rio scenarium

RIO cant get more RIO without visiting this place! restaurant , bar and a full on music and dance venue! a must visit for everyone visiting RIO!

We went to Rio Santorium on our last night in Rio. We were asked for our passports at the door but we only had a copy of one passport and luckily a phone picture of the second. That was fine. The entrance was $R 30 pp but we were handed over our order cards and supposed to pay for everything at the end. We decided to have something to eat as the food on other tables looked lovely. I ordered salad and my boyfriend a sandwich and we shared a brownie for desert. The brownie had very weird type of a nut in the ice cream, which was impossible to chew and basically spoilt the whole desert as we had to spit it out with every bite. The main courses were ok but nothing outstanding. Service was ok also. We were prepared to be charged 10% service as everywhere else in SA when paying at the door. When we were trying to leave,our waiter approached the table quickly and after he saw there was nothing left on the table, he asked us straight if we were going to leave him a tip (!). My boyfriend answered to him that we were going to leave the service charge at the till and he replied the the service charge is for the house and the tip is for him. Never heard about anything like that before! We left him a tip anyway and went downstairs to pay. We were charged for the service as we thought we would and asked to girl to explain what exactly was it for. She could not speak English but was trying to tell us that this is what it is anyway but as were not giving up, she called over the manager. We asked him the same question and he said it was for everyone working there. I used to work in restaurants for years and believe that the tip should be a courtesy of a customer after receiving proper care from the waiter. Which ever way they then share it with the rest of the staff is the restaurant policy. A customer should not have to tip everyone separately. Our tip was forced on us twice in one night. Eventually the manager said it was optional... The restaurant was named one of the 10 best bars in the world by The Guardian. In fact it has a nice vibe, fabulous decor and good live music. Seemed like THE place to good for posh locals and tourists. However I do not agree with the policy of this place and do not like paying almost $R 100 for charges on $R 200 dinner bill. It left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I live in Brazil and my first visit to Rio Scenarium was in 2007. I loved it! It was full of locals dancing samba. Now, it looks like it is full of tourists and the few locals that are there are just looking to hook up with a 'gringo' or 'gringa'. No more real samba.They also had a HUGE line to enter and once we were inside, it was almost empty. It makes no sense at all, I guess they were just trying to create a hype. Anyway, I would say go check it out if you are around and there is no line, because it is still beautiful. But otherwise, avoid, there is a lot of cheaper places more authentic and interesting.

We got the impression that this music venue was very much for the locals rather than foreign tourists. It was very busy, spread over three floors, with fascinatingly eclectic decor. The music was nothing special and it was hard to get a table to sit close to the entertainment. Our hotel concierge got us a VIP entry pass to avoid the queues, but there was still a strange system when one had to be photographed for entry, We didn't feel the need to stay for very long, and entry was quite expensive, but we did find it to be an interesting insight into Brazilian nightlife, particularly because of the wide variety of colourful characters of all ages that frequent the venue.

It may well be a tourist attraction, but this club also attracts a lot of locals. The music is great, the atmosphere is great and the menu offers a good selection of bar food. We were there for about five hours and it felt like we were leaving a party early. Next time we're in rio, this will be top of the list of places to go!

After reading about Rio Scenarium we were expecting an incredible experience and a real flavour of Rio's live music scene. The place might have been authentic once, but unfortunately now it is like a theme park tourist attraction.To begin with entry was BR$40 per person. We had arrived early, 7.45pm, and it was only once we had paid and were inside that we were told that there were no seats available for us. This took us a while to realise as all the members of staff we asked just sent us to other parts of the building. This happened a few times before we were finally told there were no seats for anyone. We saw some other people like us without seats also being sent from one end of the building to the other. The staff on one floor didn't seem to have any idea about what was happening on other floors, and they did not seem at all interested in helping us.Still, to begin with we chose to stay to have some drinks and enjoy the atmosphere. Unfortunately there was little atmosphere. It felt like being on a cruise ship, all tourists filling up one huge building AND the venue having expanded into another cavernous space in the building next door. Little effort had been made to make the extension look or feel nice, it was just there to pack more seats in and make more money.With one stage for live music and the venue spread across three floors PLUS the extension into the building next door, there are only a few people with tables right by the stage that could enjoy the music.While we didn't eat, what we saw of the food looked pretty average.The main building does have some interesting and quirky decor but this did not make up for the lack of everything else.The tourist trap feeling was reinforced to us when on our way out we passed the gift shop selling t-shirts and other branded merchandise. We would strongly recommend avoiding this place (unless you enjoy visiting establishments like the Hard Rock Cafe) and going instead to one of the other smaller and more authentic live music venues elsewhere in the Lapa area.

