us and so grateful for all his attempts to cheer me up.

We set a table facing the sea and filled our bowls till they were overflowing. It felt good to suck the clams from their shells, lick my salty fingers, and loudly slurp up spoonfuls of the creamy broth. We oohed and aahed endlessly and took pictures of ourselves, the view and our impressive meal.

It was a moment and a meal I'll never forget. Food has a powerful effect on me, and sometimes even when the world feels so cruel and unfair, something like a bowl full of fresh clams, plucked right from the sea, can make me forget, at least for a little while, how much life can hurt.

Felix’s Island Clams
Courtesy of Chef Daniel
Serves 4

About 4 dozen dozen freshly hand-picked clams, washed in fresh water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion
3 cloves of garlic, smashed
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup white wine
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 lb cooked spaghetti or linguini
Ground black to taste
Usually this recipe does not require extra salt - the clams are sufficient.

In a very large sauté pan, brown the onions in the olive oil. When they start turning golden, add the garlic. After about 1 minute, add the clams. After about 10 minutes, the clams will start to open. When about half the clams have opened, add the wine. Let it simmer for another 5-10 minutes, until all clams are open (don't eat the ones that haven't opened). Add the cream and cheese and boil for another 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat and add freshly ground black pepper and parsley. Serve over spaghetti or linguini.

Two of the best breakfasts in Rio

When Daniel and I visit Rio, we always stay with his grandmother in Leblon. The neighborhood is one of Rio's nicest with lots of boutiques and restaurants, and the beach is just a few blocks away. But some days, it's hard to even leave the apartment, thanks to all the good food Dagmar likes to feed us.

Take breakfast, for example. Each morning, her dining room table is decked out with fresh juice, coffee, hot milk, guava paste, bright yellow butter that's so soft you could swim in it, honey, jam, marmalade, requeijão, mini baguettes, sliced wheat bread, and queijo minas, a light, fresh cheese that sort of squeaks as you eat it.

But some mornings, we find the strength to get dressed and go out for breakfast.

And luckily, one of our favorite places for café da manha is literally just seconds away. Part padaria (bakery) and part mercado (market), Rio Lisboa is a great place to sip a cup of coffee, buy fresh bread, or have a casual meal. Many customers even stop by on their way to and from the beach, so it's not uncommon to see a few speedos.

When Daniel and I have breakfast at Rio Lisboa, it's always a 2-course affair. We start by splitting um misto quente (grilled cheese) and um pão na chapa (a mini French baguette that's grilled and slathered with butter).

And for "dessert," there's always um pão doce, a thick, brioche-like bread that's covered with an egg and sugar glaze.

Paired with an extra milky café com leite, it's a wonderful way to start the morning.

And on the days when I'm feeling really motivated (or maybe still full from a dinner the night before?), we postpone my favorite meal of the day just a little bit longer and walk (very quickly!) to Confeitaria Gavea, about 15 minutes away.

And upon arrival, we sink our teeth into these deliciously soft and pudgy sweets.

Another bready breakfast treat, meia-luas are stuffed with an egg an sugar filling and covered with a sweet and sticky glaze. They too taste great with a cup of coffee, and as I learned while studying Portuguese at PUC, a university just a few blocks away, they're good at just about any time of day.

If you'll be in Rio soon, make sure to visit some padarias. You can mingle with locals, pick up freshly baked bread, drink coffee, and satisfy your sweet tooth. And of course, they're the perfect place for breakfast.

Rio Lisboa
On the corner of Rua General Artigas and Ataulfo da Paiva

Confeitaria Gávea
On Marques de São Vicente, in between PUC and Shopping da Gavea

Beer and botequins

I'm not much of a beer drinker. Occasionally I’ll crave a Blue Moon with pizza or a Corona with guacamole and chips, and yes there was a time when I counted down the days until $1 Bud Ice Night at a certain bar (back when Zima was in style). But in Brazil, I’m all about beer. When I’m not sipping a fresh fruit juice or caipirinha of course.

Brazilians love their beer and although there are a few ways they like to drink it, one thing is very important: it has to be extremely cold.

On the beach, most people usually drink from uma lata (a can). When groups of friends get together, it's common to order a few garrafas which are similar in size to an American 40 oz bottle.

The beer is then divided among everyone in little glasses, and it's always nice and frosty.

And then there’s chopp (pronounced show-peh), Brazilian draft beer.

A light pilsner, chopp is perfect by itself or with just about any type of meal. And it’s what you’ll find most Cariocas drinking at botequins, open-air bars where loud and lively crowds often spill onto the street.

In the photo above, it might seem like a chopp is the same size as a pint of beer, but it's actually a lot smaller. And, what's even better in my opinion are choppinhos –- little chopps. They're perfect for slow sippers like myself who always seem to end up with luke-warm beer.

There are many places that Cariocas go to tomar um chopp, but my favorite place of all is Jobi. When I was living in Brazil, my friend Mona planned a 2-week trip to visit me -- and ended up staying a month. We spent many nights laughing and practicing our Portuguese over chopps at Jobi. And without fail, everytime we were there, she had to pay tribute to her new favorite bar by singing the Gypsy Kings song Djobi Djoba.

Jobi is a great place to sample salgadinhos (Brazilian snacks or literally translated –- little salties) such as bolinhos de bacalhau (salt cod fritters) and coxinhas (chicken croquettes). They also serve a bunch of traditional Brazilian dishes including my first love, frango com catupiry (chicken smothered in a cream cheese-like sauce).

For our first night out on this past trip, Daniel and I shared chopps with a group of friends at Bracarense, one of Rio’s most classic botequins, and then had a midnight meal of carne seca (salted beef that's dried in the sun) at Informal just a few blocks away.

