The best restaurants Rio De Janeiro

In the lively Centro district during the day, Cais do Oriente seems to merge the industrial architecture of the past with that of modern establishments. Housed in a superb ^19th-century building, the restaurant boasts a magnificent indoor terrace where you can enjoy a leisurely stroll. Here, you can enjoy modern Brazilian cuisine of the highest quality, blended with oriental, Mediterranean and Asian influences. The bar is always busy during Friday and Saturday night concerts. A must for Carioca gastronomy, right in the heart of the city's cultural square.

A sure bet in Santa Teresa. A stone's throw from the largo de Guimaraes, near the tracks of the famous yellow "bondinho", the Sobrenatural is a pleasant fish restaurant: everything is good, in a very pleasant "marine" decor. For starters, try the delicious casquinhas de siris, excellent and aromatic. You can also try pasteis de caranguejo and delicious moquequas, including cod and coconut milk. Musicians frequently perform at ao vivo in the evenings. The only complaint is that the bill is a little too steep.

Part bar, part restaurant, this little establishment with its white-tiled walls has a charm that appeals to tourists and locals alike. People come here for the daily special at lunchtime, as well as for the black bean, kale and dried meat fritters, or the more traditional tomato, cheese and herb fritters, which you can nibble on with friends. Excellent and very hearty feijoada too. It's also one of the best caipi in Rio, according to our friend Fred. It doesn't take long to get into the soul of Santa Teresa, chatting with your neighbor. An institution with a local soul.

Between bar and restaurant, we really don't go for the decor. The address goes from mouth to mouth, and is already well known because you often have to queue on Saturdays. Fifteen options and three sizes: 1 200 g (4 people), 600 g (2 people) and 300 g (individual). A suggestion of Prussian filet with cheese, garlic, fried onions, eggs, rice and black beans is proposed. The best place to eat meat in the neighborhood watching the TV, with a volume often so low that you will not have a problem.

One of the most popular restaurants in Rio for over forty years. The favorite place of the Cariocas, especially on Sunday noon, a time when it is sometimes difficult to find a place. The menu, made up of different breads, with sausage, pâté and raw vegetables, is a festival before the meal. The most popular dish is the medallion à la piémontaise, and, like all the other dishes, it is more than enough for two people. A very good choice of salads, including the chef's salad, which you choose yourself by assembling eight different ingredients.

for its cuisine with Cariocas, German and Japanese influences. Very beautiful Art Deco architecture. Won your, grilled squid, shitake, nira… Japanese flavours are served with a subtle Brazilian touch. Desserts are not forgotten from the place. One of the refined squares of beautiful Ipanema.

Julieta Restaurante is located in a beautiful French neoclassical style house dedicated to arts and culture, located on the beach in Flamengo. The Golden Room offers an extraordinary tea that can easily be substituted for a meal. For lunch or dinner, the Julieta restaurant offers a top-notch menu. The décor is as incredible as the plate, with white tablecloths and candelabras on the tables and floor-to-ceiling gilding. At lunchtime, Julieta restaurant offers a starter-main course or main course-dessert menu for R$ 80.

This modest fishermen's restaurant is located in front of the harbor, facing the boats and the sea. The setting is simple, but the view is breathtaking. Some tables are outside, others on a covered terrace, but the pleasure for the taste buds is the same. Very Brazilian dishes are served here, especially prepared fish specialties. The emblematic dishes are moquecas, grilled cherne (noble fish at rock-bottom prices here) and grilled lobster. Everything is good and leaves you with a taste for a return visit. Prices are very reasonable.

Another small address that Santa Teresa has the secret. On this side of Santa Teresa, it might seem difficult to find a good restaurant. On the Largo das Neves, so nice and pleasant, the Goya Beira is the best address to taste some popular Brazilian dishes without pretention, but also to drink beers on the terrace, while enjoying the animations of this small square of district. This establishment is one of the simple and authentic places that you like to meet the guests and the people who work.

Right in the historic center, this new restaurant in Paraty offers a rather original menu (typical dishes enhanced by lesser-known flavors), including seafood specialties. There's also a good cocktail menu, perfect for an aperitif. The street-side terrace tables give the place a convivial feel. The decor is pleasant, with white canvases interwoven with wooden beams on the ceiling. The atmosphere is both chic and simple. The waiters are professional, and the live music on weekend evenings is pleasant.

