I would never have though seafood was so hard to find in Rio. Shirley's was recommended to me as a great place to find said seafood and they were right. A longtime establishment, you are greated by white coated waiters and seated a cloth covered tables, an upscale experience. The sardines were excellent. Being fresh prepared, they do not have the same oily/fishiness that many Americans expect. I can't say enough for the garlic butter sauce the fish was prepared in. Definitely one you want to savor. Presentation of the food is supurb, they pull the meat straight from the display, cook it and then bring it back to your table. I didn't get any but the prawns are huge, order sparingly. If there is a downside, they are one of the more expensive places I ate in Rio. However, you get the full dining experience here and it is much more affordable than the states. read more

Restaurante Shirley - Whitefish prepared in garlic butter with boiled potatoes - Seafood Near Me - Rio de Janeiro, RJ

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Small, cozy place with old school waiters and very good service. Fresh selection of seafood which was prepared perfectly. I see why they've been opened for 100 years. read more

Restaurante Shirley - Anchovies and seafood mixta app - Seafood Near Me - Rio de Janeiro, RJ

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Wonderful appetizers and shrimp, in a beautiful setting. They don't speak English, but you can point to the menu! Yum!

Sure hope they're still around since I haven't been to Rio in many many years................................20 plus Had the yummiest cheese stuffed fried shrimp in creation !!!! Gambas a Shirley if i remember correctly. ABSOLUTELY SCRUMPTIOUS .... though a bit fattening If they are still around enjoy an order or two read more

So yummy! Had a great meal here in Rio. Fresh fish and great service! Really enjoyed our meal. Had the sea bass. Excellent!

Friend recommended the Shirley. It is a small restaurant off the main road. They have a refrigerated display for the seafood and the restaurant has a strong fishy order when you walk in. We ordered the paella valenciana and the picahna. The flavor was amazing. The servings could serve two. The picahna seemed like filet mignon not picahna and each plate had two pieces. The paella was full of seafood with the main being two large langostinos. None of us finished our dish because the servings were so large. We ordered one chocolate mouse that was frozen. To drink we presented red sangria. It was very good. We ordered the large size and it was more than enough for the three of us. Could serve 4-6. read more

Excellent fresh Seafood, the Freshest Red Snapper and Octopus Possible! Great semmolie, who served the Beautiful Local Chardonnay, and did the plate presentation and even Boned the red Snapper,Table-side!. Everything was perfectly cooked and served in hot pans. Great Chef, 5 stars all the way! Highly recommended. (needle in the haystack.) read more

Wonderful little restaurant tucked behind Leme Beach in Rio. We ordered a salad and bacalhau dish, and the server showed us the fish before it was prepared. The food was amazing, very flavorful and perfectly prepared. The waitstaff was kind and polite. Shirley has an old world feel; the waiters are impeccably dressed and mannered, food was excellent, and you are made to feel special. Highly recommended if you are in Rio. read more

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Had paella which was excellent Service was timely and professional Restaurant is small and pretty quiet I would return if I was in Rio again read more

One of my favorite restaurants in Rio. Used to come with my parents in the 1980s when we moved from São Paulo. It's a place I come always when I'm in town. When I lived here I tried more things, like the Paella Valenciana or the Pulpo a la Moda de Vigo (I think). All great. But living away I always get two staples, Badejo a Brasileira and Polvo com Arroz e Brócolis. The badejo and the octopus before, and the rice and octopus dish in the photos. The badejo comes with pirão,which is a typical side dish for fish stews. The couvert is a must. A Spanish restaurant that is typically carioca. It should be required for all tourists ;) read more

Restaurante Shirley - Polvo de arroz e brócolis - Seafood Near Me - Rio de Janeiro, RJ

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In short: This place was a SCORE. I went on a suggestion from the concierge at my hotel. I asked him where he'd go - not where he'd send tourists. And there I was -- at Shirley. This was a great experience - real, true servers bustling about - cloth napkins and table cloths. I ordered Two (2) double espressos - and they brought me cream which they don't like to do down there -- APP: Cold mussels in vinegar - so fresh (beards and shell bits intact) MAIN: Paella for 1?! Unheard of. Served with a smile. And wine -- all of the wine. They have menus in Portuguese, Spanish and English - and it all looked incredible. read more

Restaurante Shirley - Mussels in vinegar appetizer (cold) - Seafood Near Me - Rio de Janeiro, RJ

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This small lovely Spanish restaurant in Copacabana specializes in seafood. The quality and freshness of Shirley's offerings is excellent. Once you make your selection from the menu, what you have chosen is brought to you for approval... before it is prepared. Portions are generous and service is classic old world in its presentation. Linens are pristine white. You are never rushed here. Sardines are popular in Rio. And Shirley has an excellent Sardine appetizer. I would also recommend the Sole with garlic and capers sautéed in butter. And finish off the meal with a caramel flan. read more

They recommended a whole grilled red snapper. It came 70 minutes after order was placed. When the server went to cut, the inside was raw. We were so hungry, ordered a paella. Very substandard. read more

I went here for a work dinner and was quite surprised. It's a tiny restaurant that reminds me of something out of a mafia movie. This was my first night in Brazil and it was fun to be around such a rich environment with a lot of Brazilians energetically chatting and drinking wine. The food was really interesting, they serve mussels in vinegar and sardines as appetizers. We ordered a lot of everything so I got to try it all, the prawns were huge, very different from what we get in California. All in all, a really fun place. read more

The place looks attractive but the male bathroom is like a public one with wet floor and greasy door handle. The toilet is almost dirty unusable. The food is really good. The service is beyond expectation. read more

