Café
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.
Confeitaria Colombo
A Belle Époque café founded in 1894, with Antwerp mirrors, carved furniture and a stained-glass skylight above its upstairs tea room.
At a glance
- Type
- Historic café and tea room
- Area
- Centro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Price
- $$ · Mid-range
- Official site
- confeitariacolombo.com.br
Good to know
- Belle Époque interior
- Upstairs restaurant
- Shop
- Copacabana Fort branch
Why we recommend it
Confeitaria Colombo is one of the most celebrated cafés in Rio de Janeiro and a city landmark, named by the website City Guides among the ten most beautiful cafés in the world. It was founded in 1894 by two Portuguese immigrants, Joaquim Borges de Meireles and Manuel José Lebrão, on Rua Gonçalves Dias in the centre, and it remains the classic place to experience the elegance of Rio's Belle Époque.
The interior is the reason to come. Between 1912 and 1918 the café was remodelled in Art Nouveau style, with enormous crystal mirrors brought from Antwerp and framed in rosewood, and wooden furniture carved by the craftsman Antonio Borsoi. In 1922 a second floor was added with a tea room, and an opening in the ceiling of the ground floor lets visitors look up to its stained-glass skylight. The upper floor now houses a restaurant, the Cristóvão.
The café has always attracted Rio's writers, musicians and politicians. Regulars included the composer Chiquinha Gonzaga, the poet Olavo Bilac, the statesman Rui Barbosa, Heitor Villa-Lobos and the novelist Lima Barreto, and it was nicknamed a branch of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. Presidents Getúlio Vargas and Juscelino Kubitschek came here, as did King Albert I of Belgium and Queen Elizabeth II.
Today the house is organised into several spaces. The official website lists the Salão Cristóvão for special occasions, the historic Salão Bilac for a coffee and a pause, a Bar Jardim and an Espaço Memória for smaller celebrations. Its shop sells Colombo-branded chocolates, biscuits, sweets and jams, coffees and teas, as well as gifts and special collections, which make good souvenirs.
A stop here is about the setting as much as the food: a coffee in the Salão Bilac under the mirrors, or a fuller meal in the upstairs Cristóvão. It suits everyone from families to solo travellers exploring the centre.
There is also a second branch inside the Copacabana Fort, at the southern end of Copacabana Beach, where the café moved its Copacabana outpost in 2003; the original branch in the neighbourhood had opened in 1944.
The Theatro Municipal and the Real Gabinete Português de Leitura are also in the Centro district, so a coffee here fits naturally into a day of historic sights. In the 1990s Colombo also had a shop in Barra Shopping, but today the centre and the fort are its two cafés.
Confeitaria Colombo FAQs
When was Confeitaria Colombo founded?
In 1894, by Portuguese immigrants Joaquim Borges de Meireles and Manuel José Lebrão.
What is special about the interior?
Art Nouveau rooms from 1912-1918 with crystal mirrors from Antwerp, rosewood frames and furniture carved by Antonio Borsoi.
Is there a restaurant?
Yes. The Cristóvão restaurant occupies the upper floor.
Is there a branch in Copacabana?
Yes. Colombo has a branch inside the Copacabana Fort, where it moved in 2003.
Who used to visit?
Writers and artists such as Olavo Bilac, Chiquinha Gonzaga and Villa-Lobos, and visitors including Queen Elizabeth II.
Can you buy gifts there?
Yes. The shop sells Colombo chocolates, biscuits, sweets, jams, coffees and teas.
Where is it?
At Rua Gonçalves Dias 32 in the centre of Rio.
What else is nearby?
The Theatro Municipal and the Real Gabinete Português de Leitura are also in Centro.