It's not easy to find good, inexpensive restaurants in Paraty. The Borogodo has chosen to focus on simplicity and good taste, and this works rather well in a very simple setting, with small wooden seats, straw and wicker on the walls. It's a good place for a cheap, quality lunch or dinner: typical dishes, generous homemade burgers, smoothies, açai... Excellent cocktails are prepared here(caipirinha maracuja-cinnamon or "Jorge Amado"). A pleasant place to have a drink and relax with friends. Good value for money.

For those who visit Arraial and want to avoid the tourist restaurants, crowded on weekends and with a rough culinary offer, Sol na cozinha is a good option. The restaurant of the pousada Caminho do Sol is one of the best tables in town, first of all for the plate, whose every ingredient whatever the dish is cooked with love and patience (great variety of dishes, delicious shrimps and fish). The setting is romantic, with a beautiful view of the beach. Chef Henrique Cruz is very attentive to his guests.

La Gondole has established itself as one of Cabo Frio's finest restaurants. Masterfully managed by chef André Cabrini, this restaurant offers refined cuisine with an Italian accent. This fine establishment is particularly renowned for its seafood. Il. Cod carpaccio and fish à la plancha, pasta and salads make up this fine menu. More rustic dishes, such as Tuscan sausage with white beans and gorgonzola polenta, round out a quality offering. The decor is pleasant and the welcome warm.

The Café do Alto is located in the heart of Santa Teresa. This beautiful establishment blends very well with the bohemian atmosphere of the neighborhood where musicians frequently perform. We recommend the Nordestin breakfast. The establishment offers homemade beers that can be tasted on draught or bottled. The Alto favours local productions. On the menu are specialties from the Brazilian Northeast, salads, vegetarian dishes... without forgetting the inevitable caipirinha. A place where it is good to stroll.

"Chez Claude" is one of the latest restaurants to be opened by Claude Troisgros, the French chef in vogue in the Carioca capital, already responsible for the Olympe, CT Boucherie, CT Brasserie and Leblon establishments. You can dine almost in the kitchen, and watch him at work behind the stove. This is haute gastronomy from the kitchen of the chef from Roanne! For discerning palates and gourmets. You can eat in the restaurant or try the "Mesa do lado", a gastronomic adventure. Quality at the price of quality.

The bacalahau do Tuga is undoubtedly the best restaurant in the city, with of course the specialty of cod, which is available in many different ways. Well, the restaurant showcases all seafood products. Fish, seafood... everything is delicious. The service is a bit long because everything is prepared on the spot. We're closer to the slowfood spirit than we are to a tourist who's not coming back. Here, regulars and gourmets in search of good food flock here. It is better to arrive early or to book in high season.

In the Cinelandia neighborhood, this brewery, founded in 1921, is a historical place in the neighborhood and a place of resistance...that almost disappeared. The interior is very simple and very carioca. Busy employees and tourists mingle in a very local atmosphere. The large terrace of the "little yellow one", on the Praça Floriano, is particularly pleasant to stroll in the evening, with a mug in the hand. The waiters are busy serving the many customers. On the menu, traditional dishes: feijoada, picanhas, churrascos... A classic.

Another little place to discover in the charming district of Santa Teresa. This canteen doesn't look like much, but it offers excellent (and copious!) dishes of various meats, churrasco of course, picanhas, ribeye, chops... the choice is vast. Everything is often accompanied by chips, rice and black beans (feijão). A good option for a typical weekday lunch. Ah yes, you will have understood, we are here in gaucha land, far from the new cuisine. One dish can easily satisfy two people, so let's hear it...

Rio has begun to regain its centre. Some of the once malfamous districts are dressing up in their finest finery and offering visitors that little bit of extra soul that internationalized areas no longer always provide. The botequim do Joia is one of these places steeped in history. This small bar on the outskirts of the Saúde district is a listed establishment that opened its doors in 1909. Also known as Bar do Jóia, it is famous for its iced beer, dry meat dishes and Friday feijoada. A place to discover.

