Where to Eat in Florianópolis: 25 Places We Kept Going Back To + 2 We’d Skip (2026)

We lived in Florianópolis for a year, and these are the places we kept going back to, from our favorite restaurant on the island (one of our favorites in the world, too) to a moqueca in a fishing village you can only reach on foot or by boat.

Our favorites come first, then a few things to know about eating out in Brazil, and then every place, area by area, with what to order at each, and the two we’d skip.

Our Favorite Places to Eat after a Year on the Island

1. Sabor da Costa (Costa da Lagoa): the moqueca mista, with fries and pirão.
2. Bere Birra (Rio Vermelho): our overall favorite restaurant on the island, and one of our favorites in the world. Start with the burrata and the Copa Crispy pizza, and finish with the doce de leite or Nutella bombinha.
3. Lisboa 48 (Santo Antônio de Lisboa): oysters with a great view, in a more laid-back setting than other oyster restaurants on the island.
4. Recanto dos Girassóis (Barra da Lagoa): a great budget option for typical day-to-day Brazilian food, the PF (prato feito).
5. Seu Viriato (Campeche): our favorite burgers on the island.
6. Bonomi (Rio Tavares): an incredible chef’s dining experience.
7. Cachorro Quente do Afonso (Centro): a typical manezinho hot dog.
8. Uai Di Minas (Rio Tavares): our favorite buffet, for when we’re craving Brazilian food or feijoada.
9. Floripão (Rio Tavares): our favorite bakery, and our go-to for breakfast.

Before You Go: How Eating Out Works in Florianópolis

What to Eat: Oysters, Shrimp, Tainha and Moqueca

Florianópolis has been a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy since 2014, and with fresh seafood around every corner, this is what we’d look for:

• Oysters: Florianópolis grows about three-quarters of Santa Catarina’s oysters, and the state farms almost all of Brazil’s shellfish. Eat them by the bay where they are farmed, in Ribeirão da Ilha (Ostradamus) or Santo Antônio de Lisboa (Lisboa 48), or at Box 32 in the Mercado Público.
• Sequência de camarão: a sequence of shrimp dishes served one after another, such as shrimp in garlic and oil, breaded shrimp and steamed shrimp, usually with fish, rice, fries and pirão, and made to share.
• Tainha: mullet, at its best during the fishing season, from May to July. Bar do Arante, in Pântano do Sul, is our pick for fresh fish and tainha.
• Pastel: crispy Brazilian fried pastries. Get the seafood ones at Box 32, or one late at night at Ilha Pastel in Lagoa.
• Moqueca: a fish and seafood stew made with dendê (palm) oil. It’s most common in the northeast of Brazil, but Artur, who is from the northeast, can testify that the one at Sabor da Costa is one of the best he has ever had.
• Pirão: fish broth thickened with cassava flour, served on the side of a moqueca or a sequência.
• PF (prato feito): Brazil’s everyday set plate of rice, beans, a meat or fish, salad and often fries or farofa. Recanto dos Girassóis, in Barra da Lagoa, is our budget pick.
• Feijoada: the black bean and pork stew. We go to Bar do Noel, in Centro, for it on Sundays, or to the buffet at Uai Di Minas.

Prices, the 10% Service Charge and Paying with Pix

Prices on our list vary greatly, from a PF at Recanto dos Girassóis to a chef’s dinner at Bonomi.

Many of the places here, especially for seafood, serve portions for two people. At Sabor da Costa, for example, the moqueca for two is around R$220, but we have eaten it comfortably between three.

Wherever you are in Brazil, restaurants usually add 10% for service to the bill, so extra tipping is not expected or necessary. The 10% is optional.

Sometimes, restaurants and bars with live music also charge a cover per person on top of the bill, the couvert artístico, usually between R$10 and R$30. It has to be announced before you go in.

Brazil is very, very digital when it comes to payments: almost everyone takes cards or Pix, the instant bank transfer, so you don’t really need cash.

