Café
Confeitaria Colombo
A Belle Époque café founded in 1894, with Antwerp mirrors, carved furniture and a stained-glass skylight above its upstairs tea room.
Plage Café
The café in the courtyard of the Parque Lage mansion, serving breakfast, brunch and lunch at tables beside the old pool beneath Corcovado.
At a glance
- Type
- Courtyard café
- Area
- Jardim Botânico, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Price
- $$ · Mid-range
- Opening
- Open daily · 09:00–17:00
- Official site
- plagecafe.com.br
Good to know
- Poolside tables in a historic mansion
- Breakfast
- Brunch
- Lunch
- Garden food bike
Why we recommend it
Plage Café occupies one of the most beautiful settings for a coffee in Rio: the central courtyard of the mansion in Parque Lage, with tables arranged around the old pool. The park lies at the foot of Corcovado in the Jardim Botânico district, and the café serves the park's visitors.
The mansion itself has a long history. The estate was bought by Antonio Martins Lage in the early 1830s, and in the 1920s the Italian architect Mario Vodret remodelled the house for the industrialist Henrique Lage and his wife, the opera singer Gabriella Besanzoni. Since the 1960s the park has been public, and the house is now home to the Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage. CNN Brasil notes that the land was a sugar mill in colonial times, long before the mansion was built, and the romantic garden around it, designed by John Tyndale around 1840, still surrounds the house. During the 2016 Olympics the mansion even served as the British team's hospitality house.
According to its official website, the café serves breakfast, brunch and lunch seven days a week with continuous service, and a food bike in the garden sells snacks for those exploring the grounds. A 2021 CNN Brasil guide to breakfast in Rio described full and reduced breakfast sets, sandwiches, omelettes, cakes and tartines, and recommended it as one of the city's best places for a morning meal.
The official opening hours are 09:00 to 17:00 every day. The café can be contacted on +55 21 2535-7336 or by email at [email protected]. Allow time to walk through the park's gardens and grotto either before or after eating.
The setting, with the old pool at its centre, makes it popular with families, couples and photographers, and it works well as a break for walkers on the trail from Parque Lage up to Christ the Redeemer, which starts in the park. For a longer day, the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden is also in the Jardim Botânico district.
The mansion's architecture, the pool and the forested slopes of Corcovado behind make this one of the most memorable places in Rio for a slow breakfast.
Plage Café FAQs
Where is Plage Café?
In the courtyard of the mansion in Parque Lage, Rua Jardim Botânico 414.
What are the opening hours?
Every day from 09:00 to 17:00, according to the official website.
What does it serve?
Breakfast, brunch and lunch, with continuous service seven days a week.
Is there anything for a quick snack?
Yes. A food bike in the garden sells snacks.
How do you contact the café?
By phone on +55 21 2535-7336 or by email at [email protected].
Is it good for breakfast?
Yes. CNN Brasil listed it among Rio's best places for breakfast in 2021.
Can you combine it with a hike?
Yes. The trail to Christ the Redeemer starts in Parque Lage.
What is nearby?
The Botanical Garden, also in the Jardim Botânico district.