We ended up here after learning that the museums do not provide guests access on Mondays. The…read moreshopping center has 3 levels with a multitude of stores and eateries. We just glanced around mostly. We ate at a place on the 3rd floor. They had these large slices of pizza that were so tasty. I cannot recall the name but they are located to the right off the escalator. They also had a nice looking display of desserts near the register.

Rio de Janeiro is, in some ways, a vertical city, and you will find many shopping areas that go up…read moreas opposed to outward -- Edificio Avenida Central is one of them. Not simply that, it's also your go-to spot if you need to find anything for electronics. You have the main floors with handfuls of normal stores, but there is one particular corner of the building where you enter, and it's a multitude of stalls and kiosks for a good 3 floors, with any range of whatever you need: screen repairs, cables, phone cases, new merchandise...I first got to know it when I was looking to get my iPod screen fixed, but now place it in my mental filing cabinet for anything I need. If you're getting something repaired and have some time to kill, head downstairs and grab a burger or a beer at any of the variety of other businesses that occupy the building aside from electronics stores. Right next to Carioca metro/subway station, you can't miss it!

2.5 stars for the potential is has to become a better mall. This new mall is in an ideal location…read moreto capture the transit of people to and from the airport. A few stores have a nice store front and the strong air conditioning is welcoming in the hot Rio weather. However, it seems to have opened with only a few stores in place. I assume the hope is to fill the mall with other stores but it seems like they would have already signed the leases. Forever 21 and Le Lis Blanc are the first stores you see when exiting the airport and have a modern welcoming storefront. The other stores either weren't open or were harder to find. The food court, again aesthetically pleasing with open natural lighting, really only had two restaurants: Subway and Burger King. There the coffee shop Katz and a VIP airport lounge and a kiosk of super paletas but hardly more than that. There were a lot of "coming soon" signs that showed the mall has a lot more potential. It's really not worth visiting now but maybe later when more stores are actually open.

This place is still in need of a lot of work. The idea itself is great: a fancy shopping mall…read moreconnected to Rio's Santos Dumont airport. As of the moment I'm writing this though, there is still a lot of construction. In fact, not even all the stores/restaurants listed on the mall's website are open yet. The mall also houses a VIP lounge for the airport, but as we weren't flying we didn't have a chance to check it out. For now, the saving grace of the mall is that it has a Forever 21. As far as I know, that's the only one in this area, with the next closest being located in Barra Shopping. The food court and other options aren't that great. Maybe as the mall develops and brings in some revenue it will start to attract other businesses and really bloom, but for now, only go if you're looking for something at Forever 21.

Girls - If you want to buy yourself some clothes to feel "carioca" (which means, from Rio), this is…read morethe store. They have plenty of colors and hippie fancy clothes. It's not too expensive compared to other big Brazilian brands and it's supposed to be good quality. This store is available in a few malls, but this store specifically is like the "mother store" - the biggest and the nicest one.

Very hippie like vibe with lots of colorful bold prints. Very Carioca like.read more