Gringo Cafe quickly became one of my favorite breakfast spots in Rio. It's a popular hangout for…read moretravelers and expats, so if you're looking to meet other English speakers or swap travel tips, this is a great place to start. What kept me coming back was the Bodybuilder Breakfast, packed with chicken breast, egg whites, and fruit. When many breakfast options around town lean heavily toward bread and carbs, it was refreshing to find a protein focused meal that fit my routine. The location is another big plus. It's within walking distance of the beach, several shopping areas, and a large open air market where you can browse everything from fresh seafood and produce to clothing, souvenirs, and household goods. Service can be a little relaxed, but the food is consistent, the atmosphere is friendly, and it's an easy place to start your day before heading out to explore Rio.

Gringo Cafe in Rio Brazil is a dope breakfast/brunch spot that is Brazil owned…read more Food: the food was amazing literally finger licking, tasting, leaving you wanting more! We had the Belly Buster and Farmhouse Breakfast and it was a MEAL lol! Everything was cooked fresh, hot, and seasoned well. Service: the service was amazing, fast, efficient, and staff is very friendly working together at all the tables. Due to the high demand for this location everyone is fast past but ensure to engage the customers and personalize the experience. Ambiance: the resturant is Brazilian owned with open seating from host. It's can seat max 45ppl and also have outside sidewalk seating. The inside is also decorated according to the season and holiday. My overall score is 5.0/5.0 listen when I tell you when in Rio Brazil this is a MUST!!!

Truly American 'style' food with interesting (and tasty) combinations. The burgers are good though…read morethe toasted buns do not hold up to the challenge of keeping everything together until the end of the meal. The night we were there they had live music and it would be good to have reservations on such nights. The waiters were very helpful to non-Portuguese speaking patrons with menus with pictures you could point to. The American style shakes were more than a little runny but given you only had paper straws (no spoons) in which in indulge it kind of made sense. Always interesting to see how another culture interprets your own. If I are hungry for an Americana 1960/70's style burger cafe you will enjoy Zack's. Definitely worth a go.

Located in the "New York City Center" mall, as of today, this is the only Applebee's in Rio. The…read moreplace was a bit busy during my visit and there were no tables available inside, I ended up sitting in this "exterior" area, outside their entrance, but still inside the mall. Wasn't that bad, but sitting inside would have been much nicer. I wasnt super hungry, and mostly came here cause there are no Applebee's in my home state. So I just ordered a "ultimate trio", it is sort of a sampler, where you get to choose 3 appetizers. I got the mozzarella sticks, sliders and nachos. It is a nice starter for 2 people. Overall I had a nice experience, although service was a bit slow. Would like to eat here again with more time, so I could wait for a table inside and be able to dig deeper into their menu.

What a super cool find! The gentleman who owns this speaks English but not so important because I'm…read morefluent in Portuguese) but more importantly he definitely has a Texas vibe about him! He makes a great hamburger and french fries, and provides fantastic customer service and ambiance! I found Texans Burguers (the Brazilian way of spelling hamburger!) by accident, driving through the neighborhood on my way to Avenida Das Americas. I was going to pick my girlfriend up and come back to the apartment and I knew we'd be hungry late at night. So I stopped and talked to the gentleman and got a feel for his place, and I was impressed. We got back a few hours later and chilled out, ate a great meal and enjoyed the music and laughed on his patio as if it were our own! It's a permanent food truck with a great, big parking lot and wonderful patio covered by a permanent tent / canopy. He also has a very clean bathroom building. Decorations are fun and engaging and create a great feeling and relaxed environment. Adding to all of this, the owner plays excellent, American country music! The prices are reasonable, not to inexpensive but not expensive. On my second visit, my colleague / friend and I both ordered hamburger meals with french fries. The owner took his time and really prepared delicious, juicy burgers with very nice quality meat. We watched him delicately place them on fluffy, tall, golden buns. Perfectly fresh vegetable condiments were added. French fries were perfectly made and hot. My friend and I sat peacefully beneath the canopy chatting and enjoying our meal for at least an hour. It really is such a pleasant place to be and right in the middle of a residential neighborhood. I hope this Texas-loving Brazilian and his restaurant will have a long life in this location! It is definitely worth a visit!

Let's face it - I am an American so I know burgers. This place is damn good! The bacon cheeseburger…read morewas hot, fresh and tasty! Fries were crisp and the beer was cold. Service was good despite the place being packed ( a good sign in itself). You can't go wrong here for a burger! What else can you ask for!!!

We had such great expectations of the food oh, and I must say, it was a little disappointing…read more Our spicy shrimp appetizer was decent. The shrimp were so small, and breaded and the breading fell off. The spicy sauce was like a remmel Aid of some sort and was moderately spicy. The tortilla chips were heavily salted with a lot of black pepper and they were tasty but it seemed like the kind of thing meant to get you to drink more alcohol. My Caesar salad was definitely not american-style, it had some other twist to the dressing. I really only wanted it for the salad part of it so while it was not the type of dressing I was expecting from an american-style Caesar salad, it was adequate enough. The baked potato was average according to my dinner mate. The rib meat fell off the bone, it was a nice quality neat and was good although not spectacular in one way or another. There were definitely enough ribs considering we had the other food. Otherwise, the small amount of ribs wouldn't have been enough. Our drinks were good, we had a strawberry and maracuja Nick and a natural maracuja with no sweetener. Both were excellent. Our server was very nice and apologize for the delay caused by a 20-person dinner table she was also tasked with. The restaurant with clean and quite busy on a Tuesday night. The food was just average but certainly acceptable, however our biggest complaint is that being restaurant with two very noisy. The noise level in Outback Steakhouse absolutely out of control and made it difficult for the two of us to have a conversation even at our booth away from the crowds.

If you're looking for a spot that serves American bar food, shows American sports with English…read morespeaking bartenders, Blue Agave is the spot. The food isn't great but if you're trying to watch the Super Bowl like us, it worked out perfect. Everyone is really chill, you'll meet fellow English speaking friends from Europe and Australia.

Really enjoyed this expat owned bar. My small posse and I went to watch the US women's soccer team…read moredestroy Japan and sat at the small bar. Around us, nearly everyone was having conversations in English and even the bartenders (while fluent in Portuguese hailed from the US). While it's not every day that I seek out an American refuge, I was super happy that this place was showing the game and that I got to enjoy it around people who were similarly pumped. So that's the tip, if you're looking to watch a popular American sporting match, Blue Agave is likely to play it over local Brazilian soccer games (which they probably show as well). My margarita was properly made and one of the better ones I've had in Brazil and the chicken tacos along with the al pastor were similarly satisfying. Great, cozy spot in Ipanema to grab a drink and a bite to eat.