Hi,

Im planning to go to brazil in a few months, gonna be training Brazilian Ju jitsu and seeing the beautiful country and of course the girls, so I would be looking for mainly as much as you can eat restaurants, buffets, or places with great meat dishes, but I also love italian and japanaese. So could I have the name of a few places, but most importantly the prices. Im 21, and atheletic. So I wouldnt be always going to classy places.

Could I have a rough guide to how much the food costs in Rio and Sao Paolo for a tourist. I heard there was a as much as you can eat sushi place for example. and how much is Fogo de Chao in sao paolo or other churrasco places in sao paolo and rio?
So mainly the prices would be great.

Hope you guys can help.
Thank you

(Message edited by jtcity on March 01, 2006)

Read the threads on restaurants for both cities. I've always said that Brasil is the perfect place for the Atkin's crowd. You'll probably want to focus on the kilogramas, where you pay by the weight of whatever you get from the buffet and/or churrasco. They are the best values and IMHO some of the best food.

I couldnt find any info on prices, especailly Fogo de Chao in sao paolo. Thanks

Why go to Fogo de Chao in the first place. Sao Paulo is the capital of the world with 156,000 restaurants. So you can eat from R$15 to R$200. Me I am on a budget so I like to eat at buffet place where you pay by the weight. These dont cost too much under R$20. Just know that boates in Sao Paulo have a high entrance fee but you can order drinks and food otherwise they keep the difference.
In Rio, there are tons of buffet places. I'd rather pay under R$20 at the Green Inn than R$100 at Porcao but yes Porcao has better food.
My advice is forget targeting restaurants, head to one close to your hotel, no sense fighting the traffic and lose energy. Keep it for the girls. Food is fantastic in Brasil. Make sure to try Acai in the morning. Try many sucos, for example acerolas with laranja. Try their sandwiches like beirute. Try their desserts as good as in Europe, to me even better with tropical fruits flavor. Try their coffee, even yogurt is better over there. Try mixing it with salads, they have the best green stuff available, palm hearts...the food is very healthy over there except for the desserts.

Thanks. I guess the food is good there then, because in the UK, you have to know where your eating, otheriwise, you'll get awful food for a high price, it all depends.
I will look around when Im there, and before I go, Ill just have a few places so I can treat myself or know where to go just in case.
Thanks

All of the good kilogramas have fresh sushi as well, part of the regular spread. So, you can mix and match - some picanha (BBQ steak), a little lombo (roast pork), some frango (chicken), some sushi and then whatever from the hot and cold selections. Even deserts are charged by weight. Kilogramas are perfect if you want a wide variety or, if you're like me, you're dining with someone who wants something different than you. Whenever me and the gf hit Kilograma or Siquera Grill or whichever place we hit, I stick to beef, pork, chicken and the hot side dishes and she generally has sushi and grilled fish and veggies.

In Rio I prefered Athos' way....just pick one, go in and try it. I never found a bad meal in Rio, but I guess my tastes may not be the most sophisticated. Some people will tell you to stay away from fresh food (uncooked)....how can you resist those increadible salad bars....I never had a problem. Some people say they have problems with the seafood....I never did, but I don't eat alot of it anyway.

The prices vary, so if that's important, ask...usually prices are posted near the entrance. The farther in from the beach, the more reasonable the prices.

Sucos...sucos...sucos....
If it were really necessary, I could quite easily (and happily) survive on only foods from the sucos bars. If you only ate the specials, three times a day you might not have to spend more than R$10/day.
Of course the manditory acai will cost a little more.....and here Athos is dead wrong....try acai, morning, noon and night. Thanks for the suggestion Badseed.

See my Rio Guide posted here for a relatively current list of Rio restaurants in various categories. I lived in Brasil for much of 2005 and had about 85% of my meals in restaurants. I've never eaten better, eaten healthier, or felt better. For me, it was fresh fruit and juices in the morning, a big but cheap buffet lunch (in POA, typically all-you-can-eat for R$7.50) and whatever struck my fancy for dinner.

Food is the last thing you'll need to worry about. If you want to dine high-end, I have a list of those places in my guide as well.

We did forget to warn him about one thing - DON'T EAT THE PIZZA. It's really bad, and even though they tell you they put tomato/pizza sauce on them, even if you ask 10 times and the waiter says yes 10 times, they don't put tomato/pizza sauce on the pizzas. They put fucking ketchup (not really ketchup either) on them at the table.

