Urca is the neighborhood where Sugar Loaf is located. You can have lunch or dinner at a restaurant in Urca before or after visiting Rio de Janeiro‘s most famous hill. There are plenty of options to try Brazilian cuisine in this reclaimed neighborhood.
Here is a list of the recommended places to eat in Urca neighborhood (there are no 5 star restaurants in this list, but rather a selection of the best good-quality restaurants and bars where locals go eating and drinking).
1.Terra Brasilis (Brazilian [lunch & dinner], per kilo [at lunch only], and wood-oven pizzeria [at dinner only])
Superb location with close-up views of Sugar Loaf and Praia Vermelha (Red Beach). Live acoustic music everyday (7 – 10:30 p.m.) and on Sundays also 12:30 – 4 p.m. Great option before or after visiting Sugar Loaf. Desirable outdoor tables are most available during off-peak hours. Entrance through a white staircase, then follow until the end along a corridor overlooking the beach. (This is not a place that’s easy to find by address. Look for the legend on the Urca map in Chapter 4 of My Rio Travel Guide PDF e-book, and for the white staircase.)
2. Urca Grill (budget Brazilian buffet style)
Fill your plate with as much as you can eat (once, including two steaks) for R$12; US$6; €5. Good food. Rua Marechal Cantuária, 10 – Urca – Rio de Janeiro. Open 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
3. Abençoado (Brazilian)
Excellent location: on Urca Hill (the hill halfway to the top of Sugar Loaf). Serves breakfast from 8:10 a.m., caipirinhas (the Brazilian national cocktail) made of different fruits, plus fingerfood and other dishes. Slightly pricey, but the panoramic view pays off. Urca Hill food court.
4. Garota da Urca (Brazilian)
View of the Christ statue. Very good executive lunch, and an excellent value. Rua João Luís Alves, 56 – Urca – Rio de Janeiro. (As an alternative, Julius Brasserie [closed Monday], for off-the-beaten-path contemporary cuisine at lunch or dinner, at Av. Portugal, 986-D, approximately 100 m [109 yd] before Garota da Urca).
5. Bar Urca (Brazilian)
Great view to Guanabara Bay. Packed with locals on Fri., Sat., Sun., and holidays mid-afternoons. A must-go. If the restaurant on the first floor (excellent fish and seafood dishes) has no table available, buy drinks and finger food at the counter on the ground floor, and take them to the low wall by the promenade across the street, where you can sit and eat. Rua Candido Graffe, 205 – Urca – Rio de Janeiro. Closed Mondays.
You can locate these and other restaurants in the Urca map in My Rio Travel Guide – The Essential How-To Visitor’s Guide to Rio de Janeiro.
Read related article: Map of Rio de Janeiro Neighborhoods