It was a sticky night, but that didn't stop me from first ordering my favorite bar snack, um caldo de feijão (black bean soup) which comes with dried pork rinds and diced parsley. Served steaming hot, it’s a great thing to slurp while nursing a cold chopp.

Since glasses of chopp are small, it's normal to order round after round and pay at the end of the evening. To keep track, waiters keep a running count with numbered coasters. And even though chopps are often a little more expensive than canned or bottled beer, at just 1-2 reais each (50 cents to $1), they're still an unbelievable bargain.


Bracarense
Rua José Linhares, 85
Leblon

Informal
Rua Humberto de Campos, 646
Leblon

Jobi
Av. Ataulfo de Paiva, 1166
Leblon

Brazilian beach eats

On my first trip to Brazil about seven years ago, I asked Daniel if we needed to bring food with us to the beach. Where I grew up, all trips to the beach began at my town's one gourmet shop, which everyone appropriately called "The Gourmet". It was there that we'd fill up a cooler with Snapples, sandwiches (peppermill turkey on club rolls with lettuce, tomato, provolone and balsamic vinegar was the most popular back then), fruit and other snacks.

Daniel assured me that bringing a cooler of food to the beach in Rio was both unnecessary and extremely tacky -- or cafona as they say in Portuguese. After just one visit, I understood why.

The beach in Rio is like a moveable food court! From the moment you plop yourself down, you can have pretty much anything and everything you'd ever crave without even moving an inch. I never had a chance to take photos of all the different beach vendors on this trip (blame it on the rain!) but I did remember to keep a running list.

Corn on the cob: It might be hard to believe, but you really will see corn on the cob carts being rolled around the beach. For 2 reais, you can get a steaming hot cob that's been rolled in butter and sprinkled with salt.
Watermelon: The perfect beach snack in my opinion. Especially when it's sliced right in front of you.
Sacolé: Frozen fresh fruit that's sold in a bunch of different flavors. Daniel and I both love maracuja (passionfruit) and manga (mango).
Agua de Coco: Many of the people who rent out chairs and umbrellas also offer ice-cold agua de coco, my drink of choice on the beach.
Kibbeh: Yes, you can even get deep-fried meatballs (a Lebanese specialty) on the beach!
Shrimp skewers: I've never actually seen anyone buy these (perhaps because shrimp+ sun = upset stomach?), but considering how many people walk around selling them, they must be in demand.
Oysters: I also haven't seen anybody slurping back oysters on the beach, but there are quite a few people who sell them.
Biscoitos Globo: Biscoitos Globo are a classic Brazilian snack similar to cheesedoodles, but without the cheese. Shaped like small donuts, they're airy puffs that come in two flavors: sweet or salty. I love how they shatter with each bite.
Pineapple: While freshly cut pineapple is delicious on a hot, sunny day, the man who sells it on the beach in Rio likes to sneak up on people and scream AAAABAAACAXXXIIIII (piiiiineappppppple) in their ears. His dramatic sales pitch is funny the first time, but as our friend Gisela confirmed, it gets old fast.
Peanuts: Little paper cones full of peanuts make an unexpected but good beach snack.
Ice cream: The selection is pretty similar to what you'll find at snack bars in the States.
Sandwiches: All sort of different types including chicken salad, tuna salad and cheese.

And my all-time favorite thing that you can buy on the beach? Queijo na brasa -- cheese on a stick that's grilled to order in a little portable oven. I really wish I'd remembered to take a picture of this, but I guess you'll all just have to go to Rio and see for yourselves.

If you've been to the beach in Rio, or if you live in Brazil, is there anything that I'm forgetting?

Brazilian snack bars

In Rio , lanchonetes -- casual spots that sell juice and sandwiches -- are everywhere. Which is why I usually have about three or four fresh juices per day while I'm there.

On my first visit to Brazil , the long list of options was overwhelming, so I always let Daniel guide me. There were fruits I was familiar with (orange, apple and watermelon) and so many others I'd never heard of -- cupuaçu, pitanga, and caju to name a few.

Cupuaçu and pitanga don't exist in the States so there isn't a direct translation, but caju is cashew.

I think the fruit itself is so cute, especially in this picture, but its high tannin content? Not my favorite. When blended with water to make a juice, it isn't quite as chalky, plus there's all that vitamin C it contains. According to Daniel's grandmother, it causes constipation in either form, so I usually just steer clear of the stuff.

Daniel misses lanchonetes a lot and it's so easy to understand why. They're cheap, casual and open from morning till night. Service is quick, but don't expect to get your drink or sandwich to go -- non-disposable plates make it easy to stand and savor. Sometimes you can sit, but most lanchonetes only have counters.

On this particular trip, we became regulars at Bibi Sucos in Leblon which happens to have a few tables; their other location in Jardim Botanico (which we discovered after an afternoon hike in Horto) has booths and a surprisingly sleek setting.

I was a guava juice girl when I lived in Brazil, the perfect accompaniment to my beloved chicken, cheese and pinepapple sandwiches. These days, I keep it a bit more simple and usually order orange juice, or orange juice with acerola (a tart, cherry-like fruit that's also packed with vitamin C), passionfruit, or pineapple with mint.

And every so often, Daniel and I like to share an açaí, one of the most unusual and exotic "juices" of all. Made by blending the pulp of a purple berry from the Amazon with guaraná, a highly caffeinated berry from the same region, this is the drink to order if you want an immediate energy boost.

Served cold in a tall glass, it's like a melt-in-your-mouth smoothie. The flavor is deep and fruity, and I guarantee that if you try to have just a few bites, like I usually do because caffeine makes me crazy, you'll end up eating the entire thing. For a real treat, order it na tigela (in a bowl) with sliced bananas and granola on top. You'll feel like a Carioca in no time.