Rio bars aren’t simply a place to grab a quick drink – though that’s how they can appear to many walking past. The bar is the cornerstone of carioca life, easily earning the nickname of modern-day watering hole. And, more often than not, they’ve got some damn good food. Now, the Rio bars landscape is overstuffed with gin joints and cachaça canteens. So, when we round up our "best" spots in a city, it’s never about Instagramable trends, Michelin stars, or rooftop views. We share the places we genuinely love to go – spots with soul, history, and that indescribable atmosphere that keeps you lingering. Some of these places may have become well-known institutions over the years, but others remain tucked-away neighborhood joys.

Every Sunday, Praça Paris fills with cooks and communities whose food reflects a far broader Rio than the formal European plaza was built to represent.

At Gebar, four cousins honor their grandmother’s Lebanese cooking with kafta, tabbouleh, kibbeh, hummus with beef and baru nuts, and a Lebanese-inflected prato feito inside Rio’s São José Market.