Like the Cobal restaurants in Rio de Janeiro, the Recanto gastronomic center is a great place to go if you're feeling peckish. It comprises 4 restaurants: Recanto dos Pescadores, specializing in fish and seafood; Recanto Sushi, offering unlimited sushi, sashimi and brochettes; Casa da Pincanha, specializing in grilled meats; and Recanto do Fondue. The dishes of "tropeiros", i.e. cattle herdsmen, are also well worth trying.

We're still in Rio, but you'd think we were near the metropolis... or somewhere in Italy, because the food is so tasty. The chef is a true Transalpine. The Casa Due restaurant offers dishes from Lazio, southern Italy and seafood. The setting is superb and the dishes are certainly worthy of the place. The pasta is excellent, the atmosphere friendly and the setting simple and bucolic. The checkered tablecloths give the place a kitschy family feel... and that's what we like! A must-try!

This Lebanese restaurant in the port district is a good address for all lovers of oriental cuisine. The French-speaking owner has succeeded in maintaining the traditional aspect of this restaurant, which offers the full range of Lebanese and Oriental dishes, as well as Arabic cuisine in general. He has happily carried on the family tradition, his father having opened his first restaurant in Lapa in 1967. Moufid Hassan perpetuates the tradition of designing an interesting cuisine featuring combination dishes for one or two people (kibés, falafels, taboulés...).

It's not a bar, it's a good fish restaurant. There are excellent moquecas, (vegetarians and vegans can enjoy excellent vegan moquecas ), succulent lobsters, fisherman's salad, grilled fish and squid. We were seduced by a plate of pink conger eel. Some customers were converted to seafood even though they weren't necessarily fans of it, that is to say. Admittedly, the restaurant is simple, but the decor and the dishes are worth the trip to Porto da Barra.

Salsa is an address that does not demerit since we discovered it in 2014. Here's another good kilo in the center of Búzios. The dishes on offer are well cooked: fish, meat, lobster, vegetables... No emphasis, but a very correct cuisine and a relatively sweet addition to Buzios. The starters, the main courses, the desserts, everything is up to the guests' expectations. Salsa offers a majority of carefully selected organic products. The cuisine is light and varied. The reception is very professional and pleasant.

The Jobi bar has been a very popular address in the Cariocas since 1956... Its red and green front and the red and white checkered tablecloths are part of the "landscape" of the traditional botequins of Rio. The Jobi is the link between the Rio of yesterday and today. The bohemian spirit lives on in a friendly atmosphere. The wait is sometimes a little long, but the cod croquettes and seafood soup are worth the trip. People also come here for the iced beer, the best in Rio for some "fans".

Since 2002, the Balada Mix chain has opened more than 20 shops in Rio de Janeiro. The one in Ipanema is one of the most pleasant. In a beautiful white house, one block from Ipanema beach, you can enjoy a mango or acai juice or a more substantial dish in a pleasant and calm setting, ideal before or after the orla... or afterwards. The cuisine is simple and healthy at the same time. This is the general trend at Ipanema, but here the combination of location, service and value for money certainly makes it a place to get to know.

Opposite the São Bento monastery, which gave it its name(mosteiro means monastery in Portuguese), this Portuguese-inspired restaurant, run by José Temporao, has been offering excellent fish dishes (including the delicious Mosteiro cod) or shellfish (octopus in saffron rice) for almost half a century. There are of course the famous Portuguese pasteis. The quality of the cuisine and service is rightly recognised by many food critics and even more guests.

In a small shop with "tangy candy" colours and a decoration that the owners describe as "rustic-provençal", the good smell of the well-prepared small dishes inevitably captures the passing gourmets or regulars of the place. Salmon tartar, warm brie with apricots on toast, or simply melons with ham. There is a choice between simplicity and slightly more sophisticated dishes. A "Santa Fit" menu has been elaborated by chef Carol Figueiredo for those who want to eat healthy and light.

A casual Resto-pizzeria attended mainly by a gay clientele. You can enjoy a beer or a caipirinha while admiring the beach. 

The Samburà restaurant is a good little seafood restaurant with a good reputation in the Angra region. You can enjoy grilled fish or octopus with a cold beer in a relaxing jazzy atmosphere. This rather out-of-the-way restaurant is frequented by locals in the low season, but the quality of its food is recognized by the many national tourists who flock here in the high season. Variations on fish (moqueca de cavalo), squid and shrimp (moqueca de camarao) are all quite successful.

