Editor's Note: Sadly, this spot is now closed. The busy outer neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro – locals refer to them as “suburbs,” though they are anything but – are full of old bars. Some of the best botequins (small, family-run establishments serving traditional food) have been kicking around in these parts for ages – but not all of them.

They’re next-door neighbors. Both are Portuguese botequins, and both are great spots. They even complement each other, in terms of food and drink, as well as atmosphere. And more than 20 years ago, the owners of Real Chopp and Galeto Viva Flor were friends – but now they’re foes. Fortunately, this has no effect on the customer’s experience at either place. In fact, the rivalry spices things up with a little intrigue.

With its festive atmosphere, excellent grilled ribs and ice-cold beers, Cachambeer attracts hundreds of hungry cariocas and tourists to the suburb of Cachambi nearly every day. It’s one of Rio’s most popular botequins, but it all started merely by chance.

Editor's Note: Sadly, Nordestino Carioca is now closed. In Brazil, the nordeste, or northeast, is the poorest region of the country. In the last 50 years, the harsh climate and lack of job opportunities in the cities have caused a massive migration of nordestinos to more developed centers, like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Editor's Note: Sadly, this spot is now closed. It sounds like material ripe for a bromance film: four college students – all childhood buddies – take an epic road trip together in the 1990s during Carnival to a Rio beach town and rent a separate truck just to transport their 800 bottles of beer. Fast-forward a few years: each eventually settles down and goes his separate way – a phone company executive, a tax lawyer, a law grad, a gourmet chef. But each lives a life outside of his ho-hum routine one – a second life that involves copious amounts of beer.

In just a few hours, Germany will play Brazil in a World Cup semi-final match, but the outcome doesn’t matter. Win or lose, Germany has already conquered this nation – gastronomically speaking, at least. This isn’t fancy gastronomy, of course (leave that to the French!), but the simple, hearty, delicious food that the best Brazilian German bars serve all over the country, especially in Rio. German bars have been beloved institutions in Rio for a very long time. The most famous ones have been around since before World War II, when Rio was the capital of the country and the federal government was flirting with German's National Socialist Party. By 1939, Rio had a dozen German bars.

Editor's Note: Sadly, this spot is now closed. Rio’s legendary soccer stadium, Maracanã, has been called “the temple of futebol” for more than 60 years, and these days, it’s a magnet for ever more worshippers of the Beautiful Game. Even those without a ticket are drawn to the stadium, just to be close to the party and, at the very least, to feel the undeniably intense and infectious excitement that’s in the air here.

Editor's Note: Sadly, Guilhermina Bar and Oztel Hostel are now closed. Rio is full of tourists right now. The reason, of course, is the World Cup. They’ve been coming in waves – our Latin American brothers, especially. One week, it was the Argentineans. They invaded the city in their motor homes and with their raucous, passionate songs. The next week, it was time for the Chileans to do the same. It’s a rollicking good time for everyone! And for us cariocas, we finally feel like we’re at the center of the world.

Editor's Note: Sadly, Azteka is now closed. Being a host for the World Cup really changes the routine of any city. Just imagine, then, what it’s like when you’re the main point of entry for the country – the place everybody wants to visit, even if their national teams are scheduled to play in other cities. Tourists have been pouring into Rio over the last couple of weeks, many Mexicans are among them – and, of course, the big match between Mexico and Brazil is tomorrow. (We’ve already written about where to watch matches if you don’t have a ticket.) And if you’re a fan of Mexico’s national team, where in Rio can you go to get in the spirit for this game? Where might one go afterward to celebrate or drown one’s sorrows? Where do Mexicans in Rio go when they’re feeling homesick? Here’s our list of the best Mexican spots in town.

In a couple of days, Brazil will be the center of the world. And over the course of the World Cup, Rio will host seven matches, including the big final. Needless to say, the city is already packed with visitors from all over the world, all of them hoping for a ticket to watch at least one of those matches at legendary Maracanã Stadium. But only a privileged few will get to see the beautiful game in person; most people will support their national teams in front of a TV. But where? Inside a boring hotel room? Of course not. Everybody will be on the streets trying to find a good place to watch the games and have a lot of fun at the same time. And in Rio, watching soccer matches at bars is a national sport that is almost as important as the futebol itself. Here’s our list of the best “watch-and-drink” bars in town.

Editor’s note: We asked jazz guitarist and composer Anthony Wilson where he heads first for food when he lands in Rio. Wilson has been a member of Diana Krall’s quartet since 2001 and has recorded with Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Madeleine Peyroux and Barbra Streisand, among many others. His 2011 album “Campo Belo” was recorded in São Paulo with Brazilian musicians André Mehmari, Edu Ribeiro and Guto Wirtti.

And the winner is... Okay, okay, it’s nothing like the Oscar ceremony. But everyone in attendance at Comida di Buteco 2014 – the most important popular gastronomy competition in Rio – did hold a collective breath moments before the winner was announced. When the hostess proclaimed Bar da Frente the victor, the Rio Scenarium, the old theater in Lapa where the award ceremony was held, almost came down. Screams, tears, emotional speeches – there was definitely some similarity to the Academy Awards, we have to say. After a month of extremely hard work and profound hope for the 31 bars that took part in the competition for “best botequim food” in town, this was the moment we had all been waiting for.

After Portugal, Spain is second in exerting the most influence over the traditional bars and botequins of Rio. Even though the number of immigrants from Spain is less than that of Germany or Italy, the Spanish, like the Portuguese, took over much of the popular commerce in the city at the end of 19th century and the first half of the 20th.

Brazil, as everybody knows, was colonized by the Portuguese. But even with the end of colonial Brazil, the Portuguese continued to come: at the beginning of the 20th century, thousands of them immigrated to flee poverty in Europe and to start anew in Brazil – especially in Rio. As the capital of the colony for more than 400 years, Rio has been the most influenced by Portuguese traditions, architecture and, of course, gastronomy.

Editor's Note: Sadly, these spots are closed now. In February, the Rio state assembly took an unprecedented measure and passed tax breaks for microbreweries that produce less than 6 million liters of craft beer a year. We don’t actually endorse such foregoing of public funds in a place like Rio, where a recent survey found 28,000 elementary schoolchildren to be illiterate and where a responsible young woman is told in a public health clinic that it will take her four months to get an appointment for an STD test.