service can vary significantly across the restaurants of rio de janeiro - not only across restaurants of varying sophistication levels, but also across areas within the city - generally speaking, the most sophisticated restaurants and the majority of the restaurants located inside hotels and in the touristic areas, follow general western restaurant service rules while, on the other hand, restaurants in parts of rio not normally frequented by international visitors do things in a somewhat different way.

when accepting seating at a table, no matter where, it is common for the ladies to sit first, and the gentlemen second - this rule applies even when sitting side-by-side as a couple.

in high-end and international establishments, the menu (cardapio) is offered to both men and women, with the wine menu generally given to the male.