Many restaurants offer dishes and flavours from around Brazil, as well as wider South America, serving delightful Peruvian food of Inca origin. Rio de Janeiro has adopted other culinary trends over the years, with a wide range of stylish and inventive vegetarian and vegan restaurants.

In full appreciation of Cariocas' great affinity and affection for food and music, bars and restaurants in Rio commonly intertwine the two, providing customers with live musical performances as they eat. Many of the bars and clubs that line the streets of neighbourhoods such as Lapa offer mesmerising samba shows with traditional menus alongside.