Eat until you drop – on any budget

Meat lovers – prepare to meet your match. Rio de Janeiro is famous for its churrascarias (restaurants serving barbequed/grilled meats); and even more famous for those that serve the meat rodizio style.

Rodizio churrascarias see waiters bring cut after cut of sizzling meat to your table until your stomach can take no more, all for a set price that can range from as little as R$15 to as much as R$160. Forget any notions of ‘all you can eat’ joints as low class establishments, Rio’s best churrascarias are smart, sophisticated venues offering some of the best eating experiences you could find anywhere in the city.

Alongside the endless array of meaty treats, most churrascarias also include an all-you-can-eat buffet, where you’ll find everything from sushi and seafood to risottos, salads and pasta dishes. Add to this the breads, cheeses and other nibbles that are also brought to your table, and you’ll start to see why rodizio restaurants present such a gastronomic challenge.

And while meat is undeniably the main draw, even the staunchest vegetarian won’t go hungry thanks to the excellent salad bars and abundant vegetarian sides.

Here are three of Rio’s best churrascaria restaurants, to suit budgets from backpacker to blowout.

Save: Carretao. With branches in Copacabana and Ipanema, this smart restaurant offers more food than anyone could ever eat for a bargain price. The Ipanema branch, at Rua Visconde de Piraja 112 (map), is well located close to hotels, hostels and the beach, and an all-you-can-eat feast here costs just R$33 Monday-Friday, R$39 weekends and public holidays.

The quality of the meat is high, the variety endless, and the fantastic salad bar and buffet makes this a great option even for non-meat eaters.

Spend: Porcao Rio’s. The success of Rio’s Porcao chain is such that there are now branches in the United States, and you’ll find these upscale restaurants in several locations across Rio. But undoubtedly the best dining experience can be found at Porcao Rio’s, at Avenida Infante Dom Henrique, Parque do Flamengo (map). With enormous windows looking out over Sugar Loaf Mountain and Guanabara Bay, a meal here is a feast for all the senses. Cuts of the highest quality meats are brought over by immaculately-clad waitstaff, and the buffet offers sushis, salads and sides that will keep you coming back for more. The price here is a few reais more than at the other locations – R$73, half price for children aged up to 10-years-old – but well worth the extra.

Splurge: Marius Carnes, Copacabana. You’ll pay over R$100 for the rodizio here, but for an all-out splurge, this is the place. The meat is organic, the buffet serves some of the finest seafood you could imagine, and the whole experience – from the quality of the food to the OTT decor – just screams ‘indulgence’. Next door, Marius Crustacoes offers a seafood-only rodizio, but the choice on offer here will keep both meat eaters and seafood lovers more than happy. You’ll find Marius Carnes by the beachfront at Avenida Atlantica 290, Leme, Copacabana (map).

Note that, at all these restaurants, drinks are extra. Desserts are extra too, but after all that meat, who’s hungry for pudding?