At the risk of repeating ourselves, O Pescador is no longer a seafood restaurant. An Italian chef now serves... Italian food. According to transalpine friends on Ilha Grande, this is without doubt the best pizzeria on the island. Dishes are generously served for two. The setting is pleasant, right on the beach. The decor is warm and inviting. The change of culinary destination is certainly a success. We're never disappointed with the dishes on offer. Definitely worth a visit.

Good Japanese cuisine is offered in this small restaurant. Lovers of Japanese cuisine will have the opportunity to eat by the kilo here. There is a great variety of yakisoba, teppanyaki, temaki, also proposed in the original form of rodizio, where the waiters pass by constantly presenting dishes. Gourmets of Japanese cuisine will find here interesting products for a good quality/price ratio. It is also possible to get delivery in the entire southern area (up to 73 pieces for combination dishes!).

The Pérgula is one of the three restaurants located in the wonderful Belmond Copacabana Palace. The majesty of the place and the quality of the food will perhaps justify that you break your piggy bank to be able to enjoy a breakfast or a lunch buffet in this mythical place. If there is an undeniable Italian touch, the cuisine can be described as international. From the "copperto", the tone is set: chestnut bread, cassava chips, artichoke pickle... Meat, fish, vegetarian dishes. Everything is delicate. At the weekend, it's feijoada and brunch!

Originally from São Paulo, the other pizza capital of the world, Pizzaria Bráz is one of the best in Rio. In this traditional setting in the Jardim Botânico district, the great Italian classics are the basis of the menu, but many variations are offered, from the classic award-winning caprese to the basic Neapolitan... or theimigrante. The wine list allows to highlight the flavours of the place. For dessert, the traditional panettone and tiramisus will satisfy the specialists.

This blue house of industrial architecture, a veritable oasis tucked away on a little street in Secretário, has established itself as one of Petrópolis' finest restaurants. Here, in addition to the quality of the produce, it's above all the fixed-price formula (starter, main course, dessert) and salads that attracts gourmets from all over Brazil. The kitchen is generously supplied by the in-house vegetable garden. Tomato velouté with cashew nuts and mint, mushroom vatapà, coconut rice and low-cooked pork... A relatively reasonable price for the quality on offer.

Skandinavia refers of course to the Finnish colony in the city. For more than 15 years, this sandwich shop has been a rallying point for all those who are hungry. You won't find any Scandinavian specialities here, it's a classic sandwich shop. It is certainly the best sandwiches of the city which are proposed there. Traditionally, the portions are generous. A sandwich is equivalent to a meal! Sure, the place is simple, but the Three Steps or the Don Rodrigo will get you back on your feet.

Bistrô das Meninas is a French-inspired restaurant. It's an original adventure, part restaurant, part café in a library. Originally, the owners ran a pastry shop. Today, artisan bread "à la française" still features prominently in sandwiches and other compositions, but the offer has expanded. You can try local trout with mushroom sauce, sandwiches (Thai-style chicken with Moroccan couscous, meat risotto with manioc...). One of those places that delights both taste buds and soul.

The Cantinho Valeria Fernandes is a paradise for some gourmets. This picturesque place is indeed famous for its salted doughnuts. There are said to be more than 100, no, more than 150 varieties. For those who will definitely be charmed by the salty pleasures of this beautiful table, you can take some souvenirs with you. In the restaurant's shop, you can also find jams and compotes. Ideal for a small gourmet stopover. A little expensive perhaps.

This bakery-pastry shop is all about breads and cakes. There are more than twenty kinds of bread. If you are homesick, go there. Madeleines worthy of a pastry grandmother, croissants, baguettes that look like baguettes, bread with olives, foccacias. It's a compromise between a quality bakery and a French-inspired pastry. Breakfast and mini-brunch are an opportunity to taste sweet and savoury dishes as well as excellent small sandwiches.

