Rio's New Hotspots: A Local's Guide to Where I Go Now

How I chose these places (and what I left out)

A new-openings list goes stale faster than anything else we publish, so I set myself three rules. First, every place had to be reported as open by at least one serious Rio source—Time Out Rio, CNN Brasil, Diário do Rio and similar—in 2025 or 2026, and I list those sources at the end. Second, it had to be somewhere I would genuinely send a friend who is visiting, not just somewhere with a good launch party. Third, it had to add something the city did not already have: a distillery-bar, a Japanese-style listening bar, a market that brings a whole neighbourhood back to one corner.

What I left out: anything that has only been announced, anything I could not place on a real street, and the well-established spots that still feel 'new' because they are busy. Bosque Bar at the Jockey Club, for example, is still one of the most wanted tables in the city, but it is not new any more; it has its own Bosque Bar guide. I also kept the hotels that are still under construction to one short section at the end, because a rooftop you cannot visit yet is not a hotspot.

Rua do Senado: the street that made Centro cool again

If you only do one thing from this column, make it a weeknight on Rua do Senado, the long, slightly scruffy street that runs between Lapa and the Praça da República. In November 2025 Time Out ranked it No. 1 of 31 in its list of the coolest streets in the world, the first time a Latin American street topped that list. I understand the raised eyebrows from people who remember it as a street of antique dealers and closed shutters. That is exactly the point: the antique dealers are still there, and now there is a reason to stay after dark.

Start at Destilaria Maravilha (Rua do Senado 53), a bar in an old townhouse that distils its own cachaça, gin and vodka on site. CNN Brasil reported it open Thursday and Friday from 18:00 to 02:00 and Saturday from 16:00, closed Sunday to Wednesday. The drinks are built around the still—a Gin Basil Smash, a Fitzgerald, spirits poured neat—and the kitchen does things like tuna crudo and steak tartare with a truffled yolk. My order would be one drink made with their own gin and one cachaça neat, because a bar that makes its own spirit is the only place you can taste it before it is mixed. If cachaça is new to you, our cachaça tasting guide explains what to look for.

A few doors along, the old Granado perfume factory has become Mercado Central RJ, a market and cultural centre spread across restored townhouses. Diário do Rio reported in December 2025 that it had just completed its first month, with chef Julia Raposo's Bocado among the first kitchens and the arts institution Solar dos Abacaxis now part of the complex. It was reported open Monday to Wednesday 11:30–17:00 and Thursday to Saturday 11:30–23:00, which tells you how it works: a relaxed lunch on weekdays, a real night out from Thursday.

The street also has its long-standing anchors, and they are part of why it works. Armazém Senado has been pouring since 1907 and has a samba roda on Saturdays. Labuta Bar and Labuta Braseiro are already on our Centro restaurant list, as is chef Lucio Vieira's Lilia. And in October 2026 Diário do Rio reported a brand-new samba house, Quintal da Clementina, opened on the site of a former car park by a group that includes the founder of Beco do Rato. That is the most Rio sentence I have written all year.

How I would do a Thursday on Rua do Senado:

1. 18:30

   Arrive in daylight-ish

   Take the metro to Cinelândia or Carioca, or an Uber straight to the street. Walk the antique shops while they close up; the light on the façades is the best part.

2. 19:00

   Drinks at Destilaria Maravilha

   One drink from the house still, one neat. Eat something small here rather than rushing to dinner.

3. 20:30

   Mercado Central for food

   Thursday is the first late night. Graze between counters rather than committing to one sit-down meal.

4. 22:00

   Music

   Follow the samba: Armazém Senado on a Saturday, or check what Quintal da Clementina has on that night.

5. Late

   Uber home from the door

   Centro empties quickly between hotspots. Order the car from inside and walk out when it arrives.

Edifício Touring: the port's art deco terminal, reborn as a food hall

For years I walked past the Edifício Touring on the way to the Museu do Amanhã and wondered when someone would do something with it. The 1926 art deco building on Praça Mauá was the passenger terminal of the Touring Club do Brasil, with a clock tower, stained glass and a grand staircase. After about two years of works it reopened in 2026 as a three-floor food and drinks hub run by Grupo Belmonte, at Avenida Rodrigues Alves 10.

