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Restaurants Overview

With more than 900 restaurants, Rio's dining choices are broad, from low-key Middle Eastern cafés to elegant contemporary eateries with award-winning kitchens and first-class service. The succulent offerings in the churrascarias (restaurants specializing in grilled meats) can be mesmerizing for meat lovers -- especially the places that serve rodízio style (grilled meat on skewers is continuously brought to your table -- until you can eat no more). Hotel restaurants often serve the national dish, feijoada, on Saturday -- sometimes Friday, too. Wash it down with a chopp (the local draft beer; pronounced "shop") or a caipirinha (crushed lime, crushed ice, and a potent sugarcane liquor called cachaça).

For vegetarians there is an abundance of salad bars, where you pay for your greens by the kilo. And seafood restaurants are everywhere. Note that it's perfectly safe to eat fresh produce in clean, upscale places; avoid shellfish in all but the best restaurants.

Cariocas do not take a siesta and almoço (lunch) is small -- often just a lanche (literally "snack," but includes sandwiches). Dinner is a late affair; if you arrive at 7, you may be the only one in the restaurant. Popular places seat customers until well after midnight on weekends, when the normal closing hour is 2 AM. Cariocas love to linger in botecos, plain but pleasant bars that may also serve food, and such establishments abound. Most serve dishes in the $-$$ range, and portions are large enough for two people to share.

Many restaurants have a fixed-price menu as well as à la carte fare. Many also include what is referred to as a couvert (cover charge) for the bread and other appetizers placed on the table. Leaving a 10% tip is enough, but check your bill: it may already have been added. Some restaurants don't accept credit cards, and dress is almost always casual.