Here is a list of food you need to eat in Rio. One of the things I look forward to most while traveling is trying new food. Food is a bridge between people, cultures, and traditions. My favorite way to foster relationships are by sitting across from someone and sharing a meal, because food is a universal connector. Below are some of the restaurants or foods I ate while visiting Rio in 2016.

Eating at the Olympics

Visiting Rio for the Olympics altered what we ate a bit. Not only were we a large group, but we attended activities where food was provided. We had free food through the Team USA House and the Asics House, and ate at the Olympic area one day. Traveling in such a large group and traveling with babies also influenced our eating, as we had to find places to accommodate all of us. Not to mention just how incredibly busy everything was due to the Olympic crowd. As a result, I didn’t get to try as many traditional foods as I desired. But that just means I need to return to Brazil.

Brazil is know for their steak and all-you-can-eat steakhouses. As a result, we ate at two steakhouses during the week. Fogo de Chao, which I know has locations in the US, and CT Boucherie. It was interesting to see how they were each set up. Fogo de Chao had a buffet that you could get your side dishes and salad at, with waiters coming over and cutting pieces of different meats off onto your plate. At CT Boucherie we ordered which meat we wanted and then waiters came around with a cycling order of side dishes that we could choose from.

After our arrival, we also ate at Outback Steakhouse. I didn’t have high expectations for the food here, as I knew a traditional Brazilian option would be better. Some members of our party ate in person, and when they brought back the food for the rest of us they complained the entire time. It wasn’t until the end of the week when they had already left that we discovered CT Boucherie was located in the same area.

Brazilian alcohol

Brazil’s national cocktail is a caipirinha. I had a passionfruit flavored one. While visiting the Escadaria Selarón or Selaron Stairs, we stopped in a tourist shop offering free samples of the liquor cachaça. Cachaça is distilled from sugar cane, and is the liquor in caipirinhas. This shop offered the liquor is different flavors, which I brought back as gifts.

TT Burger

If you crave a burger while on your trip to Rio, stop at TT Burger. You’ll also find fries, shakes, and chicken sandwiches. As you can see, their fries are served with love.

Gringo Cafe

Like the burger, if you want a US breakfast to eat in Rio, visit Gringo Cafe. You’ll find pancakes, waffles, french toast, chicken and waffles, and eggs benedict among others. I was excited to see they served strawberry juice, which I hadn’t seen since the Czech Republic.

Fresh coconut water

Walking around Rio there is fresh fruit and vegetables everywhere, sold in the streets, overflowing in abundance in shops and restaurants, and coconuts could be bought every few feet on the beach to drink fresh coconut water.

I always find it interesting to try different cultural foods while abroad that originate from a different country or culture. In the US, you find Americanized Chinese food, and in Spain it was interesting to see the similarities and differences for their Spanish Chinese food. While in Rio, we also enjoyed pizza and went to a PF Chang’s. Although it looks like it has closed. Let me know what you think someone should eat in Rio!

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