Rio International Aiport - Stick to the Coffee!
If you’re looking for fine dining, don’t expect to find it at Rio de Janeiro Galeao Aiport. If you’re looking for a snapshot of the various fast food options available in the city, however, you’re in luck. Galeao Airport (also known as Tom Jobim) is the first port of call for most international visitors landing in Rio (internal flights land at the smaller Santos Dumont airport) and offers a pretty good example of the types of food and drink widely available on the street. The one difference, of course, is that here the prices are substantially higher than you’d pay for the same thing in the city itself.
After a long flight, you might be in need of a caffeine pick-me-up, and in terminal two you’ll find a range of cafes and snack bars all selling super-strong expressos. If you want your coffee milky, ask for a ‘media’, which literally means half and half – half coffee, half milk, and very tasty. Sugar and sweeteners are usually found on the counter but sugar is sometimes added in advance. If you don’t like it sweet, ask for the coffee ‘sem acucar’ (pronounced ‘sayng asoocar’), which means no sugar.
The snack bars of terminal two also offer plenty of opportunities to try the fresh juices that are available across Rio – from familiar faces such as orange and strawberry, to more exotic flavours such as acai and acerola. If you want your juice sugar free, ask for it ‘natural’, and if you want it made with milk, ask for a vitamina. The simplicity of these drinks means that you won’t go far wrong at any of the airport snack and juice bars, and they serve as a good pick-me-up after a long flight. Here you’ll also find the deep-fried pasteis (pastries stuffed with meat, cheese, chicken or shrimp) that are a staple of cheap snack bars across Rio. Uninspiring slices of greasy pizza and meat croquettes are further artery-threatening options!
For something more substantial, you’re better off waiting until you reach Rio de Janeiro itself (a taxi rank outside the arrivals gate offers speedy transport to Centro and the beach zones). In terminal one (the two terminals are connected via a motorized walkway) a couple of restaurants offer buffet-style dining with salads, sides and hot meat dishes, but their inflated prices and low quality mean they’re not a great option. Visitors new to the country should be careful about eating raw vegetables such as lettuce, as the water they are washed in can upset fragile foreign stomachs! Ice, however, is not normally a problem – almost without exception, filtered ice is used to make cocktails and drinks, while the unfiltered stuff is used only for chilling cans etc.
If you can keep your appetite at bay until you arrive at your hotel, you’d be wise to do so. Wherever you’re based in Rio, you’ll be within minutes’ walk of any number of bars, restaurants and stand up juice bars offering better quality meals at a fraction of the price.