A popular and affordable way to eat a proper meal in Brazil is to go out for lunch or dinner. Brazil is a huge country with many different cultures, resulting in a variety of regional dishes. Of course, cities will always offer a wider range of restaurants than villages. Nevertheless, some typical Brazilian restaurants are found all over the country: the Brazilian steakhouse, the lanchonete, the pizzeria and the sorveteria.
When to Eat in Brazil – Lunch and Dinner Times
Brazil's main meal is lunch, called almoço. In general, Brazilians are early risers and therefore have their lunch early as well, mostly between 11.30am and 1.30pm. Lunch is the best time in Brazil to find proper hot meal.
Many self-service restaurants only serve lunch and aren’t open for dinner [jantar], and travellers often have to make do with a lanchonete, a pizzeria or a proper restaurant for a sit-down meal.
Where to Eat Meat in Brazil – the Churrascaria
Brazilian restaurants can broadly be divided into two types: restaurants where a proper sit-down meal is served and self-service restaurants. At restaurants with a menu [called cardápio], dishes are often served for two persons and are priced accordingly.
Churrascaria – the Brazilian steakhouse – is arguably the most common restaurant in Brazil. In Brazilian steakhouses one pays a fixed price for all one can eat. The meat is chosen by the guest at the barbecue counter, or served rodizio style. The latter means that a waiter moves around the tables with skewers of meat that has been roasted on the barbecue and from which, on request, slices of succulent meat will be cut. Side dishes like potatoes, pasta, vegetables and salads can be taken from a buffet.
Brazilian Pizzerias Served Rodizio Style
Among the most popular Brazilian restaurants are pizzerias. For just a bit extra one can choose a pizza with two, or sometimes three, toppings. In Brazil eating pizza is a social happening and pizzas are often shared among table-companions.
In many pizzerias pizzas are served rodizio style. The pizza isn't served in one piece or to one particular guest but the waiter comes around several times with slices of the various pizzas selected, from which the guest can choose his slice. In Brazil it is customary to use a knife and fork when eating pizza – or any other food, for that matter.
Where to Eat Deep Fried Snacks in Brazil? – the Lanchonete
Lanchonetes are snack bars where deep fried snacks are the most common. A popular snack is pastel, a type of deep fried soufflé with a filling of cheese, chicken or ground meat. Popular are the X-is [burgers] like X-tudo [hamburger with everything] as are misto quente, a hot ham-cheese sandwich, and cachorro quente – hot dog.
Where to Eat Dessert in Brazil? – the Sorveteria
For those addicted to ice cream nothing beats a Brazilian sorveteria: a self-service ice cream buffet, where the ice cream is paid by the weight. The average sorveteria has at least twenty flavours, many made from typical Brazilian fruits and it is no problem to taste many of them before filling up a dish.
If the ice cream isn’t satisfactory, then maybe the toppings are. It is a challenge to choose between different types of hot chocolate, types of sweet sauces, meringue, whipped cream and all kinds of sweets – or to take the lot.
Common Brazilian Restaurants
Travellers in Brazil have plenty of choice when it comes to choosing a place to eat, also in relation to budgets. Snacks are sold at lanchonetes, whereas wholesome meals are served at self-service restaurants. Lovers of meat had best seek a Brazilian steakhouse, while the sorveteria awaits those who are in want of an ice cream.
Karin-Marijke Vis - Karin-Marijke Vis is a bilingual writer (Dutch-English) who has been traveling in Asia and South America since 2003.
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