The layout is simple. On the ground floor there is a large Boteco Belmonte—the familiar chain of botecos (casual neighbourhood bars), here in a much grander room—and the Japanese restaurant Azumi. Upstairs is the Italian Il Piccolo, and on the terrace sits Acervo, the bar with DJs and shows and a menu by chef Maria Sá from Belém. CNN Brasil reported opening hours of 11:00–22:00 on Monday, Tuesday and Sunday and 11:00–midnight Wednesday to Saturday.

Prices are mid-range for Rio, not cheap. In May 2026 CNN listed boteco mains such as estrogonofe at R$79 and bife de chorizo at R$84, and bolinhos (fried snacks) from about R$17.50. Melhores Destinos put terrace cocktails at R$35–55. That is roughly what you would pay at a good Zona Sul bar, and you are paying partly for the building and the bay.

How I would use it: a port morning that ends there. The Museu do Amanhã opens Thursday to Tuesday from 10:00 and closes on Wednesdays (tickets are R$40 full price), and the Museu de Arte do Rio is on the same square. Do one museum, have a long lunch at the Touring, and then walk into Pequena África, the historic Afro-Brazilian port district, in the afternoon. Our Little Africa walking guide maps the route from Cais do Valongo to the Pedra do Sal, where the free roda de samba on Monday and Friday evenings is covered in our Pedra do Sal guide.

Glória and Flamengo: where the small bars moved

If Rua do Senado is the headline, Glória is the quiet story of the last two years. It is a residential neighbourhood between Lapa and Flamengo, best known to visitors for the hilltop church and the Sunday street market, and it has filled up with exactly the kind of small, personal bars I like. Our Glória neighbourhood guide covers the basics; here is what is new.

Déjà Vu (Rua do Russel 344) is a café and wine bar with a neon façade and about 48 seats. Both CNN Brasil and Time Out reported wine poured from the tap at around R$15–16 a glass, which is very good value for Rio, and chef Matheus Zanchinni's plates are designed to share: cured duck breast, oeuf mayonnaise with bacon, a truffled toasted cheese sandwich. It was reported open Wednesday to Sunday, from 15:00 at the weekend. This is the place I would send someone who wants a glass of wine and a conversation rather than a party.

Butiá Bar (Rua Santo Amaro 158) does Brazilian flavours, live music and samba on set nights, and a Sunday brunch from 9:00 to 14:00. And somewhere between Glória and Lapa, the Jurema bars from chef Pedro Attayde's team have built a following for artisanal cachaças and ingredients bought at the Glória fair; the Sunday queue after the market is part of the experience.

A short walk north, in Flamengo, Brejo Bar (Travessa dos Tamoios 7) opened as a contemporary boteco run by Priscila Continentino and Vanessa Nascimento, with cocktails by Laura Paravato. The menu is shareable petiscos—jiló (a bitter little aubergine) fried with parmesan, marinated eggs, chicken glazed with gochujang—and a vegan dish of plantain and vatapá. It is pet-friendly, down to a dish for dogs. For more classic places nearby, see best restaurants in Flamengo and Catete.

Botafogo: the neighbourhood that never stops opening bars

Botafogo has been Rio's restaurant laboratory for a decade, and it shows no sign of slowing down. The difference now is that the new openings are less about polished dining and more about very good botecos with a chef behind them. Our Botafogo neighbourhood guide and best restaurants in Botafogo cover the established names; these are the newer ones I would add.

Salva Bar (Rua Visconde de Caravelas 89) is the one I would put first. Chef Fabrício Chagas cooks the food of Bahia—both the coast and the dry sertão interior—over three floors with a terrace and DJs: fish tiradito with cajá (a tart yellow fruit) sauce, carne de sol tartare, bobó de camarão and moquecas. It also does an executive lunch on weekdays. If you have never eaten Bahian food beyond a moqueca, start here and then read our Bahian and Northeastern food guide.

Jurubeba Bar (Rua Real Grandeza 196) opened in January 2025 with chef Elia Schramm in the kitchen, doing what Brazilians call *comida raiz*—roots food. The pernil sandwich is called the Copacabronx, which tells you the tone. Baixaria (Rua Voluntários da Pátria 01, in the Baixo Botafogo bar strip) built its name on a bolovo de rabada—an egg wrapped in oxtail and fried—alongside daily lunches and fruity cocktails. O Bar Saudade (Rua da Matriz 54) does pratos-feitos, the honest fixed lunch plate, on weekdays and dishes like oxtail with polenta at the weekend.