Reservations, Opening Hours and Sundays

On our list, we’d book ahead at Bonomi, at Bere Birra (where you can only reserve for 7 pm, when it opens) and at May. Many places open only for lunch or only for dinner, and a few close on Sundays or Mondays:

The Best Restaurants in the East: Lagoa da Conceição, Costa da Lagoa and Barra da Lagoa

Sabor da Costa (Costa da Lagoa)

Our favorite meal on the whole island is the moqueca mista at Sabor da Costa, right at Ponto 16 in Costa da Lagoa: the mixed moqueca with fish and seafood. We order it with fries and pirão.

Costa da Lagoa can only be reached on foot or by boat, so we make a day of it: the hike in the morning, the waterfall, lunch here, and the boat back.

Recanto dos Girassóis (Barra da Lagoa)

In Barra da Lagoa ↗, Recanto dos Girassóis is a great budget option for some typical day-to-day Brazilian food: the PF (prato feito), a plate of rice, beans, a meat or fish, salad and fries. It’s open for lunch.

Ilha Pastel (Lagoa da Conceição)

For a late-night pastel after the bars, Ilha Pastel is one of our favorites on the island. It’s open every day until 1 am.

Spitfire at Quintal Lagoa

Our second-favorite pizza on the island, behind only Bere Birra, in a cool setting in Lagoa ↗: Spitfire, inside Quintal Lagoa. The Red Hot Cheese n’ Peppers is a good order if you can take a bit of spice.

The Best Restaurants in the South: Campeche, Rio Tavares, Ribeirão da Ilha and Pântano do Sul

Bonomi (Rio Tavares)

For an incredible chef’s dining experience: Bonomi, in Rio Tavares, serves small plates to share, by chef Rafael Sinko. It opens for dinner, Tuesday to Saturday, and we’d book ahead.

Uai Di Minas (Rio Tavares)

Uai Di Minas is our favorite buffet-style restaurant, for when we’re craving some Brazilian food or feijoada. It serves food from Minas Gerais, by the kilo, at lunch.

Seu Viriato (Campeche)

Our favorite burgers on the island. These days, Seu Viriato only does delivery, from Campeche.

Hi Thai (Campeche)

For some good Thai food to take away in Campeche ↗. We really like the massaman curry at Hi Thai.

May (Campeche)

Another Thai option, but a sit-down restaurant in a nicer setting: May. We’d recommend a reservation. It also has a restaurant in Santo Antônio de Lisboa.

Ostradamus (Ribeirão da Ilha)

Ostradamus, in Ribeirão da Ilha ↗, is one of the most popular oyster restaurants on an island that grows most of Brazil’s farmed oysters. It has a pier over the sea with amazing sunset views.

Bar do Arante (Pântano do Sul)

For some fresh fish, tainha and Azorean food in Pântano do Sul ↗: Bar do Arante, a laid-back restaurant open since 1958, whose walls and ceiling are covered in thousands of handwritten notes and wishes left by guests over the years.

The Best Restaurants in Centro

Bar do Noel

For feijoada on Sundays: Bar do Noel, a traditional boteco of samba and feijoada, there since 1957, with rodas de samba from Friday on.

Box 32 (Mercado Público)

For some seafood pastéis and oysters: Box 32, in the Mercado Público since 1984, serves a wide variety of delicious pastéis along with seafood dishes. Elsewhere in the market, food quality can be hit or miss, since it’s a very touristy spot where the prices don’t always match what’s on the plate.

Noma Sushi

For some high-end sushi: Noma Sushi, on a rooftop in Centro, with a second restaurant in Jurerê Internacional.

Cachorro Quente do Afonso

For a typical manezinho hot dog (a manezinho is someone from Florianópolis): Cachorro Quente do Afonso, a kiosk on Avenida Hercílio Luz. Brazilian hot dogs are already an experience in themselves, but pair one with the Floripa way of pressing it before it’s served, and you’ll have a truly unique hot dog experience.