Oh, and your average waiter in Rio has a complete moron, so if you go to a sit-down restaurant, plan on taking your time. They add 10% to the bill and that's the service/tip, you can round up to next quarter or so but that's it, no additional tipping. And, you never eat a sandwich with your bare hand, always a napkin. And yes, the shitty napkins are coated in wax or something and that's to keep the food you are eating out of the napkin from getting on your fingers. Do not attempt to use these napkins to actually wipe your mouth or your fingers or God forbid use one as a tissue to blow your nose. It will not be a pretty sight if you do.

Awesome. I love meat, and Brazilian steak is awesome, so Im looking forward to it, hopefully I will find some restaurants and all you can eat places in the guides.

Actually the pizza in Rascal's in Sao Paulo is excellent IMHO as is their salad bar. Highly recommended for mid-priced food. I list a number of good food options in my guide to Sao Paulo, although the recommendations are restricted to the mid to high price locales (you can find the cheaper places all over the place without needing any help).

Jtcity
ah i did not realize you were brit. Then Brasil will be heaven for you.
Bomboa has very good sushi every day of the week. Connection has free sushi but I forgot which day of the week. Connection has sushi too, am I trying to imply many mongers are Japanese? For Japanese food, I would do it in Sao Paulo as it has a big Japanese community. In Rio eat at buffet and concentrate on salads and chuscarria.
Even the beer is good there.
I agree with LaGuy, there are some good pizza to be had in Brasil. I ate at this pizza buffet, all you can eat with so many types of pizzas...
In Sao Paulo, they have the common pastries that you can find in Rio but they also have some cafes that offer French pastries.
If you are in a hurry, you can always order very good sandwiches, misto quenche and beirute. Just stay away from big mac and Habibs.

If you feel like eating crepes, there are quite a few crepe store, with ice cream and chocolate. They have all types of ice cream too.
Also try a "cana" for R$1 at most sucos places, it's sugar cane, very sweet.

The suco joints in Rio are awesome.Great selection of juices and power drinks, much better than that smoothie shit at Jamba juice or Robucks(sp)in the states(dont know if they exist outside of So Cal).Try the Brazilian pastries/salgados,they are great.Most importantly they are very cheap.I would recommend Big B on Siguiera Campos and Barato Ribeiro(2 blocks from Luomos),a suco place (forgot the name)on Barato Ribeiro/Duvivir(across from the Cardeal metro station,Big Nector on Copa/Xavier Silveiro,Suco kice on Copa/ Miguel Lemos(last two close to Help/Meia Petaca and open 24hrs).There is an acai place on Copa/Prado Jr called Ponto do Acai (supposed to be one of the best).Temperate and Aipo Aipim kilo por kilo restaurants have several locations along Copa.Make sure you make at least one trip to Marius, the sea food is the BOMB.

As far as restaurants Kilograma is great, also Monchique both on Copa.The galetos places (little chickens) are good and cheap too like Galeto do miguel on Miguel Lemos almost across from the Office,Another one across from the Tudo Facil on Prado jr and Copa.

Try not to get caught up eating at Meia Pataca,Terraco and Alcazar too much.They are not as good as the above spots(imho) and they are expensive.The only good thing about them is Girl watching.

Brazilain restaurant services suck(imho) compared to the states.Don't expect to get any drink refills, water(unless you order and pay for it), or decent napkins.The waiters are not always that competent IMHO.I also notice waitresses are not common at all in Rio,usually the women are the hostesses or cashiers.

Their pizza don't have much crust,but its not bad(imho), I like the portuguese pizza.But nothing beats good old Italian pizza,lol.BTW, be careful at some of the expensive Italian restaurants there, they load you with all kinds of appetizers without asking and later you will get a nice surprise on your bill.Damn Im getting hungry, gotta go..

Bom Apetite

Unless things have changed, the free sushi night at Connection is Tuesday.

At least in Sao Paulo, and I believe in Rio too, they will charge for the bread they place on your table, as well as any appetizers. If you don't want to pay for this, just tell them to take it away. Usually the bread is not much, but the appetizers, particularly at the more expensive restaurants, can get costly.

At Rascals they ask you what thickness of crust you want on your pizza. The best deal there is the mini-pizza (you choose which type you want) with the very extensive salad bar. I go with the medium crust, which is like regular pizza in the U.S.

Ee200, i agree about MP and alcazar's food but terraco has great kitchen and menu. best at lunch or early evening before GDP's show up.

Just a couple of things here about restaurants in Rio...

First, the pizza is not bad in Rio. In fact, in some of the Italian joints, it can be really good. However, it is not the same as your corner pizzeria in Astoria, Queens. Just like the US, you just have to be careful where you eat it... One of the best Pizzas I've had was in the place adjacent to Satryicon in Buzios on Rua das Pedras. So saying the pizza is bad in Brazil is like saying the pizza is bad in the US after you ate pizza in Des Moines, Iowa at Dominoes or Pizza Hut.