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Disappointing: My wife and I had a few days in Rio and were staying at a hotel close to this restaurant. It had some good reviews on Yelp and we wanted some seafood. The place is small but looks nice with linen tablecloths and a simple elegant setting. We ordered some caipirinhas and tried their pineapple version. Unfortunately, the drinks were too sour and appeared to have not been made with sugar. We mentioned to the waiter that they were too sour and we asked for some sugar. Instead of asking us if we wanted the drinks made again her watched us stir sugar into our cold drinks...which basically made the crunchy. We then ordered a seafood paella. Unfortunately, it came out...looked good, but the seafood was way over cooked and the mussels, shrimp, and other shellfish were really tough. Hopefully, this was just an "off" night for Shirley. read more

Restaurante Shirley - Seafood Near Me - Rio de Janeiro, RJ

This place was disappointing. The waiter presented the wonderfully fresh uncooked gamba (large prawns) and fish fillet to us on the way to the kitchen. Out came a very dried overcooked fillet, and the Prawns a la Shirley turned out to be coated in thick batter. We could have had the same taste with frozen seafood from the supermarket! In our 9 days in Brazil, we realized that Brazilians in general -- including this restaurant -- don't understand subtlety in cooking. The tendency is to overkill. Everything has too much salt or sugar. As other reviewers have noted, the waiter serves the mixed appetizer whether you ordered it or not. We accepted it, thinking it was one order, but it turned out to be two. This meal was definitely not worth what we paid or special trip by taxi from Ipanema. read more

This was the worst food I've ever had at a restaurant. All dishes we ordered were over-cooked to the point where you could no longer tell if the seafood, even the octupus, actually was seafood or potatoes. The service was OK and so was the venue in general except for some dirty silverware. The Brazilian wine was good though! read more

Restaurante Shirley - Shrimp. Burnt?! - Seafood Near Me - Rio de Janeiro, RJ

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We went to this restaurant during the corona epidemic. We needed to eat and it was near our hotel. It was not crowded so we felt okay about being out in public. This is a small restaurant with great food. I loved the marinated sardines even with bones. Great sauce with onions peppers and garlic. The garlic prawns were spectacular. read more

Ate here twice for lunch and once for dinner. the fact that me and my wife were back here 3x shows how much we liked the food. I tasted the codfish, the octopus as well as the lobster. Nothing really spectacular about the food. Just seafood that's fresh and with great service. You can see the available seafood lined up in the counter as you enter the restaurant. They also show you the seafood that they are cooking for you before they bring it to the kitchen to be cooked. The fact that it was just a block or 2 from our Hilton hotel was an added convenience as we didn't need to walk too far. read more

One of the first places we are at while in Rio as it was near the Airbnb we stayed at. The restaurant was nice but a little expensive. We ordered calamari and shrimp tortilla. The shrimp tortilla was excellent. For those of you not familiar it's almost like a quiche. The calamari portion was very generous. We had a caipirinha each and those were good as well. I only give 4 stars because it was a little expensive compared to other places we dined at. read more

Five stars for the service alone. Friendly, mindful staff, our waiter served our paella onto our plates at our table whenever we ran out. He also poured our sangria into our glasses from the pitcher sitting at our table. Things normally we'd do on our own but didn't have to because of his sharp attention. The food was a nice break from the endless buffets and churrascerias(sp?) we'd been overloaded with. The food is pretty good too. Not the best I've had but I still truly enjoyed it. Would be a repeat customer if we are staying longer. read more

I can only say WOW! Went there after reading some reviews in yelp and was not disappointed. Ordered the octopus with paprika and oil, amazing. Very well cooked and delicious. Be warned that it has a lot of garlic, but since I like garlic, I loves it. Be ready to wait a bit in a busy day, but it is totally worth it. read more

This restaurant is touted as one of the better fish restaurants in the city so I have to be honest and say up front that I am not the greatest fan of fish, but I do like my salmon. Which is why I was so taken aback by the concoction that was placed in front of me, a salmon completely smothered in mustard and honey sauce. Supposedly Shirley serves Spanish food but my spanish boyfriend has never heard of a meal like this. Goes without saying that the combination was a complete failure, giving the poor salmon nothing more than a hot dog taste. I also ordered a tortilla de patatas which was quite nice but nothing could make me wash away the hot dog taste from my mouth. Apart from the food, this poor old bird of a restaurant is clearly in dire need of a makeover, the dining space is overcrowded and badly lit while the bathrooms are best unspoken of. I will not be returning any time soon, sorry... read more

Restaurante Shirley - What in the world...?? - Seafood Near Me - Rio de Janeiro, RJ

The food at Shirley is delicious. We had the octopus and trout that were very well cooked and tasty

Great service. The staff here are very professional and care about their customers. Very hardworking. The seafood is also very fresh and they present to you the seafood they cook before serving it to you. I have eaten at a few Michelin Star Restaurants in rio and this food is close to as good and has a better value. read more

Good service good food. We tried the seafood paella and it was delicious. We also tried the crema de papaya for dessert and also very good.

Me and my friends are on holiday. We have dined here twice over the last 3 days on the recommendation of some artists we met in São Paulo. Waiters are very kind and attentive, and the seafood is delicious. We have tasted the lobster with butter and mashed potatoes, sardine appetizer, hearts of palm salad and the black rice paella. Yummmmmmy! We will be going back one more time before we leave for home. read more

A cute local restaurant in Leme offering delicious paella and waiters that speak English. Decent prices, nice atmosphere and good food. Perfect for a couple discovering Rio. read more

just went back this week and found it every bit as good as the visit over one year ago. Will cerainly return.