Restaurants
The restaurant life of Floripa is good and varied, with options around the island from top class restaurants with wonderful views over the water, to cheap seafood straight from the fisherman’s boat or the oyster nets. There are island specialities and international chefs.
The main centres for eating out include the centre of Florianópolis itself and especially the Beira Mar Norte road overlooking the bay; Jurere and Canasvieiras Beaches and their surrounding roads; and Lagoa da Conceição including Canto da Lagoa and Avenida das Rendeiras.
The whole western side of the island, away from the city and the airport, seems to be one big oyster farm in the calm waters of the bay. The traditional fishing villages such as Ribeirão da Ilha in the south, and Santo Antonio da Lisboa and Sambaqui heading north, have developed into seafood cuisine centres. All have restaurants of various prices in wonderful settings, with decks over the water and oysters and seafood dishes such as moqueca, often cooked with ingredients taken out of the sea just before cooking.
Away from these places, the restaurants on the beach at Pantano do Sul on the southern end of the island are popular day and night. Other beaches such as Joaquina, Brava, Santinho, Ingleses, Forte and Daniela are more popular during the day and very quiet at night. Many of the restaurants in these places only open while people are enjoying the sun on the beach.
One place that is not quite on the Floripa map is the Coqueiros Via Gastronomica, heading south along the coast on the mainland side of the bridge. A few decent restaurants there have pleasant settings amongst the rocks, with the sound of the sea and a view of the island. They are generally cheaper than the equivalent restaurants of Florianópolis.
In general, pizza places are very easy to find in Florianópolis as in the whole of Brazil. Sushi is also popular everywhere. One experience not to be missed is to visit a churrascaria, the traditional all-you-can-eat Brazilian barbeque. There are not a huge amount of these on the island, with Ataliba and Floripana being among the most popular on the Beira Mar Norte road heading towards the bridge. International cuisine such as Thai is not quite popular as yet in Brazil and still feels a little Brazilian at times, but can be found. Indian cuisine is yet to make a big hit, while Arabic and Chinese food seem to be still mostly of the fast food/shopping centre type.
Seafood can be found absolutely everywhere on the island, as you would expect, not just next to the oyster farms. Portions can be huge, especially if you request the Sequencia do Camarão or similar Floripa favourites.