For cocktails, Blue Blazer (Rua Álvaro Ramos 11, upstairs) is a speakeasy-style bar from mixologist Lelo Forti with more than 200 labels and the flaming 19th-century drink it is named after. CNN reported it open Wednesday to Saturday from 18:00, closed Sunday to Tuesday. And Chopperia Botafogo (Rua Sorocaba 585) is the place for draught beer and charcoal-grilled meat, with a lunch menu from Tuesday to Friday.

Botafogo is also, I think, the smartest base in Rio for anyone who comes for food and nightlife rather than for the beach. It sits on the metro, between Centro and Copacabana, with Sugarloaf in the view and the new bars within walking distance. The trade-off is that its own beach is for looking at, not swimming. Our where to stay in Botafogo guide explains the streets I would choose.

Laranjeiras: a 1940s market brings a neighbourhood back to one corner

The reopening that made me happiest is the smallest: the Novo Mercado São José at Rua das Laranjeiras 90, which everyone in the neighbourhood still calls the Mercadinho São José. The little market dates from the 1940s, was listed as Rio cultural heritage in 1994 and had been closed since 2018. After the city bought the building and a private consortium restored it, with the craft-producer fair Junta Local curating the stalls, it reopened in 2025.

Inside there are around 16 businesses: organic produce, a cheese counter (Rancho das Vertentes), fresh pasta at Basta, Arab food at Gebar, specialty coffee, vegan ice cream, fermented goods, bars and a bakery. Mercado&Consumo reported it open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 22:00. It is the kind of place where locals actually do their shopping and then stay for a beer, which makes it a much better window into Carioca daily life than any market built for visitors.

How I like it: late on a weekday morning, coffee first, then a slow loop of the stalls, then lunch. Laranjeiras is a leafy, residential valley below Corcovado and very few tourists stay there, so pair the market with a walk to Parque Guinle; our Laranjeiras neighbourhood guide has the route. It is also a gentle introduction to living like a local in Rio if you are staying for longer.

Copacabana's new wave: a listening bar and a caipirinha happy hour

Copacabana is not where I usually look for anything new—it is a neighbourhood of brilliant old institutions—but two 2025 openings changed my mind. The first is 111 Music Bar (Rua Raimundo Corrêa 10, third floor), inspired by the listening bars of Japan: sofas, wood, a high-fidelity sound system and a programme of full-album listening across jazz, soul and MPB (Brazilian popular music). It comes from Menandro Rodrigues, the restaurateur behind Haru and Umai, and the food is Japanese—sashimi, sando, a long sake list. CNN reported it open Tuesday to Saturday from 18:00 to midnight, with room for about 80.

This is the place I would choose for a date or for an evening when I want music without a crowd. It is calm in a way Copacabana nightlife almost never is, and because it is on a third floor you would never find it by walking past.

The second is Conserva Bar (Avenida Prado Júnior 281), run by three bartenders and built around Brazilian cocktails—more than 20 of them—and *comida de palito*, food you eat off a cocktail stick. It has a caipirinha happy hour and does feijoada at weekend lunch. If you want to understand what Rio's bartenders are doing with the national drink beyond lime and sugar, read our caipirinha guide and then come here to test it.

Both are a short walk from the beach, which is the easiest way to fit them into a classic Copacabana day. Our things to do in Copacabana guide and best restaurants in Copacabana fill in the rest of the neighbourhood.

New dinners in Ipanema, Leblon and Jardim Botânico

Zona Sul's newest restaurants are quieter and more grown-up than the bars above, and they reward booking ahead. Three I would pick:

Gonza, on what Time Out called the new 'pink corner' of Jardim Botânico, is an Argentine restaurant from Buenos Aires-born chef Gonzalo Vidal, inspired by the old bodegones (neighbourhood taverns) of his home city. Think house charcuterie, empanadas, a pastrami sandwich, milanesa and bife ancho with chimichurri, with a Brazilian twist on dessert: catupiry cheese tart with guava. It is a good dinner after an afternoon at the Botanical Garden, and the area's other restaurants are in our best restaurants in Gávea guide.

Ophelia, in Ipanema, is chef Pedro Attayde's relaxed French restaurant and one of the most talked-about openings of 2025 according to Time Out: chicken pie with foie gras, duck terrine with pistachio, confit duck lasagne. It is the newest name I would add to our Ipanema restaurant guide. And Mio Boteco (Avenida Ataulfo de Paiva 1240, Leblon) is an Italian-leaning boteco—homemade pasta, gnocchi, polpettone, tiramisù—with jazz on Thursdays and long hours every day, which makes it one of the easier new places to walk into without a plan. More Leblon options are in our Leblon restaurant guide.

