Thanks @RafKa. My trip is in July and i am gathering info (kid is a picky eater). I am noting down all the suggestions and will definitely visit them.

How are the prices in good restaurants? :)

Depends on your forex situation, and what your experience (point of reference for comparison) is with the other cities you have visited.

I can direct you places where a pizza is R$30 or R$100..........for me that translates to roughly $10 to $35 CAD........FWIW.

Most responses will probably say moderately to very expensive I'd imagine for the higher end places

T-49

Again I can't wait to have a coxinha and fruta do conde juice at BB lanches. We really liked Le Blond and Didier on our last trip, I have Rubaiyat on my list but never made it there.is it still recommended?

went back for a third time tonight bc my wife’s credit card had some special deal. The meat was garbage. Ten times out of ten I would rather choose Whole Foods meat and make it at home over this. Im dunzo with rubaiyat.

ct boucherie on the other is still banging it out. Love that place.

Any updated non-veg recommendations? Many of the names in earlier posts didn’t seem to come up in any of my screens; it does seem like there have been a lot of closures in general in the market (hotels too).

Recommended Churrascaria? (Rodizio or regular menu)
Anyone serve feijoada? (A Brazilian friend of mine has made it here several times and it’s delicious!)

These few caught my eye, thoughts?:
Olympe
Lasai
Aprazivel
(All 3 outside Copa/Ipanema)
ETA- re-reading the thread, two of these did come up years ago, but updated thoughts welcome!

Purely on an anecdotal basis, rodizios have fallen out of favor in Brazil due to their high cost (and the financial crisis the country is only starting to emerge from) and diners starting to focus on quality over quantity. If you would still like to check out a rodizio, head to Fogo de Chao as it has an awesome view of Botafogo Bay and it is easy to combine a lunch here following a visit to Sugar Loaf.

Other options (non-rodizio):

Esplanada Grill: I hate the dark ambience, but it's the best steak in Rio. The pao de queijo is also great, but careful not to eat too many and spoil your appetite!
Malta Beef Club: trendy/informal place. Very good steak in sharing portions. Great open plan kitchen and glass meat-locker. Close to Botanical Garden.
Rubaiyat Rio: Directly opposite Botanical Garden. Their signature cut is the "baby beef" and it's very good. The views from their large terrace over the Jockey Club annd statue of christ is awesome. They also do what is IMO the best (easily accessible) feijoada in Rio on Saturdays.
Churrasqueira: from the time I lived in Rio, it was the best kept secret: unpretentious great steak, great prices and free BYO. Good location in Ipanema.

See above. Feijoada is only served on Saturdays at lunch time, unless you head to Casa da Feijoada which serves every day. Rubaiyat has a very good feijoada buffet including desserts and some alcoholic drinks (batidas). Another option could be the Sofitel in Ipanema with nice views from the rooftop (assuming it's still served at the rooftop restaurant).

Olympe: best french in town, assuming you want to eat french (with a twist).
Lasai: people either love it or hate it, as it focuses on organic produce and some unusual dishes. I would rather go to Oro, which is more fun and also better located. Another option near Lasai is Oteque.
Aprazivel: very unique modern Brazilian cuisine and lovely location, but it's out of the way and in a (somewhat) robbery-prone area. I prefer going there for dinner as there's a better ambience.

Would also recommend Gurume in Ipanema for trendy, affordable and really excellent sushi. For nice lunches you can try Alessandro e Frederico, Picci and Oia, all in Ipanema.

Rio is also very good for gourmet burgers. TT Burger is the original gourmet burger. There are many others. I also recommend Madero for a semi fast-food option (kind of like a Olive Garden, but they do great burgers and decent steaks).

Awesome, thanks!
Interesting commentary on the rodizios. Would be hard to stomach (so to speak) the chain Fogo de Chao when there's one a block from my office in Manhattan! (Although we've never actually been; however there's another one that's been here for 20+ years that we go to periodically.) I always feel sick after anyway, so perhaps best to go for traditional steak. CT Boucherie was mentioned here and looks good, I like how you get the rodizio of side dishes, but I'll check out the others too.

I think we might drop Lasai; I wanted Oro but it looked either closed or fully booked when we're there. Oteque came up too, I'll look more closely at that. Curious about the robbery commentary for Aprazivel -- I assume we'll just taxi/uber in and back out, is there still a risk of getting robbed while in a car? :eek:

Thanks again!

Good point. They do a good steak, and their location is ideal for a post-dinner bar-hopping along Dias Ferreira Street. FWIW, I do find the restaurant noisy and cramped and quite a few of the side dishes are stodgy. In any case, you should check out at least on of the restaurants from Claude Troisgrois (owner of Olympe and CT Boucherie, among others). He's kind of Rio's Gordon Ramsay: a celebrity french chef (from the lineage of the famous Maison Troisgrois in France) who's lived in Brazil for 30+ years.

Something to consider is that this part of Botafogo is very traffic-prone so it's a bit of a pain to get to.

Regarding Oro, I tried their booking website and there seems to be good availability https://oro.meitre.com/

I love Santa Teresa, and I find it real painful to see how much it has declined due to the worsening security situation over the last few years. Perhaps the situation has somewhat improved over the last year since I left but the problem is that cars are often targets for robbers: the area is surrounded by slums and there are only a few roads in and out of the neighborhood, and a car can be easily ambushed for a quick robbery. even the archbishop of Rio was robbed a few years ago in this way.

Many taxi drivers outright refuse going there (as much for inconvenience as for security) and while Uber drivers can't refuse trips, they follow the GPS routes to the letter, some of which take you through the dodgier parts of the area.

Having said that, in 99% percent of the cases, you'll be fine but there is a non-negligible security risk. FWIW, I've gone out in Santa Teresa 50+ times over the last 10 years by car, taxi, tram, and on foot and nothing's ever happened to me.

Hope that helps...

How about the Laguiole Lab? Is it worth the trip all the way downtown?

Didier is in my list.

Le Blond is very good and is our new local dig.

T-17 (my first stop will of course be BB Sucos) :)

I think we'll definitely keep the Olympe reservation.

OK, thanks. I may need to re-assess some as we don't want to travel away from Copa/Ipanema *every* night we're there.

You didn't look in February, I guess. :) 2 weeks of nothing, before Carnivale.


Hmm, food for thought, thanks. It does seem like a trek, but the setting and menu look lovely.

Maybe we end up with Olympe, CT Boucherie or one of the other steak recos in Ipanema/Leblon, and Casa de Feijoada for the 3 night stay.

I wouldn't recommend feijoada for dinner: far too heavy!

Can't be worse than a rodizio! :D

I'd rather have a heavy dinner than a heavy lunch, which ruins the rest of the afternoon. Especially if we want to be on the beach, can't go out there looking like a whale!

I finally made it to Rubayat, my food was ok but my wife’s picadinho was salty. Laguiole Lab was kinda disappointing, only the deserts were memorable.

So far we had the best meals at Degrau, Le Blond, and Taberna Alpina in Teresopolis.

Currently waiting for a delivery from Sushinharia.