12 Best Restaurants in The South, Brazil

You may be surprised at the quality and authenticity of the Northern Italian cuisine at this small restaurant in Porto Alegre. Among many excellent choices are garganelli (a variety of pasta from Emilia-Romagna) with salmon in wine sauce and fettuccine nere (fettuccine with a black tinge of squid ink) with caviar sauce. A house novelty is the Italian-gaúcho risotto, made with sun-dried meat, tomatoes, and squash. The decor is sober, with candlelit tables and cream drapes covering most of the walls.

Porto Alegre's best-known restaurant has been in business at the same spot, steps from city hall at the Mercado Público, since 1889. The walls are covered with Portuguese tiles, antiques, and period photographs exalting those early days. The restaurant is a popular happy-hour spot for politicians and businesspeople. The menu varies daily from beef to fish dishes. One of the highlights is the large Brazilian grey mullet stuffed with shrimp (served Friday and Saturday).

The decor may not be distinguished at this restaurant, but the ample windows overlooking Rio Mampituba create the perfect setting for a fine dinner. Seafood, either grilled or stewed, is the specialty here. Try the camarão na moranga (shrimp in a squash puree).

Recommended for those on a budget, Baviera is essentially a pizzeria, but the menu also includes Brazilian-style steak (thin-cut fillet, usually rare), grilled chicken, and hamburgers, with most dishes serving two. The restaurant, in the basement of an imposing house on a hillside, has an Italian cantina look, with wine barrels at the entrance, rustic wood furniture, and candlelighted tables.

Be ready for a hearty feast: this highly regarded restaurant serves a prix-fixe Italian menu with galeto al primo canto (crispy grilled chicken) and a large selection of pasta dishes. Accompaniments include cappelletti soup, polenta, and radicci (a green-leaf salad).

This small, family-run, buffet-style restaurant specializes in the traditional dish most associated with Paraná State: the barreado (meat stew simmered in a sealed clay pot). Because barreado takes 24 hours to cook, you must order it a day in advance. The prix-fixe menu includes galinha na púcara (chicken cooked in wine, tomato, and bacon sauce), several salads, and cachaças(Brazilian liquor distilled from sugarcane). Although the restaurant is officially open only on weekends, you can call ahead to arrange a dinner during the week.

Take in the view of the Lagoa de Conceicao and order sequencia de camarão, a local shrimp specialty that comes in three courses: breaded, steamed, and with garlic. Casa do Chico is also a great place to try the stuffed crab shell appetizer "casquinha de siri."

This off-the-beaten-path restaurant combines no-frills service and undistinguished decor with an outstanding seafood menu. Start with the steamed oysters and then move on to the seafood stew or fish fillet with shrimp sauce.

On a tree-lined street in a quiet neighborhood, this traditional restaurant's Spanish owner is an expert at matching Iguaçu's fresh river fish to authentic Spanish seafood recipes. Brazilian ingredients sneak into some dishes—the surubi à Goya (catfish in a tomato and coconut-milk sauce) definitely merits a try.