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Gastronomically inclined cariocas used to say that the only way to get a decent meal in Rio was by taking the shuttle flight to São Paulo. Not anymore. The past decades have seen a major overhaul in Rio’s restaurant scene, with young chefs experimenting with local ingredients and fusing the best from French, Italian and Asian cuisines with traditional Brazilian home cooking. This, indeed, is the key to understanding the essence of eating in Rio: good Brazilian food is, by definition, home and street food. It’s food made for the family table and long, leisurely snacks with a small group of friends and a never-ending string of drinks. As an amateur cook myself, I know how hard it is to translate this sophisticated homeliness to restaurant demands: one more reason to sample and enjoy the movable feast that Rio has to offer.

Carioca tip: Pick up a copy of Danusia Barbara’s bilingual (Portuguese-English) guidebook, Restaurantes do Rio, as soon as you can. Barbara’s handy volume is Zagat and Michelin rolled into one, and for twenty-one years, cariocas have trusted no one else with their dining choices.

BREAKFAST

The business breakfast never really took hold in Rio, where weekday mornings are usually spent on the beach or walking/jogging/cycling around the lagoon. Weekends are a different matter; locals flock to these choice spots for a long meal of Brazilian-style breads, cakes and pastries and delicious coffee: Escola do Pao, Mil Frutas, Talho Capixaba and Café du Lage.

LUNCH

Beef is cariocas’ lunch of choice and the churrascaria is their temple. Not for the faint of heart (or stomach), the churrascaria is a never-ending parade of expertly charbroiled beef, pork and poultry cuts, interspersed with sausages and the odd fish plate, with side dishes picked up from a huge buffet (where vegetarians, surprisingly, will be more than satisfied). For the true churrascaria experience, head for Barra Brasa, Marius or Porcão. Other great lunch places: Gula Gula, Celeiro, Fazendola and 66.

Carioca tip: A staple of locals for weekend lunch is feijoada —the extra-hearty black bean–pork stew born of necessity and turned into art. Accessible buffet versions of this 400-year-old dish can be found at Le Méridien’s Café Fleuri, the Sofitel Atlantis Restaurant and Caesar Park (all, Saturday only, for lunch). A mini but equally delicious interpretation of feijoada is available on weekends at Academia da Cachaça.

DINNER

Cariocas either skip dinner altogether or make it a serious occasion—part social, part business. Some of the best bets for dinner are Olympe, Antiquarius, Roberta Sudbrack, Garcia & Rodrigues, Quadrifoglio, Porcão, Sushi Leblon and Gero.

Carioca tip: You’ll see them everywhere: yellow and green or white, blue and green carts manned by someone brandishing a machete. Don’t be alarmed—these are the much beloved providers of fresh água de coco, the coconut water that locals drink more often than water or soda. Fresh, sour and sweet at the same time, água de coco can be an acquired taste for non-cariocas, but once it’s been duly digested, it is usually highly addictive. A good thing, since this low-low-calorie drink is nature’s own perfect electrolyte/antioxidant and immediately cools down and restores any body exhausted or overheated by a day of too much fun in the sun.