We track 8 active bars in Rio de Janeiro, and the 10 below are where we would start. The scene splits into real depth by style: cocktail bars and rooftop bars each have enough venues here to earn their own guide. Every listing below is verified by BarMagazine, with addresses, opening hours and the signature drinks worth ordering.
On the third floor above the Haru restaurant and UMAI omakase counter in Copacabana, 111 Music Bar, styled 「111」, opened in November 2025 as Rio de Janeiro's answer to the Japanese listening bar. Founder Menandro Rodrigues built the room like a live recording studio, with fourteen Genelec coaxial monitors hung in three quadrants around a central DJ booth where music curator Danny Dee plays jazz, soul, MPB, and groove on vinyl, and guests are asked to keep their voices low. There is no dance floor, the light stays low, and the sound is the point. Head bartender Leonardo Santos matches the program with drinks that cross Brazilian ingredients and Japanese technique, while chef Thiago Ferrer's kitchen moves between Japan, Korea, and Brazil, from tuna crudo with romesco to a miso cappuccino.
'At Carioca da Gema you don't watch samba, you live it.' Founded in 2000 in a historic Lapa mansion of wooden beams and period detail, this pioneer of the neighborhood's revival hosts live samba nightly on the Palco Luiz Carlos da Vila, a stage that has held Dona Ivone Lara, Beth Carvalho and Zeca Pagodinho.
The rooftop of the Pestana Rio Atlântica claims one of the best panoramic views of Copacabana beach, gourmet sandwiches and mains beside sparkling wines, whiskies and cocktails, with live music and a reputation for hosting some of Brazil's most talked-about rooftop parties.
Founded by three foreigners who met in Rio and stayed, Explorer Bar fills a restored 1920s Victorian mansion in Santa Teresa, gardens and outdoor seating around contemporary food on Brazilian ingredients, and signature cocktails built heavily on Magnífica cachaça. Pet-friendly; birthday guests drink one on the house.
Order this: Cajueiro da Praia — carbonated Magnífica Crystal cachaça, lemon, vanilla, cashew soda
On the Hilton Copacabana's 39th-floor rooftop, Isabel Lounge takes in a 360° sweep of the shoreline, Sugarloaf and Christ the Redeemer. Opened in 2020 with boho-chic interiors by Anastassiadis Arquitetos, it runs Brazilian flavors through locally sourced sharing plates, seafood, meat and plant-based, with house cocktails like the Gaia and Boitatá, and DJ sets on weekend evenings.
Order this: Gaia
Laid-back and elegant on Leblon's restaurant row, Liz, formerly Liz Cocktail & Co, does oysters and cocktails with 'a bit of a Hemingway in Paris vibe': pavement seats outside, intimate rooms within, and a list running punches, sours, martinis and caipirinhas beside originals like the hazelnut-brandy Short but Powerful. Featured on 50 Best Discovery.
Order this: Short but Powerful — hazelnut-butter-infused brandy, molasses, cocoa bitters
'A bar that is a restaurant or a restaurant that is a bar': Nosso spreads over three bright Ipanema floors, central bar, rooftop terrace, with chef Bruno Katz (a Forbes emerging talent) twisting local dishes and bartender Daniel Estevan running Amazonian ingredients like jambú, tucupi and caxirí through the cocktails. Chilled, tropical, featured on 50 Best Discovery.
Order this: Negroni Cunhã Puca — Bombay Sapphire with jambú, Campari Yanomami, caxirí, 1757 di Torino
The rooftop of the Novotel Rio de Janeiro Leme looks down the full crescent of Leme and Copacabana beaches, a relaxed pool-bar scene by day that turns into a 'bar descolado' of cocktails and DJ-friendly evenings after dark.
'Coquetelaria é arte e cada drink conta uma história', cocktails as art, every drink a story. Vian is award-winning bartender Frederico Viana's Botafogo room (Veja Rio's Bartender of the Year 2022/23), pairing impeccable classic technique with creative autorais in a warm, welcoming space.
These 10 are the starting point. The full BarMagazine directory covers every listed bar in Rio de Janeiro, with a map, filters by bar type, and new openings as we verify them.
All bars in Rio de Janeiro