Where to Eat in Florianópolis: The Island’s Best Restaurants & Cafés

In addition to fabulous beaches and outdoor adventures, Florianópolis is also home to an exquisite food scene, adding the perfect complement to your visit here. Read on for a guide to some of the best places to eat on the island.

Rancho Açoriano

If you’re in search of a fancy meal, look no further than Rancho Açoriano in charming Ribeirão da Ilha, the oldest town on the island. The restaurant’s name pays homage to the Azoreans, from the Atlantic islands off the coast of Portugal, who founded the town; the Portuguese crown encouraged mass immigration from the Azores to the south of Brazil in the mid-18th century to help solidify their colonial claims to the area in the face of Spanish encroachment.

Housed in a row of colonial buildings right along the waters of the bay, the setting of this restaurant is fantastic, offering a variety of seating options including on its own pier stretching out into the water. The food and the service are every bit as great—I recommend their oysters and their shrimp risotto, both local specialties. This will surely be a very memorable meal that is arguably the best on the island.

Bar do Arante

Open since 1958, this restaurant is located right on the traditional fishermen’s beach Praia do Pântano do Sul, but it is anything but your typical beach bar. The first thing you’ll notice in this restaurant is its unique decor, with its wooden dining room covered in more than 70,000 hand-written paper notes. This tradition started in the 1970s, when the beach was a popular camping spot for university students on vacation; as the restaurant was a typical hangout, they would leave notes for their friends telling them where to find them.

This is an excellent place for fresh seafood pulled from the waters you are looking out on; I recommend any shrimp dishes or delicious breaded fish served with rice, black beans, and pirão, a sort of thick broth made from cassava flour that is typical of the island. Go for a meal before or after relaxing on the sand right outside.

Restaurante Rancho de Canoa

This is another great restaurant with a picturesque setting, on a small inlet off of the lake Lagoa da Conceição in the island’s center. You can’t go wrong with any fresh seafood dish, but they are famous for camarão na moranga, a shrimp stew served inside of a baked pumpkin. Enjoy a leisurely, waterside lunch seated on their wooden deck.

O Timoneiro

Right next door, you can have a similarly lovely dining experience at O Timoneiro, as the two restaurants actually share the same deck. The food is just as good, so I recommend trying both. At this spot, go for the camarão no abacaxi, shrimp served inside of a pineapple. These two restaurants are both great places to visit before or after a trip to Praia Mole close by, which is one of the best beaches on the island.

Meu Cantinho Churrascaria

Head north on the highway out of Santo Antônio de Lisboa, another of the island’s oldest towns, and you’ll pass this spot, which is a very worthy detour on your way toward exploring the northern side of the island. A classic Brazilian churrascaria, this place serves up juicy cuts of steak, typically accompanied by rice and French fries and washed down with a chopp (draft beer). They also have dishes that pay homage to the heritage of German immigration that proliferated in this part of Brazil, such as the delicious linguiça Blumenau, sausage served with onions and yellow mustard.

Krone Café & Padaria

Back in Ribeirão da Ilha, this cafe serves a whole host of German dishes straight from the old country. But they are most well known for their bakery, which features a lovely collection of cakes and tarts from the classic tradition of German baked goods. They have a large display case filled with treats, so trust your eye and pick out whatever you like.

Amoriko Brigaderia & Café

Just down the road, Amoriko is another charming cafe dedicated to one of Brazil’s iconic desserts—the brigadeiro, a delectable ball of chocolate fudge. Amoriko serves up the classic alongside plenty of variations, too. They are quite small, so pick out a few from their display case, and pair them with a coffee in their lovely seating area.

Café Cultura

When searching for your coffee fix on the island, look no further than Café Cultura, an excellent chain of coffee shops with various locations around Brazil that was founded right here in Florianópolis. They are all over the island, so stop by whichever is closest to you for the perfect start to your morning.

Looking for more tips on what to see and do around the island? Visit our Florianópolis guide here.