Zona Norte: Miudinho, a few steps from the Maracanã

Most visitors never eat north of Centro, and they miss some of the city's best bars. The new one I would cross town for is Miudinho (Rua Visconde de Itamarati 115, Tijuca), a few steps from the Maracanã. It is a boteco with an izakaya accent from the team behind Botica, with chef Aline Sasaqui and the sambista Gabriel da Muda involved: charcoal skewers such as beef tongue with shoyu koji, pork belly with pineapple, aubergine with miso, onigiri, and batidas (fruit and cachaça shakes). CNN reported it open Wednesday to Sunday, from 14:00 at the weekend.

The obvious way to use it is before or after a game. Our Maracanã football guide explains tickets and the new facial-recognition entry, and the Zona Norte restaurant guide has the older botecos around it. On a match day, expect the whole street to be in team shirts and plan your Uber or metro home before the final whistle.

All the new hotspots at a glance

If I had three nights to show you the new Rio

Most people have a handful of free evenings around the big sights, so here is how I would spend three of them on new places alone. It assumes you have already seen Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf by day; if not, our what to book in advance guide helps you slot them in.

Keep one evening free for something old. A new bar tells you where the city is going; a boteco that has been open for sixty years tells you why people love it. Our best botecos in Rio list is where I would look, and our second trip to Rio column explains why going deeper into one neighbourhood beats rushing across five.

Coming soon: the openings everyone is waiting for

A few projects will reshape the 'where to go' conversation over the next year, but none of them is open yet, so treat everything in this section as a forecast.

The biggest is the Sofitel Rio de Janeiro Ipanema on Avenida Vieira Souto, near Arpoador, announced for the end of 2026 with around 170 rooms. Press reports from August and September 2026 put a rooftop pool and bar on the 23rd floor and the two-Michelin-star Lasai, chef Rafa Costa e Silva's restaurant, on the 22nd floor, along with a street-level café and a ground-floor bar described as open to local residents. Whether non-guests can use the rooftop has not been stated. Over in Copacabana, Belmond has said the renovated Pool Wing of the Copacabana Palace, with a redesigned pool, a new Bar do Copa and new wellness floors, is due in late 2026. Our What's changed in Rio digest tracks both.

Further out, Four Seasons announced in December 2025 that it will open in Leblon in a fully renovated Hotel Marina Palace building, with a rooftop bar and pool, slated for 2029. And in Botafogo, Diário do Rio reported in August 2026 that the corner of Rua São Clemente and Rua Bambina, home of the Verano restaurant for about 30 years, will become a parrilla (Argentine grill) from the same owner. I will add each of these to this column only once they are actually open. Until then, the rooftops you can really visit are in our best rooftop bars guide.

My rules for hotspot-hopping in Rio

What I wish every visitor knew before heading to a new place in Rio:

1. Instagram is the website. Most new places publish hours, menus and reservation links only on Instagram, and take bookings by WhatsApp. Check it on the day.
2. Mondays and Tuesdays are dead for new bars. Many open Wednesday to Sunday only. Our Rio on a Monday page lists what is reliably open.
3. Thursday is the new Friday in Centro. Rua do Senado and the Touring are liveliest from Thursday, and Centro is quieter at the weekend outside the bars themselves.
4. Expect the 10% service charge. It is added to most bills and is optional by law, but standard; see our tipping guide.
5. Pay by card or Pix. Almost every new venue takes contactless cards; Pix, the instant-payment system, is how locals split bills. Our Pix for tourists guide explains whether you can use it.
6. Move between neighbourhoods by Uber after dark. Walk within a lively street, ride between them, and order the car from inside. Our Uber, taxi and 99 guide compares the apps.
7. Keep your phone out of sight on the pavement. Busy new bar streets attract phone thieves too. The phone safety guide has the habits that work.
8. Book Zona Sul dinners, walk into botecos. Restaurants like Ophelia and Gonza are worth a reservation; botecos and market counters work on a first-come basis.

If your evenings run very late, our late-night food guide has the kitchens that are still serving after midnight, and if you are travelling solo and want company for any of this, my making friends in Rio column explains how a regular bar becomes a social life.

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