The Best Italian Food in Rio de Janeiro

Long white tablecloths and deep burgundy chairs set the retro-formal tone at this Italian fine dining room inside the Belmond Copacabana Palace, right on the Atlantic. The chef, Campanian by origin and Brazilian by now, runs tasting menus that fold local ingredients into Italian tradition with real technical precision. 50 Top Italy named it the top Italian restaurant in the world in 2026, and the chef took their Chef of the Year honor too.

1. 50 Top Italy #1 · The Best Italian Restaurants In The World
2. 50 Top Italy 2026 · Chef of the Year · Nello Cassese

Everything here gets made from scratch daily, pastas and sauces and breads and desserts, in the spirit of Emilia-Romagna. This Italian trattoria on Avenida Epitácio Pessoa keeps its focus narrow and its kitchen busy, and the Michelin Bib Gourmand suggests the price-to-effort ratio has not gone unnoticed. Garganello with lamb ragù is the kind of dish that makes the region's case quietly but firmly.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

The large windows facing Praça Nossa Senhora da Paz are plastered with the names of Italian restaurants this trattoria draws from, Osteria Francescana among them, which sets expectations fairly high for a neighborhood spot. The cooking is generous and old-school Italian, portions leaning abundant, jazz photos on the walls and soft music doing their quiet thing. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

Wine bottles scrawled with guests' notes line the walls at this relaxed contemporary Italian spot near Morro de São João, where the open kitchen is part of the decor and the cooking quietly rewires Italian classics with Brazilian ingredients. The lasagne with Grana Padano fondue and breadcrumbs is the kind of dish people order twice, and the natural wine list gives you something to argue about while you wait. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
2. The 50 The 50 Discovery

The wood-fired oven at the center of the room sets the temperature for everything else at this Italian restaurant tucked beside Rio's botanical gardens. Fresh handmade pasta is what draws people in, and the set menu moves through sourdough, a starter, a main, and dessert at a pace that feels considered rather than rushed. The neighborhood runs quiet and leafy, which suits the mood just fine.

1. The 50 The 50 Discovery

A quiet stretch of residential Ipanema is home to this Italian-carioca osteria, where the menu grows out of the chef's childhood and her father's table. Handmade pasta anchors the room, including a carbonara riff that swaps the usual formula for soft egg and crispy bacon over tagliolini. The space has the warm clutter of an old neighborhood trattoria, and the crowd treats it accordingly.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

A Neapolitan-style pizzeria in Tijuca, the kind of neighborhood where the owner knows your name before you've ordered twice. The mozzarella carries most of the weight here, and the dough is the quiet reason regulars make the subway trip north. Weekly specials keep things from going on autopilot. It landed at number eleven on 50 Top Pizza Latin America, which gives you a rough sense of the seriousness involved.

1. 50 Top Pizza #11 · 50 Top Pizza Latin America

A Neapolitan pizza spot on Avenida Atlântica that somehow resists the Copacabana circus around it. The dough follows the real elastic, blistered tradition of the school, and the seafood pasta and tiramisu suggest the kitchen has other things on its mind besides ticking boxes. In the evening, foliage and warm lighting frame a sea view that would feel theatrical if the food weren't keeping everyone's attention. Named among the 50 Top Pizza Latin America Excellent Pizzerias.

1. 50 Top Pizza 50 Top Pizza Latin America Excellent Pizzerias

A Neapolitan pizza spot tucked inside a shopping center in Recreio dos Bandeirantes, close enough to Grumari that you could come sandy and no one would mind. The dough goes through a long fermentation and comes out light and blistered, carrying toppings that slide between Campania tradition and Brazilian combinations without making a fuss about either. The Neapolitan panini at the start are hard to pass up.

1. 50 Top Pizza 50 Top Pizza Latin America Excellent Pizzerias

The dough at this Leblon pizzeria is the argument: long-fermented, fragrant, crispy at the edge and soft at the center in the way that takes patience to pull off. Sìsì runs Italian-serious on one of Rio's most restaurant-dense streets, with a menu that goes beyond pizza into agnolotti del plin, a pasta you rarely find anywhere near this latitude. The room draws a Zona Sul crowd that dresses for dinner without trying too hard.

1. 50 Top Pizza 50 Top Pizza Latin America Excellent Pizzerias