Manoel Lebrão founded Confeitaria Colombo in downtown Rio de Janeiro in 1894; its Belle Époque mirrored hall is now recognized as a cultural and artistic heritage site. The 130-year-old tearoom still serves pastries and a weekday buffet lunch beneath its original decor.
Best for Landmark 1894 Belle Époque tearoom recognized as Rio cultural heritage
Manoel Lebrão opened Confeitaria Colombo on Rua Gonçalves Dias in downtown Rio de Janeiro in 1894, at the height of the city's Belle Époque. The interiors leaned into that moment fully: jacaranda-wood cabinetry, Belgian crystal mirrors, and stained glass, assembled into a room grand enough that it has since been formally recognized as part of the city's cultural and artistic patrimony.
More than 130 years on, that original room is still the heart of the business. The Centro flagship houses several distinct spaces under one roof, including the Bar Jardim and the Cristóvão restaurant, which runs a weekday buffet lunch and a Saturday feijoada service, alongside pastries, sandwiches, and confections sold at the counter.
The brand has expanded modestly over the decades, adding a café inside the Forte de Copacabana and another at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, without displacing the original downtown address as its landmark. Confeitaria Colombo now also hosts weddings and corporate events inside the same mirrored rooms that have drawn Rio's tea-drinkers since the 1890s, a rare case of a working bakery doubling as a preserved piece of the city's architectural history.
Founded by Manoel Lebrão in 1894 and recognized as cultural and artistic heritage of Rio de Janeiro, Confeitaria Colombo runs a Copacabana outpost, Café do Forte, inside the historic fort. It serves the house's traditional pastries and sweets alongside a weekday lunch buffet.
Best for Historic Rio pastries and coffee with a fort-and-beach view
This branch of Rio's celebrated Confeitaria Colombo occupies the grounds of the Forte de Copacabana, a fort still run by the Brazilian Army, where it opened on 27 November 2003 originally as a support concession for the fort's own museum. The Colombo name goes back further: the original house was founded in 1894 by Portuguese immigrants Joaquim Borges de Medeiros and Manoel José Lebrão in Rio's Centro district, and a 1913 renovation gave it the belle-époque décor — crystal chandeliers, jointed columns, cane-seat chairs — that both the Centro flagship and its offshoots still trade on. The Forte outpost built its own reputation gradually on the strength of that history and an unmatched setting: tables set against the low wall (mureta) overlooking Copacabana beach are the most sought-after in the house, with a climate-controlled indoor room as the fallback on hot or rainy days. Best known for its breakfast service, the café also runs a proper lunch menu — the octopus dish Polvo Del Mare is a particular draw — plus starters and drinks aimed at people staying through sunset for the view. It keeps the Colombo house's cakes, savoury pastries and coffee on the same recipes as the Centro tearoom, just with a fort and a beach in place of the belle-époque salon.
Avellan works from recipes handed down by Gilda Gazzinelli, some six decades old, turning out empadas, coxinhas, chocolates and tarts at its Funcionarios corner shop since 1990. Now run by her twin grandsons Pedro and Julio, it also serves regional lunch plates and a Friday feijoada.
Casa Mathilde makes Portuguese-inspired sweets, candies and gift boxes in São Paulo. Its packaged confections suit take-away presents, while individual pastries let visitors sample before assembling a larger box.
Best for Portuguese-inspired confections and beautifully packaged gift boxes
Cynthia Geo's confectionery, open since 2006 in the Serra district, works Belgian chocolate into truffles, cakes and fine pastries made without preservatives. The kitchen turns out both sweet and savoury items and has collected competition prizes for its handmade chocolates.
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