Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
EATING
In Goiânia and Goiás Velho, locals are justly proud of their cooking. Delicacies range from pasties (
empadões
) to roast pork
with fried banana (
leitão assada com banana frita
) and rice with
pequí
fruit (which needs to be eaten with great care if you
don't want a mouthful of hard-to-remove spines - whatever you do, don't bite into the pip).
Árabe
Av 83 no. 205, Setor Sul
T
62 3218 6296,
W
restaurantearabe.com.br.
Goiânia has a large
population of Lebanese descent and this is the best Arabic
food in town, with a bakery and takeaways too. Roast lamb
with three side dishes will set you back R$37.90.
Mon-Sat
11am-11pm, Sun 11am-6pm.
Caterete
Rua 10 no. 704, Setor Oeste
T
62 3214 2025,
W
caterete.com.br.
Located just 20m west of Praça
Tamandaré, this lunchtime-only restaurant is worth
checking out for its selection of fine meat dishes (rib steak
R$41) and excellent midweek buffet (R$24.90).
Mon-Fri
11am-3pm, Sat & Sun 11am-4pm.
Cerrado Alimentos Orgânicos
Rua 10 no. 342 (at Rua
93), Setor Sul
T
62 3213 4388.
This is really an organic
food store, and you can certainly pop in to buy fruit and
veg, or just a juice, but they run an organic restaurant too.
A lunchtime buffet of organic foods (not necessarily
vegetarian, although most options are) will set you back
R$28.90 on weekdays, or just one Real more on Saturdays.
Mon-Sat 11.30am-2pm.
★
Oeste
T
62 3223 5396,
W
chaonativo1.com.br.
The
city's best self-service lunch spread, with salads,
vegetable dishes, meats and stews, many of which are
traditional
goiâno
cooking made on a wood-burning
stove. The best deal is all-you-can-eat (including coffee
and afters) for R$29.90 weekdays, R$33.90 weekends.
Daily 11am-3pm.
Kabanas
Av T-3 no. 2693, Setor Bueno
T
62 4001
9001,
W
kabanas.com.br.
2km southwest of the centre,
in the heart of Setor Bueno's upmarket drinking zone, this
is a very pleasant combined bar-restaurant next to a
park, excellent for either eating or drinking, with dishes
such as seafood risotto for R$55. Very good
petiscos
(bar
snacks - the Brazilian equivalent of tapas).
Tues-Sun
5.30pm-midnight.
Piquiras
Av Rua 146 no. 464 (at Rua 139), Setor Marista
T
62 3281 4344,
W
piquiras.com.
One of the city's better
all-round restaurants, with reliably good-quality food
(steak in mushroom sauce R$49), which you eat on a large
covered veranda while watching the world go by.
Mon-Fri
6pm-1am, Sat & Sun 11am-1am.
6
Chão Nativo
Av República do Líbano 1809, Setor
DRINKING AND NIGHTLIFE
Goiânia's nightlife scene is quite lively, but most of the best
clubs
change names and venues every few months as they go
in and out of fashion. Prices tend to be high, though. Praça Tamandaré is a good place to start your evening, with a number
of bars and cafés and, later on, nightclubs on or near the square. Another important area for
bars
is Setor Bueno, 2km
southwest of the centre, in the vicinity of the
Kabanas
restaurant (see above), where you'll find a number of upmarket
drinking establishments.
Celsin & Cia
Rua 22 no. 475 (at Rua 15), Setor Oeste
T
62 3215 3043,
W
celsinecia.com.br.
A buzzing bar-
restaurant, where people stop by for supper, weekend
lunch, or just a few beers or
caipirinhas
. The best seats are
outside under the awning.
Mon-Fri 8pm-2am, Sat
10am-2am, Sun 10am-5pm.
Nocaute
Rua 10 no. 304 (at Rua 93), Setor Sul
T
62
3092 8810.
An unpretentious local bar, largely dedicated
to watching sport on its TV screens, but cold beers and
cocktails are served, as is bar food (mostly barbecued meat
with rice at R$10 a go).
Tues-Sun 6pm-2am.
Yes Bar
Rua 2 no. 159 (at Rua 8), Centro
T
62 3645
2612.
A handy spot in the centre for a beer with music. The
sounds are pretty eclectic, the beer cold, the company
congenial, but it doesn't really get going until quite late.
Daily 8pm-2am.
GOIÂNIA'S MARKETS
The
Feira Hippie
is a fascinating street market open every Sunday from early in the morning
until mid-afternoon, dominating the stretch of Avenida Goiás from Rua 4 up to the Praça do
Trabalhador. Originally a market for local crafts people, it has evolved to incorporate a wide
range of more general alternative handicrafts, plus a global variety of socks, underwear,
watches, electrical goods and all kinds of imported plastics. If you're around on a Saturday
between 5 and 10pm, head for the
Feira da Lua
, which sells mainly
artesanato
in the
tree-studded and lively Praça Tamandaré, a few blocks west of the Centro Cívico. Finally, the
smaller
Feira do Sol
, on the Praça do Sol in the Setor Oeste, has around two hundred stalls
selling crafts, antiques, foods, pets and fine arts every Sunday between 4 and 9pm.
