Best All-Time Funky Place to Eat
My favorite place for a sandwich with fruit juice for decades has
been Chaika on Rua Visconde de Pirajß next to the Nossa Senhora da Paz square. Where else
in the world could you have a sandwich called Beirute Ipanema made with a very thin
steak, melted cheese and fried banana in a pita bread? That to me almost sums up Rio: good
food and a great sense of humor.
Best Feijoada
There may be others, but none beats the food with spectacular view
combination offered by the Caesar Park Hotel high above the beach in Ipanema. I went
on a rainy Saturday and wished I could stay the whole afternoon, eating and gazing out the
panoramic windows.
Best Sweets and Desserts
Visit Doce Delφcia above for amazing desserts. The best
Brazilian sweets are at Petits Fours Salgados Doces at Rua Aristides
Espφnola, 101 - D in Leblon. Worth a taxi trip there, believe me! These guys are
open until the wee hours and have great savory snacks too.
Best Fruit Juices
There are great juice bars all over Rio, but the most amazing one I've
tried is Desfrutando in the Rio-Sul Shopping Center. Last time I counted
48 different fresh fruit juices with exciting and poetic-sounding names like siriguela,
taperaba, sapoti, graviola, etc. Again, worth a taxi trip, I promise!
Best Fruit and Other Stuff Ice Creams
Well, Mil Frutas - at the corner of Rua Garcia d'┴vila and Rua Barπo da
Torre in Ipanema - has goiabada com queijo ice cream!! Need we say more?
n this page we'll share our secret addresses and hand out advice and little tips to make your trip to Rio extra enjoyable.
Are you a bossa nova fan? Boy, do I have an address for you! Toca do Vinφcius in Ipanema is a combination store/performance space dedicated to the works of the poet/lyricist/Jobim's partner and to the bossa nova in general. CDs, books, t-shirts, videos, shows, classes, etc. The store is located at Rua Vinφcius de Moraes, 129, smack in the heart of Ipanema. Owner Carlos Alberto is enthusiastically helpful and most "simpßtico."
This newsstand on Rua Visconde de Pirajß in front of the Nossa Senhora da Paz
square is open 24 hours a day. Great place to browse or buy international newspapers
and magazines and that postcard for your mother. The other spot I love for newsies from
home is Letras e Express⌡es, a bookstore/cafΘ-bar at Rua Visconde de
Pirajß, 276, also open round the clock. Please note that you have to buy your papers
before sitting down with your espresso. Books you can browse at your table, but you must
"check-in" with a salesperson first. CafΘ Ubaldo on the second
floor is also a favorite breakfast spot.
Some of the best places to eat in Rio - and the rest of Brazil,
for that matter - are restaurants that sell food buffet-style by kilo. You help yourself
to the food and they weigh your plate at the cash register like this. An impressive
example is Terra Brasilis at the corner of Rua Humberto de Campos and rua
JosΘ Linhares in Leblon. Other great places to experience Brazilian home-style cooking
are the so-called "botequins" or "botecos," which are Rio's answer to
the French bistro. Here are some of my favorites (most of these places are institutions
and I've been going back for the past 25 years!): in Leblon my vote goes to