Armazém Rita Maria and Top Market

Armazém Rita Maria and Top Market, two food halls in old factory buildings near the Hercílio Luz bridge, are a great option when you want several choices in one place: ramen, Mexican, Italian, Brazilian, burgers and more between the two.

The Best Restaurants in the North and on the Bay: Santo Antônio de Lisboa and Rio Vermelho

Lisboa 48 (Santo Antônio de Lisboa)

For some oysters in Santo Antônio de Lisboa ↗ with a great view, in a more laid-back setting than other oyster restaurants on the island: Lisboa 48. We love coming here to watch the sunset and have dinner.

Amalfi (Santo Antônio de Lisboa)

Also in Santo Antônio de Lisboa, for a nicer setting with a good sunset view: Amalfi, which cooks seafood the way they do on Italy’s Amalfi Coast.

Bere Birra (Rio Vermelho)

Not exactly in the north, but in the northeast of the island, Bere Birra is our overall favorite restaurant on the island and one of our favorites in the world. It’s just a great combination of locally sourced food.

Start with the burrata and the Copa Crispy pizza, and finish it off with the doce de leite or Nutella bombinha. It opens at 7 pm, Wednesday to Sunday, and 7 pm is the only time you can reserve for. It also has a newer restaurant in Santa Mônica.

Cafés, Bakeries and Açaí

Floripão (Rio Tavares)

Floripão is our favorite bakery in town. Brazilian bakeries are a different experience, and this is where you’ll find the best of them all. Breakfast here is our go-to, and it can get quite busy. You have to try their misto: Brazilian French bread with ham and cheese. It has a second bakery in Lagoa.

Café Cultura (Lagoa da Conceição)

Café Cultura opened its first café in Lagoa in 2004. Even though it’s a café, it also has some great meals: salads, bowls, soups and egg dishes, besides the coffee.

Açaíland

Our favorite açaí on the island, and our stop before watching the sunset by the lake in Lagoa. At Açaíland, the açaí is self-service, with the fruit and toppings to add yourself. It has shops in Lagoa and Campeche.

Nema

Nema, for our favorite bread in Brazil. It’s originally from Rio de Janeiro, with a couple of bakeries in Floripa, in Centro and Itacorubi.

Amoriko Brigaderia & Café (Ribeirão da Ilha)

In Ribeirão da Ilha, there is a café we really like called Amoriko Brigaderia & Café. They serve a variety of delicious brigadeiros (Brazilian sweet fudgy balls), different coffee options and lots of other yummy quick bites.

2 Places We’d Skip

• Outback: famous in Brazil, this American steakhouse chain is not our favorite style of restaurant.
• McDonald’s: with so many great local options, we’d definitely recommend staying away from these big chains and exploring the local restaurants.

FAQs About Where to Eat in Florianópolis

Final Thoughts on Where to Eat in Florianópolis

After a year on the island, these are the places we kept going back to. Our overall favorite is Bere Birra, one of our favorite restaurants in the world; our favorite meal is the moqueca mista at Sabor da Costa, at the end of the Costa da Lagoa hike; and for oysters, it’s Lisboa 48 at sunset in Santo Antônio de Lisboa.

Book ahead at Bonomi, Bere Birra and May, expect 10% for service on the bill, and share the seafood: most of it comes for two. And after dinner, our nightlife guide picks up where this one ends.

More Florianópolis Guides

• 15 Best Things to Do in Florianópolis
• Florianópolis Nightlife: Where to Go Out, Area by Area
• Costa da Lagoa Hike: The Trail, the Waterfall, Lunch and the Boat Back
• The 10 Best Beaches in Florianópolis
• Where to Stay in Florianópolis
• Florianópolis Itinerary: 3 Days on the Island
• Is Florianópolis Safe?