Here are my favorites, and my opinion might be different than others, however, without disclosing my hometown, lets just say that my home town is home to more restaurants per capita than any other city in the world.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Satyricon (well documented on this site)
Margutta
Via Sete (eat outside here if it is not too hot)
Caroline Cafe (spend an evening at Solarium, in between sessions walk accross the street to this place)
Nuth Lounge has a great dinner, however, very difficult to arrange as you need some kind of membership or promise that you'll enjoy their wine list($$$$) plus you can avoid the line into the club after dinner
Gatopardo in Leblon, lots of hot girls, great place to eat if you want to hit Sky Lounge afterwards (one of the hippest Carioca "yuppie" clubs right now)
Mio-great Italian and great wine list (ps-best bet to stick to the Argentian and Chilean wines)
Garota de Ipanema for lunch
Porcao (Ipanema, not Porcao Rio unless you really want the view and tourist experience)

However, right now the most chic and hip (and good) restaurant in Rio is Zaza Bistro Tropical-an absolute must. A few weeks before you leave on your trip, call and make a reservation (the swedish hostess girl speaks perfect english). Make sure you request a table upstairs - really cool, you take your shoes off and sit on pillows. Arrange a date to go with you once you arrive in Rio. Make sure you save room for the desert sampler plate - fantastic. http://www.zazabistro.com.br/

If your idea of culinary excellence is steak, french fries, and white rice (in addition to the overwhelming school of "piranhas,"-don't forget that you'll also have the luxury of being able to have your picture taken with a poloroid, buing a knock-off Nike Ronaldo jersey, or purchasing a rose for your favorite piranha) any one of the outdoor joints along Avenida Atlantica will be great. If you want to have a fun dining experience with real Cariocas, check out one of the restaurants I have listed. In addition, Bwana Dik's guide has a great list as well as Ipanema.com .

PS-

Someone mentioned the sucos joints...I would concur...I also eat at those places alot. Polis Sucos at the corner of Rua Maria Quiteria and Rua Visconde de Piraja in Ipanema is espcially good-I typically leave my perch At Praia de Ipanema near Posto 9(the best place in Rio to enjoy thong clad 21 y/o non-pros in Rio) to walk over there for a quick lunch on weekdays. A big bonus of the place is that the location is the best woman watching street-corner at lunch time in Rio (for the non-pro peep-show). The columns in the place even have mirrors enabling you to really take advantage of the scenery that stops in or walks past.

I was in Zaza about 16 months ago and all of three people were there. This was on a Thursday night, I believe. Has it gotten that much busier since then that you need to make a reservation in advance?

I didn't think the food was that great either.

Food! I knew alittle about this subject, I dined at Alcazar(Filet was great), Marius(Tuna Sashimi was out of this world), Kilograma next B.S. apartment(first and last time I go to a Kilo), the hotel guided me to a pizza place near Barbarella that was good enough we went twice. But the Crème de la Crème is Cervantes. It was rated top 10 in the city on TripAdvisor. I put it #1. Ate there 5 times in 9 days.

Cat-

You can go there without reservations and sit outside early or late, however, you need a reservation for the upstairs. Let me put a different spin on Zaza from my perspective, the food was good (however not as good as Satyricon) but the atmosphere was outstanding. It is one of those places you enjoy the food, however, you enjoy the presence of really hot, educated, and stylish 23-33 year old women hanging out. Something about sitting on the pillows makes it much more easy to strke up conversations with those around you.

Another place I rate highly is this department is Nuth Lounge. I had dinner there and the food was very good (not 5 star...solid 4)...very, very nice environment after dinner, young girls and definitely a few ladies for those cougar hunters amoung you. (see http://www.urbancougar.com/classes_ucs.php for more information)

As quoted from www.urbancougar.com :

Genus: Felinae Latina
Common name: Latin Cougar

The Latin Cougar may perhaps be the most inviting of all the cultural breeds. She's Latin, for chrissakes. They love wearing next-to-nothing, dancing super close, and they've got accents that turn most hunters into cowering children.


In any event, I'm not a big cougar hunter, however, they can be fun to hang out with if there are a few younger ones around that you can later invite to post-club party activities. Obviously this would not be my advice to the 57 year old newbie that does not speak any portuguese and may even have problems paying for a truly "good for me, good for you" situation(which will be the name of my next trip report- btw).

CB

(Message edited by copabrasil1 on March 05, 2006)

CB,

Nope, there were four of us and we were upstairs, from around 10:00 to midnight on a Thursday night.

It has probably picked up since you were there...I think it has only been open for a little under two years, could be wrong...