32 Best Restaurants in The South, Brazil

You may be surprised at the quality and authenticity of the Northern Italian cuisine at this small restaurant in Porto Alegre. Among many excellent choices are garganelli (a variety of pasta from Emilia-Romagna) with salmon in wine sauce and fettuccine nere (fettuccine with a black tinge of squid ink) with caviar sauce. A house novelty is the Italian-gaúcho risotto, made with sun-dried meat, tomatoes, and squash. The decor is sober, with candlelit tables and cream drapes covering most of the walls.

On the second floor of the Marina Ponta da Areia complex, this restaurant has a grand view of the Lagoa da Conceição, with surrounding green hills as the backdrop. The fare, carefully created by chef Fedoca, a diver himself, includes a wide variety of seafood and pasta options. Fedoca's moqueca (a fish, shrimp, octopus, and mussel stew), inspired by the famed Bahian dish, is the house specialty, as are the lobster dishes.

Porto Alegre's best-known restaurant has been in business at the same spot, steps from city hall at the Mercado Público, since 1889. The walls are covered with Portuguese tiles, antiques, and period photographs exalting those early days. The restaurant is a popular happy-hour spot for politicians and businesspeople. The menu varies daily from beef to fish dishes. One of the highlights is the large Brazilian grey mullet stuffed with shrimp (served Friday and Saturday).

The prix-fixe combo at this small but busy restaurant includes such Lebanese staples as kibbe, esfiha (small minced meat pies), tabouleh, hummus, baba ganoush, fried eggplant, pita bread, rice with lentils, spinach, and falafel. These and other options can also be ordered à la carte. Large windows and a colorful decor add to the allure.

The decor may not be distinguished at this restaurant, but the ample windows overlooking Rio Mampituba create the perfect setting for a fine dinner. Seafood, either grilled or stewed, is the specialty here. Try the camarão na moranga (shrimp in a squash puree).

Recommended for those on a budget, Baviera is essentially a pizzeria, but the menu also includes Brazilian-style steak (thin-cut fillet, usually rare), grilled chicken, and hamburgers, with most dishes serving two. The restaurant, in the basement of an imposing house on a hillside, has an Italian cantina look, with wine barrels at the entrance, rustic wood furniture, and candlelighted tables.

One of the trendiest cafés in town, Porto serves several types of coffee, plus drinks, sandwiches, pies, and pastries. Try the espetinho (little skewer of meats and vegetables) combined with a glass of Chardonnay or the house cappuccino. All coffee is Brazil's finest, from the Mogiana region in São Paulo.

Be ready for a hearty feast: this highly regarded restaurant serves a prix-fixe Italian menu with galeto al primo canto (crispy grilled chicken) and a large selection of pasta dishes. Accompaniments include cappelletti soup, polenta, and radicci (a green-leaf salad).

This Italian cantina–style restaurant has an excellent prix-fixe salad-and-soup buffet at dinner. Surefire soup choices include the cappelletti—best topped with grated Parmesan cheese—and the Serrano (a local vegetable soup). If this light fare doesn't suit you, opt for the grilled beef directly from the grill.

This small, family-run, buffet-style restaurant specializes in the traditional dish most associated with Paraná State: the barreado (meat stew simmered in a sealed clay pot). Because barreado takes 24 hours to cook, you must order it a day in advance. The prix-fixe menu includes galinha na púcara (chicken cooked in wine, tomato, and bacon sauce), several salads, and cachaças(Brazilian liquor distilled from sugarcane). Although the restaurant is officially open only on weekends, you can call ahead to arrange a dinner during the week.

Take in the view of the Lagoa de Conceicao and order sequencia de camarão, a local shrimp specialty that comes in three courses: breaded, steamed, and with garlic. Casa do Chico is also a great place to try the stuffed crab shell appetizer "casquinha de siri."

This chic café named after the lover of monarch Dom Pedro I is the place to compensate for the likely excesses of espeto-style churrasco. Order one of the vegetarian sandwiches and sip a local Brut while enjoying the breeze on the smartly lit patio that overlooks a quiet plaza in Moinhos de Vento neighborhood. It's a romantic respite just a few steps away from the boisterious nightlife on Rua Padre Chagas.

This churrascaria in a picturesque wooden bungalow is your best bet for experiencing the ubiquitous southern Brazilian espeto-corrido (a continuous service of grilled meats). They also serve a fixed-price buffet with less advertised gaúcho dishes such as arroz de carreteiro (rice with dried beef), farofa (sautéed cassava flour), and cooked cassava. Traditional-music performances take place on Friday and Saturday.

One of Porto Alegre's largest churrascarias, Galpão Crioulo serves traditional espeto-corrido—a prix-fixe, never-ending rotation of tender roasted and grilled meats brought to the table, accompanied by a salad buffet. If a full espeto-corrido sounds too much, ask for the miniespeto (a small sampler skewer of all meats). Another option is the comidas campeiras (countryside food) buffet, with plenty of dishes featuring rice, beans, and squash. You can also try chimarrão (a maté tea) at a tasting booth where the staff demonstrates the traditional way to drink it. Gaúcho musical performances take place in the evening.

With a veranda that overlooks nearby pine trees and gardens, this German restaurant creates a relaxing ambience that perfectly complements its traditional offerings such as duck à la viennese (with an orange-flavor cream sauce)—the house specialty. Some tables are in the wine cellar, which has more than 1,000 bottles.

This off-the-beaten-path restaurant combines no-frills service and undistinguished decor with an outstanding seafood menu. Start with the steamed oysters and then move on to the seafood stew or fish fillet with shrimp sauce.

One of the best-known establishments for Italian cuisine in Curitiba, Madalosso is also possibly the largest restaurant in Brazil: the hangarlike building seats 4,600 diners. The prix-fixe menu includes a huge selection of pastas and sauces, chicken dishes, and salads. The gnocchi and lasagna are particularly noteworthy. The restaurant keeps a large wine cellar, with many renowned Brazilian and international wines, as well as a house wine, made for the restaurant in the vineyards of Rio Grande do Sul.

The city's most popular German bar–restaurant, Schwarzwald has carved a name for itself with great draft beer, including some imported brands and local bocks (German-style dark beers). Highly recommended entrées are the house version of eisbein (pig's leg served with mashed potatoes), kassler (beef fillet with a cream sauce), and duck with red cabbage. The restaurant is somewhat small and packed with tables, but there's plenty of space on the sidewalk in front.