Rio de Janeiro Travel Guide
What to Eat in Rio de Janeiro
From feijoada on Saturdays and churrasco to beach snacks, botecos, acai, pastel and caipirinhas: what to eat and drink in Rio, where to find it and how eating out works.
Rio is not a city that takes itself too seriously at the table, and that is exactly why it is so enjoyable to eat here. The food of the city is generous, social and rooted in the botecos, the neighbourhood bars, and on the beach, with a strong fine-dining scene on top. Here is what to look for, and how to eat like a carioca.
Feijoada, the Saturday ritual. Brazil's national dish is a slow-cooked stew of black beans with an assortment of pork and dried beef, served with white rice, farofa, which is toasted cassava flour, sauteed collard greens, slices of orange and often crackling. In Rio it is traditionally eaten for a long lunch on Saturdays, and many bars and restaurants advertise their feijoada days; some hotels serve a lavish version with live samba. Eat it slowly, with a caipirinha, and do not plan anything energetic afterwards.
Churrasco and the rodizio. The Brazilian barbecue tradition comes from the gauchos of the south, but Rio has embraced it. In a churrascaria rodizio, waiters circulate with skewers of grilled meats and carve slices at your table until you turn your card from green to red. The star cut is picanha, the cap of the rump, grilled with coarse salt. A big buffet of salads and side dishes comes with the meal, so pace yourself. For a lighter take, many botecos serve picanha on a sizzling plate to share.
The boteco. The heart of everyday eating and drinking in Rio is the boteco, a simple bar with a counter open to the street, plastic tables on the pavement and bottles of beer shared in insulated holders. Order a chopp, a small glass of draught beer kept icy cold, and petiscos, the small plates made for sharing: bolinhos de bacalhau, salt-cod fritters inherited from Portugal; pasteis, crisp fried pastries filled with cheese, meat or shrimp; coxinhas, teardrop-shaped chicken croquettes; and aipim frito, fried cassava. The Urca seawall, the streets of Botafogo and the squares of Leblon and Santa Teresa are full of them.
Beach food. Some of the most memorable eating happens on the sand. Vendors walk the beach selling Globo biscuits, light ring-shaped crackers in sweet or salty versions, with cold mate tea, a pairing as carioca as it gets; queijo coalho, squeaky cheese grilled on a stick over a little charcoal stove; corn on the cob; sandwiches; and acai. The beach tents sell coconut water, beer and caipirinhas. Carry small notes and coins.
Juice bars and acai. Rio's corner juice bars squeeze every tropical fruit you can name and some you cannot: passion fruit, cashew fruit, acerola, cupuacu, mango and guava, often blended with milk or with other fruits. Acai, the frozen purple pulp of an Amazonian palm berry, is eaten as a thick, cold bowl topped with banana, granola or powdered milk, and is the classic post-beach snack. Many juice bars also serve sandwiches and quick meals at all hours.
Pao de queijo, coffee and bakeries. Cheese bread, the chewy little rolls made with cassava flour and cheese, comes from Minas Gerais but is eaten everywhere for breakfast and snacks with a cafezinho, a small strong coffee. Padarias, the neighbourhood bakeries, are the best place for breakfast, with sandwiches, cakes and pastries. For a historic coffee break, the Confeitaria Colombo in the centre, founded in 1894, has mirrored walls, stained glass and a menu of cakes and savoury snacks.
Seafood and the coast. Grilled fish, shrimp and moqueca, a fish or seafood stew cooked with coconut milk, palm oil and peppers in the style of Bahia, or in a lighter version from Espirito Santo, are found in restaurants across the South Zone. A peixe a delicia, fish with banana and cheese sauce, is a carioca classic.
Northeastern food and the Sao Cristovao fair. The Feira de Sao Cristovao, a big covered market near the Maracana dedicated to the culture of the Brazilian Northeast, has dozens of stalls serving carne de sol, dried and salted beef, baiao de dois, rice and beans cooked together with cheese, tapioca pancakes, and live forro music, especially on weekend nights.
Drinks. The caipirinha, made with cachaca, the spirit distilled from sugar cane, lime, sugar and ice, is the national cocktail; variations with other fruits, or with vodka, are everywhere. Ask for a good artisanal cachaca to sip neat and you will discover a whole world of aged spirits. Beer is served as cold as possible. Mate, the iced tea of the beaches, and guarana, the soft drink, are the non-alcoholic staples.
Fine dining. Rio's top tables mix Brazilian ingredients with international technique. Two of the city's Michelin-starred restaurants are inside the Copacabana Palace, and Gero Rio at the Fasano is a reliable Italian classic. Leblon and Ipanema have the highest concentration of serious restaurants; book ahead for weekends.
How eating out works. Lunch is the main meal for many cariocas and is often served from noon until late afternoon; dinner starts late, often after nine. Restaurants add a ten per cent service charge, which is customary to pay. Por quilo restaurants, where you fill a plate from a buffet and pay by weight, are a quick, cheap and very local lunch. Portions are often designed for two, so ask before ordering. Tap water is treated, but most people drink bottled or filtered water. Watch your drink in bars and never accept drinks from strangers, as the US advisory warns about spiking in Rio.
A food day in Rio. Start with pao de queijo and coffee at a padaria, have an acai on the way to the beach, graze on Globo biscuits and mate on the sand, take a long boteco lunch of pasteis and chopp, watch the sunset with a caipirinha, and finish late with picanha or a seafood dinner. On Saturday, swap lunch for feijoada.