We enjoyed a great evening there. Good music (samba) with great people dancing and enjoying the night. What we enjoyed mostly was the great mix of people: young/old as well as Brazilian and foreigners.

Lapa is the place to be on Friday nights and Scenarium is the best place in Lapa to go. The line can be a pain, but its worth the wait. Plenty of space, multiple floors that look down onto the main stage and a separate room on the 2nd floor that has amazing AC... Open really late and the crowd is very friendly. Just like all the other bars in Rio, DON'T LOSE YOUR TICKET!!!

People from all over the world and all ages ! It's a good place to know people and listen do classic Brazilian songs. Good drinks ! From Ipanema the taxi ride is about R$ 50.

My husband, young daugter (18 months), and I visited Rio Scenarium during a weekday as soon as they opened. We just went in to see the place and listen a bit of music before heading back to the apartment we rented since it was past our toddler's bedtime. It was so worth it. The place is very unique - reminds me of what a fancy night club in the 20's might look like in the States for some reason. Very elegant, interesting, and the live Samba in the background as we walked through this place was like a silk ribbon that tied it all together to make it a great visit. :) We must have been there for only about 15 - 20 minutes as we walked through the whole building. We knew that they charged an entrance fee to everyone and that was okay, but much to our surprise, I guess because we were there for such a short amount of time, they didn't charge us on our way out! :) This would be a great place for a romantic outing. ;)

The live music is brilliant and then on second floor you can go through to disco part which plays Brazilian music with great beats. Danced the nite away cannt wait to go back.You need to register a card on entry and they give you a drinks menu, at the bar yo order and they cross your drink off, on exit you go to kiosk and pay what you owe. Only cost £10 and bOught a few others drinks great value

Rio Scenarium is an impressive Samba Club in the buzzy Lapa district. It is a lovely antique shop/ house converted into a Club and spans over 3 floors. Each floor has its own music genre and function with live Samba Bands performing most days of the week. It has cosy areas to sit and enjoy the music, drink and food. There are dance floors and the Samba Groups that we saw performing were excellent and passionate musicians/singers. It can become crowded but still a gem in the Rio nightlife calendar. It gets a lovely mixture of people from young to very old gentlemen and ladies forever dancing to the rythms of Samba, Bosa Nova and others. A Must!

Expensive to get in.Overcrowded.Few people dancing - there is little room to dance - most people taking photos of the 3 people that are dancing.Table service available but they ask for tips to your face and you pay 10% service when you leave.This place is so over managed it takes the fun out of the evening. You queue to hand passport in, you queue to pay, you queue to leave.Wouldn't bother, there must be more authentic experiences elsewhere in rio.

If you want to find a nice fancy place to go out for a Samba night, then Rio Scenarium is a place for you.It's a big place with 3 different floors. Ground floor with live Samba band, the rest is for drinks or eats. There is an other dance floor too. Went there just to listen to Samba and have drinks. Really nice feeling in this club, the interior decoration is funny with old artifact like Swiss clock (cuckoo), really colorful, good vibes. But you really need to like Samba

Definitely a must-see for any traveller to Rio.This place is a museum and a night-club at the same time. It boasts a central vast stage surrounded by tables and stairs over 3 floors.The bands that are booked are of quality and the place is really worth a visit. There's a small shop where you can buy some jewels and t-shirts that are really cool vintage looking stuff.The food was very average, I ordered some beef jerky with manioc fries (soggy) that were literally swimming in oil and that i didn't touch, so I would recommend to have dinner before going in. The caipis were great though and we had an excellent night out overall so definitely recomended.