Italian restaurants in Brazil
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Xicara da Silva
Plenty of people say this popular restaurant prepares the city's best pizza and pasta, and you won't find any arguments to the contrary here. With artful and comfortable dining areas indoors and on a raised patio, the atmosphere is just as appealing. For something smaller, try the quiche. Squeezed into a small leafy lot near the huge Lider Z mall.
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A
Ristorante Fiorentina
The pasta, fresh meats, sangria and homemade desserts are all first-rate, even at the per-kilo lunch buffet, but bring some extra moolah to cover your meal. The dining area features the obligatory Italian restaurant red-and-white checkered tablecloths; the upstairs area mixes things up a bit with blue and white checkers.
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B
Artigiano
Overlooking the Jardim de Alah, Artigiano is set in a picturesque villa with more than a hint of the old-world about it. Here, you will find an older, well-dressed crowd enjoying classic Italian fare, including some 20 superb varieties of handmade pasta amid the oil paintings and antiquefurnishings.
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Mamma Itália
If you're in the center or the northern part of town, it's worth stopping in here for quality Italian fare. The spinach-and-ricotta ravioli is divine.
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D
La Trattoria
This casual but festive Italian trattoria has been a neighborhood favorite for over 30 years. Seafood pasta dishes are particularly recommended.
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Cipriani
On a candlelit patio beside the Palace’s pool, Cipriani serves fine northern Italian cuisine to a well-dressed, largely non-Brazilian crowd. Signature dishes such as the gnocchi, the sirloin with port sauce, and the smoked scallops all meet their mark. For dessert, tiramisu and chocolate mousse are both good options. The dress code is once again in force, so leave your Havaianas at home.
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F
Mio
A mix of locals and turistas gather at this longtime Ipanema favorite for tasty traditional Italian dishes and excellent grilled seafood. A huge aquarium dominates the main dining room – though diners in the front patio will have their own glassed-in experience. There’s also an impressive wine cellar (containing 700 vintages) and a humidor stocked with cigars.
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Don Camillo
One of the few decent restaurants on the Copa strip, this handsomely appointed Italian restaurant has flavorful pastas and lasagnas, as well as some excellent seafood dishes. Antique tile floors, distressed wood beams and black-and-white photos make a nice setting to add to your dining pleasure. For pure decadence, try the linguini with lobster, shrimp and cherry tomatoes.
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Fratelli
On a quiet street in Leblon, Fratelli’s large glass windows frame families and young couples enjoying a fine neighborhood restaurant. It’s the food, however, that ought to be on display: creamy linguini with langosta (lobster), polenta with porcini and Brie and plump tortellini all pair nicely with Fratelli’s decent wine selection.
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Osteria Dell’angolo
Northern Italian cuisine is prepared and served with consummate skill. You’d be hard pressed to find fault with fresh pastas, seafood and much-lauded risottos – the squid risotto in ink sauce in particular. President Lula, among other notable visitors, once dined in the elegant but understated Osteria.
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Gero
Elegance is the spice of choice at this handsome Ipanema favorite on posh Aníbal de Mendonça. Run by hotelier and restaurateur Rogério Fasano, Gero has some exquisite choices including tuna carpaccio, risotto with Tuscan sausage and the simple but delicious ravioli with tomato, mozzarella and basil.
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Trattoria Toscana
The gnocchi, ravioli and lasagna are all made in-house, and served in hefty portions. The spaghetti and linguini use store-bought noodles, but the sauces – salmon, puttanesca, and others – are excellent. For dessert, splurge on the divine petit gateau di cioccolato (petite chocolate cake; R$10).
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Mais Sabor
Occupying a raised pier perched over the water, this popular open-air restaurant opposite Praça do Pescador has nice breezes and views of both rivers – the regular one and the one made up of joggers, families and teenage couples flowing down the wide promenade. The menu has mostly pizza and pasta.
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K
Quadrucci
Boasting a charming wooden patio, this Italian restaurant serves decent plates in a handsome but low-key setting. Start off with a tuna ceviche before moving on to tagliatelli with lamb and artichoke sauce or tortellini with basil pesto. Strudels and tortes finish off the proceedings nicely.
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La Fiorentina
One of Leme’s classic Italian restaurants, La Fiorentina attracted Rio’s glitterati in the ’60s. Today, its beach-facing outdoor tables draw a loyal, mostly neighborhood crowd, who come to feast on the 15 different flavors of pizza and a well-stocked bar.
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Cia Paulista de Pizza
You wouldn’t know from the dining room that this is actually a chain restaurant, as the wineglasses, tablecloths, attentive waiters and recorded jazz create a unique and classy ambience. Prices are quite affordable, and the pizza and pasta excellent.
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N
Quadrifoglio
A charming Italian spot famed for exotic raviolis like its ravioli de maça ao creme e semente de papoula (apple ravioli with cream and poppy-seed sauce), Quadrifoglio has long been a neighborhood favorite – ever since it opened.
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Ráscal
This popular São Paulo chain arrived in Rio a few years back and quickly earned top marks for its fantastic buffet. The huge spread of Italian cuisine includes salads, bruschetta, pizzas, pastas (six different kinds) and a few juicy grill choices.
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Piazza Italia
For a sampling of architecture and gastronomy from the motherland, visit this Italian Renaissance palazzo. A children’s play space makes it ideal for families, but everyone will enjoy the massive menu of ‘nonna’s’ specialties.
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Spaghetto
This bright, cheerful Italian eatery brings São Paulo's Italian culinary tradition to the beach, with pasta, fish and meat dishes that are simple but made with fine ingredients and prepared and served with care.
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Ristorante Al Carmo
In a charming 19th-century building, this inviting Italian restaurant has an upstairs terrace where you can enjoy rich pasta dishes (pumpkin tortellini in gorgonzola sauce) or fresh plates of grilled fish and steak.
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Vecchio Sogno
Repeatedly voted Belo’s best Italian restaurant (not just its best Italian one), Vecchio Sogno is worth the splurge. Mains range from duck and wild rice risotto to shrimp flambéed in grappa. Reserve ahead.
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Alfredo’s Restaurant
One of the best restaurants in town, Alfredo’s has a lengthy menu, gourmet meals and tortellini with ricotta and spinach that melts in your mouth. The filling lunch special is a bargain.
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Restaurante Mediterrâneo
In a colonial building near the Praça dos Cachorros, this nicely decorated Italian restaurant serves tasty homemade pastas, grilled dishes, salads and a range of other options.
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Maritaca
On the road leading to the quadrado, elegant and airy Maritaca cooks up pastas, grilled meats and rich desserts, though delicious thin-crust pizzas are the real draw.
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