Dare I say it?... The pulpo was better here than Madrid (my top for several years). We came by our…read morefirst night in rio because I love octopus and iberico ham. The service and food were on point!And the cocktails were out of this world. I had a tangerine cocktail with ginger foam and little red pepper balls. I don't know what magic happened during the creation of this drink, but it was amazing. We also had steak tartare, yum! Everything was great and we may even come back while we are still here.

We had a great time at this restaurant during my visit to Rio. Found it through doing some…read moresearches and was glad I did. It has a real local feel. Full bar with TVs, outside and inside seating. We ordered tapas to share as they didnt have the lamb I wanted. The sangrias were good as well as the tapas. Service was good as well.

Noticed the quality had been steeply declining last year, so this year decided to give it another…read moreshot, unfortunately we couldn't find out: We got there early with plenty of time before closing, ready to taste test the entire menu and drinks but the waiter in the front refused to give us service or even get in line, and straight up walked away. It's a shame cause last year at least the service used to still be good, now not only the food has declined in quality but also their customer service. So we spent our money elsewhere.

Super friendly staff. Excellent food. The gazpacho was soooo good. The jamón ibérico was very…read moregood quality. The calamari was perfect. The tortilla was ok. A good gin & tonic too. The crema Catalana topped off the meal.

Venga is a solid Spanish restaurant in a prime location, right by the beach in Copacabana. The…read moresetting alone makes it worth a visit, with a lively, welcoming atmosphere that fits perfectly with the surrounding area. The service was great--friendly and attentive without being overwhelming. The food was equally impressive, full of flavor and clearly well prepared. We tried the black rice paella, and it was absolutely delicious, rich, and satisfying. Loved the sangria too. Parking can be quite difficult, but that's expected in such a busy, touristy area. Most people will likely be exploring on foot anyway, which actually adds to the overall experience of the neighborhood. Venga is a solid Spanish restaurant in a prime location, right by the beach in Copacabana. The setting alone makes it worth a visit, with a lively, welcoming atmosphere that fits perfectly with the surrounding area. The service was great--friendly and attentive without being overwhelming. The food was equally impressive, full of flavor and clearly well prepared. We tried the black rice paella, and it was absolutely delicious, rich, and satisfying. Loved the sangria too. Parking can be quite difficult, but that's expected in such a busy, touristy area. Most people will likely be exploring on foot anyway, which actually adds to the overall experience of the neighborhood.

Tapas spots are my jam. Cute spot right on Copacabana Beach. Great spot to eat lunch on a beach bum…read moreday. The octopus carpaccio was amazing. Open air restaurant. Table service.

My group of 4 came for a nice dinner. Wine was great. Appetizers were okay. Entrees were very bad;…read moreour steaks were all overcooked and our risotto was undercooked. Two of the meals were sent back, and took about 30 minutes to be fixed, by which time, the others were almost finished with their meals. Also, during our meal, we also witnessed a patron at the table next to ours also send her steak back. Clearly, they do not know what they're doing. Then, we got the bill and saw that they charged us R$35.80 for the few pieces of bread we had before the meal. Mind you, we had racked up a R$550 bill for wine and dinner, so to be charged for few pieces of bread is bull. I was so angry when I left. If you like paying a lot and getting little of anything good in return, go to Bazzar. Otherwise, spend your money elsewhere.

Came here for dinner since it had good reviews on Yelp and we had a nice dinner. The staff was…read morefriendly and the food was good although at times it seemed like it took forever to get someone to our table. Before ordering our food, the sommelier came to our table to ask if we wanted to have any wine. I told him I was going to order a steak and if they had any cabs that were good. He comes back a minute later with sparkling wine... we were so confused. It was nowhere near what we wanted to drink, but we felt bad that he had gone through the trouble of going to get the sparkling. Anyway, we ordered the vegetable moqueca to share. This was amazing. The flavors were to die for. I kind of wish I had a bowl of that right now. When it came to our entrees we ordered the filet that came with brie risotto and some apricot jelly. This was great too. The filet was cooked perfectly and the risotto was delicious. We did not get any dessert since we were really full, but I would recommend it for a nice dinner. The atmosphere is really nice as well. The reason for 4 stars and not 5 were because of the issue with the wine and the fact that our waiter took forever to come take our order.

This is our go-to local place for light snacks,decent wine and don't feel like going to the local…read morebrasiliario places. Favor dishes are the perfeito caliente and gambas al ajillo

I came here on my first night in Rio with my wife, brother, and another friend. We had difficulty…read morefinding a table anywhere along this street and ultimately decided on Venga. We were seated on the sidewalk, which was pretty cool as we could experience the hustle and bustle of Leblon's nightlife. If you have issues with small tables, tight quarters, lots of noise or people, this is probably not for you. The food was excellent. The style is Spanish tapas, so we ordered a bunch of dishes to share. I can't recall the speciifc names (in either Portuguese or English), but everything was good including: mushrooms with cheese, pork ribs with fruit sauce, sautéed shrimp, potatoes+octapus, Spanish sausage, and others. We also kept the caipirinha's flowing throughout, which probably enhanced everything about our experience!

I would never have though seafood was so hard to find in Rio. Shirley's was recommended to me as a…read moregreat 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.

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

Fuimos en familia porque siempre buscamos un buen sitio donde comer comida española en Río. El…read morerestaurante tiene buen ambiente y está ubicado en una casa antigua de estilo tradicional del barrio. Pedimos una sangría de cava que estaba buenísima y dos paellas. Como las paellas tardan en hacerse pedimos unas "tapas" (que eran más como pequeños entrantes). Empezamos con típicos "Gazpachos andaluzes". No estaban malos, pero no eran gazpachos, sino salmorejos. Los pas amb tomàquet eran en realidad algo más parecido con bruschettas italianas que con el tradicional pan catalán. Como al terminar nos dijeron que todavía tardarían 20 minutos en preparar las paellas pedimos unos calamares a la plancha. Estaban ricos y la salsa de aceite verde es muy buena. Después de una gran espera, llegaron las paellas que no eran paellas, sino risottos con el arroz pasado. Realmente muy decepcionante. Los postres fueran: dos cremas catalanas que eran una papilla gorda amarilla (estas sí estaban malas), una tarta de Santiago que era un pastel común, seco y muy malo y dos mousses de chocolate que son el postre más genérico que puedes imaginar. Al pedir la cuenta tuvimos otra sorpresa desagradable: las paellas, que constan en la carta como "para dos personas" se cobran individualmente. Es decir, el precio en la carta es 50 reales, pero en realidad cada paella cuesta 100. La comida no es mala, pero es demasiado cara para lo que es y no se parece en nada a la típica comida española. No merece la pena.