This is an average mall. If you happen to be in the area it's got the basic stuff (food court,…read morecinema, kids play area and basic stores) but it's not worth going out of your way just to check it out. They have some of the same Rio brand clothing stores you can find at the other major malls and a few smaller shops that aren't a chain store. It has a confusing layout to get to the cinema, upstairs different from the escalators used to go downstairs to the food court. It seemed difficult to get a table to sit at in the food court during the lunch hour. They don't have enough and many are made to seat four so often strangers ask if they can sit at an empty seat at your table.

We haven't been back out to Zona Norte in a while and last time we checked out Norte Shopping. This…read moretime we went directly out of the metro station into the Nova America complex. We heard that it had a serious fire that burnt down a majority of the mall last time we were out here, nearly three months ago but they must have done a good job repairing most of it because it was unnoticeable. It has a strange layout of segmented levels and the food court with movie theater inside made a huge traffic jam when trying to get between the two sections of the mall. The food court also has a unique covered outside patio area where there are fancier sit-down restaurants which look quite nice. We were so hungry we just grabbed something inside before exploring our options outside. The shops here are a little different than in other areas. It seems that they have quite a few outlet stores (Nike, Adiadas, Mizuno/Timberland) and other adorable local brands. The discounts were decent, depending on what was on sale. The mall was very crowded and most stores had their winter sale on. At one of the bigger department stores, Riachuelo, the lines for the cashier were so long and the attendant became so rushed that for our purchase, he forgot to take out the magnetic security tag and we didn't discover it until we got home! The ATM near the metro exit was miles long! It seems some the restaurants in the food court were cash only and the food stands (like for nuts) were also cash or debit card only. Of course, (we learned the hard way) the metro is also cash only too! And despite waiting in long line for the cash machine we were unable to withdraw anything. In effort to get a couple of reais that we were short on for the metro fare, we offered to buy a lady's purchase on our credit card so we could get some cash for the metro ticket home. Luckily she was a Good Samaritan and helped us get home. So all in all we had a good experience in Zona Norte.

If you're going to watch a soccer's game in Maracanã, São Januário (Vasco da Gama's Stadium) or…read moreEstádio Municipal João Havelange (Engenhão/Botafogo's Stadium), here's a good place to park and take a bus/taxi/metro.