Foz do Iguaçu Restaurants

This restaurant located in the road that leads to Iguassu Falls (aka Cataratas do Iguacu). It is a brazilian steak house (churrascaria). They also include a buffet with salad, pastas and desserts. Although it is mostly frequented by tourists (they give good tips to guides), some locals do attend there at weekends.

The Rafain Churrascaria is best known for its evening folklore show. At night, they have several shows to entertain their costumers. It is a family environment, even with the Samba show they have (mulatas dancing with tiny bikinis). Nothing very fancy, but it is not a expensive place and it is worth to dinner there if you have some extra time.

Favorite Dish: Their main dish is the brazilian barbecue (churrasco).

In Brazilian Portuguese, the word "oficina" is used to describe a shop - not a store type shop, but a shop as in the small shed out in the back yard where you tear equipment apart and repair it, or build new creations out of the various parts.

When a mad scientist creates a new machine to control the world, it is in an Oficina.

That picture of the mad scientists at work in a primitive building way out back behind somewhere creating something that no sane person would try is an image that suits the Oficina de Sorvete.

While this restaurant makes and serves an assortment of sandwiches and other lunch and dinner food items, by far the most famous features are their desserts. There are an assortment of ice cream flavors available (and the flavor selection features all sort of standard issue and unexpected flavors), and you can get normal ice cream cones and other run of the mill treats.

However, by far the most famous of the desserts are the "mad scientist" variety. Exotic ice cream flavors mixed with exotic frutis and topped with more unusual pieces, these amazing creations are capable of blowing your socks off.

In 2002, the company started a line of products for supermarkets and other stores.

Favorite Dish: Does it have ice cream in it?

3 more images

I knew before coming to South America that the Parana region of Brazil and the neighboring Argentina and Paraguay were well known for its beef. The meat in this region is supposed to be the best in the world.
The famous method of cooking named churrasco, means that the tender cuts of meat are cooked on long steel skewers over a hot grill. At a traditional churrascaria restaurant you are served at your table from the skewer and sliced off by the waiter (called passadors) as much barbequed meat as you like. The waiter holding the skewer is back again and again until you do not stop him.

The Bufalo Branco is probably the best place in the city for churrasco. On the menu there are a lot of fine cuts such as picanha- rump steak, alcatra-sirloin, filet mignon, maminha-a fattier rump steak, and contra filet-entrecôte. Fish, salad bar and several cold dishes are also in the menu.

Favorite Dish: I tried almost all the cuts, and I was not able to select , which one the most delicate !!!!
The only problem I had was the passador came by so frequently that my plate filled up faster than I could clear it.

My biggest discovery, however, was beside the supremely tender and delicious picanha, the caipirinha, the famous Brazilian cocktail which is a blend of cachaca, crushed limes, sugar and ice and is perfect for a dinner on hot summer evenings.
The restaurant is open daily for lunch and dinner. (from noon to 11pm)
It is expensive, but it had a very nice atmosphere (look at the picture), excellent service, and really good food!!

1 more image

One of the most interesting places to have lunch or dinner in town is at the largest Churrascarria in town, Rafain. It is known primarilly for the dance show that happens most evenings, but we decided to skip the show and go directly for the food during the day. This place was an Atkins lover's dream come true as there were plenty of choices and cuts of freshly grilled meat. Although I did not get a good look at the rest of the tables, since I only eat meat when I go to a churrascarria, I did not notice, but Sarah mentioned there were various salads, vegetables, sushi, and other international cuisine. They also have a wide selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, but I opted for the Guarana Antarctica.

Favorite Dish: Well, I would have to say my favorite was the mixed grill plate that I enjoyed with a little taste of everything. I personally did not like the sausage, but all the cuts of beef were delicious.

I can't believe that we did another one of these all you can eat type of restaurants after visiting Marius in Rio de Janeiro but we were looking for some place other than our hotel to eat at and the desk clerk recommended this place (and it was listed in Lonely Planet)

Favorite Dish: The food wasn't nearly as good as Marius in Rio but it also was a fraction of the cost at R$40 per person for the meal. Unlike Marius, everything except drinks were included in the buffet price, the salad bar and the dessert bar.

When our concierge mentioned that there was an all you can eat pizza joint in Foz de Iguacu I thought "I know where we are eating" and I'm pretty sure my husband was thinking that he had died and gone to heaven, in all our travels this was the first one of these we had come across (although we do have pizza buffets in the US) where they come around with trays of pizza and serve you slices, some format as the all you can eat meat places minus the skewers :-)

Our concierge admitted when we came back that he rarely mentions this place to guests, I guess he expects that people staying at a 5* resort in this area want the linen tablecloth treatment but I guess we are scruffy enough looking that he took a chance LOL

Favorite Dish: I'm not even sure how many different kinds of pizza we tried, I passed on some of the more bizarre choices like the ones with corn and tuna but there were plenty of other options plus a few non pizza items like chicken wings and french fries. Follow that with a chocolate dessert pizza and a freezer full of ice cream, all included in the price.

This place was incredibly cheap, R$8.99 for the buffet, for the two of us with drinks and tip was R$26 ($13 US)

This is a place that has gauged my memory forever. Despite the fact that traditionally Argentina has the aura of having the best beef in the world; it could never match the mouth-caressing, melting-like-butter protein fantasy that Rafain's chefs supplied me with. Till the very end I was doubtful that I was eating beef - the texture was more on the porky side and the aroma, oh the aroma was of a lamb.
But wait, this is not why you are at Rafain's. It is the SHOW that has brought you here, because you have 3 days and you have to maximize them. You will never suspect how the SHOW creator has maximized them for you. Foz is a border town where three frontiers converge and this is reflected in the SHOW by representing the quintessential dances of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. It is true, they went a bit over the top in their quest for the ultimate tickle of the broadest audience – they had Mexican, Bolivian, Chilean, and so on dances which were off topic, considering the location.
After this simultaneous attack on your senses you will need a couple of days for recovery. Head towards Paraguay - chances are, you will recover quickly.

Favorite Dish: The BEEEEF!!!

This is a restaurant we spent more time at than we had intended! The Rafain Cataratas is a typical 'churrascaria' restaurant specializing in meat cuts sliced up for you as per your requests. It features a very large buffet dining area with a great selection of items to choose from. In addition, at certain times of day the Rafain puts on floor shows featuring various dances of South America. The seating area is huge, cabable of handling up to 1100 people or a maximum group size of 600. The long rows of tables are set up in a high-roofed and spacious area that was quite well presented, considering the size of the place!

Our first experience here was a bit past noon on the day of our mistaken trip to Itaipu Dam and Foz. Once the problem was recognized by the tour group, they dropped us off outside in the parking lot while the group went inside to eat. Our guide said we would have to wait about 10 minutes (which turned into 40 minutes) for a car to come fetch us for a tour of the Argentinian-side of Iguazu Falls in the afternoon. As a result, we never did get lunch that day!

Favorite Dish: The next day, we were back again because this was also the planned lunch stop following completion of the Brazil-side tour of Iguacu Falls! At least we had an English-speaking tour guide who kept us informed of what was happening, so we actually got to eat something this time!

The food was quite good-looking and tasted great as well. I took it relatively easy because this was the first time in 2 days that I actually felt a bit hungry due to some sort of stomach bug I picked up on our last day in Buenos Aires. The buffet cost was only A$11 (US$4) per person with a bit extra for a cold beer. We had a good time sitting and chatting with another Canadian couple we met on the bus. They had been on a cruise from Santiago, Chile around Cape Horn, the Falkland Islands (freezing!) and Uruguay before continuing overland on their homeward leg.