Twenty years ago, Rio de Janeiro was teeming with food markets: big indoor venues full of stalls where people could go to buy groceries, fresh meat and produce, but also stay for a while to have a drink or two, maybe some appetizers, or even sit down for a meal. As time went by cariocas spent less time in these markets, instead shopping in grocery stores and eating at restaurants; the markets continued to limp forward only because of some strong-willed and stubborn merchants who refused to shut down their businesses.