In her restaurant-gallery, the Farinatta Bistrô & arte, chef Eloisa Ramos offers an inventive and creative menu. She takes pleasure in coming to explain the menu directly to her guests. Behind the names of mysterious dishes - gnocchi à la présidente, agneau profane, osso buco fin du monde -, we discover a delicious and surprising plate, and, at this level of gastronomy, a beautiful aesthetic sophistication. The wine list will allow you to best appreciate these corpus delicti de la gourmandise. The best gnocchis of the region for sure.

The Galeria is a great discovery of PF on Buzios since... 2014. This restaurant, located in the beautiful Insólito Boutique Hotel, offers varied cuisine in a French-Brazilian fusion style. The chef Marcelo works with as much happiness fish, seafood and meats. Here, the appetizer will be the breathtaking view of the Ferradura beach. The team of waiters around chef Rodrigo is very professional. A hanging garden on the sea... To discover absolutely if you can afford it, because at Buzios as elsewhere quality has a price.

For 3 years now, this former store founded in 1854 has been transformed, much to the delight of the bohemian Santa Teresa district, into a bar and pousada that has quickly made a name for itself in the sun. The traditional coverings have been preserved, and the mix of old and new has been perfectly adapted to the spirit of the place. Modern cocktails alternate with traditional cooked dishes or beautifully crafted caipirinhas. The "spirit of Santa Teresa" is guaranteed, with good ao vivo music on certain evenings.

The Tropicana restaurant is a small tropical paradise surrounded by forest and mangroves, just a stone's throw from the beach. In a simple atmosphere, under the vast wooden canopies, seafood and fish dishes grace the vast tables around which delighted diners gather. The menu is rich (including the famous peixada, for which people come from all over Rio, and grouper moqueca ) and the dishes are generously served. You don't always have the strength to order dessert. The service is very professional and pleasant.

The Catete Grill is the annex of the Arvel-voyage groups. Well located, close to the Catete metro station. It is an excellent restaurant by the kilo, certainly the best in the area. The buffet is varied and of good quality (salads, hot dishes, grilled meats...). If there is some space left, try the desserts. You can find sushi as well as "minute" cooked meats, lobster, raw vegetables. To be recommended for those who are very hungry at lunchtime! Like all popular restaurants, it's a bit noisy and full. An address to which you often return

As the name suggests, Giuseppe Grill is dedicated to meat. For many Cariocas and gastronomic guides, this establishment is one of the best meat restaurants in Rio, coming straight from Argentina, a guarantee of quality if ever there was one. The setting is warm and the décor features works by contemporary Carioca painters, all of them representing... a bull. Of course! The maminha is tender and tasty. The wine list is varied and good, especially for the wines... Argentine. Seafood too.

One of the main interests of the restaurant La Plancha, one of the best fish restaurants in Rio, is its location in the heart of the Mercado do Produtor, the largest fish market in the city. This guarantees the freshness of the products that are served. At the buffet, you will find grilled fish and seafood (lobsters, shrimps...), which can be shared with others. The service is well trained and professional. Not top for a plan in love: the place is vast (250 seats) and too noisy!

Le Térèze is the restaurant of the magnificent Hotel Santa Teresa, now McGallery, in the eponymous district, one of the most beautiful establishments in the city of Rio. The menu, signed by chef Esteban Mateu, is of contemporary inspiration and high quality, and the use of "unconventional plants" is surprising. The wine list (particularly Chilean) is full of surprises. Thursday dinner: tasting menu (with wine). Excellent breakfast too, available daily to non-guests. Prices are reasonable.

At the foot of the Tulip Inn Hotel, the Branch is one of the few restaurants on the mythical Avenida Atlântica, which instead makes the beautiful part of the second zone or the pizzerias without flavor. In a modern and sober decor, the map, contemporary and international, offers delicious shrimp salad with artichokes and vanilla sauce or an amazing piece of beef, pie at the cresson and polenta. 

As in Rio, the Manjericao is an excellent pizzeria that has been delighting fans of this Neapolitan dish for more than 10 years now. This pizzeria has the secret of excellent pizzas with extra-fine dough and original ingredients (taste the house specialty, pizza with basil, nuts, garlic, parmesan and catupiry). Vegetarians will not be outdone. The environment itself is very pleasant. The restaurant is well designed and warm and the team is super professional and pleasant. A sure value in Teresopolis at the right price.