What a unique place, just an open space at the end of a hall after taking the escalator up one flight with an open air balcony and a couple padded benches to sit. There's two stands, one for espresso and another for cappuccino with a sink for washing dishes. One table offers either brown or white sugar containers and spoons for stirring your sugar. Another table has baskets for money, paying (as much or as little as you see fit) and counters so they have a loose estimate of how many people ordered espressos and cappuccinos. This open, exposed, honest business is so novel. There's a level of trust, that people will pay adequately for the services rendered, that's commendable and refreshing. Needless to say, the coffee is excellent and their reputation has grown to make it a busy and popular place. They even offer coffee for sale, should you wish to take some home with you. read more

See all

Best coffee in Rio! Wonderful staff who are truly passionate and knowledgeable about coffee, high quality beans sourced from local small producers, delicious drinks. Highly recommended!! read more

The only thing I could think when I was here was, "how cool is this place?" As everyone else has mentioned, it is quite unique to have a restaurant that shows you all of their expenses instead of a menu. A true mark of the quality here is that their customers only pay what they think is appropriate. I'm not very good at math, but I can look at the sign listing the restaurant's bills and then at the amount of people drinking coffee. If the coffee weren't good, the place simply wouldn't be able to function. Lucky for us, the coffee is top notch. Rather than stopping at a Starbucks or one of the many coffee shops on the first floor of this shopping plaza, do yourself a favor and head upstairs. In addition to the great coffee and friendly staff, you're also bound to run into interesting people as businessmen, students, and street vendors all take a break from their hectic days. read more

Curto Café - Soooo crowded - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Rio de Janeiro, RJ

This place was listed as one of the top 450 places in Rio's 450yr history to go too. The business model is completely unique. The menu board doesn't list prices for their coffee, but instead is completely transparent and lists what it costs to run their business. I love this. Therefore, you only pay them what you feel or think is appropriate for their services. The coffee was fantastic along with the snacks. I recommend this place for anyone to just go and try it out. Forget all the commercialized coffee stops and shops. This is the place to get the best coffee. read more

The world over loves a thick, juicy steak, and the world over loves a rich, creamy, robust espresso. This still didn't meet the requirements. I was very excited to try this place, and I'd love to give a better star-rating simply because of the business model, but at least on the day that we went in October I can't say that this coffee (we had both an espresso and a cappuccino) is absolutely no better than many of the other average coffee dispensaries in Rio. Cafeína is almost the same flavor....and I'm already not a fan of that approach. Until a coffee provider is willing to import cleaner water and employ a well trained roaster, or import espresso roasted beans from elsewhere, then I don't think we can expect much here. I don't understand what can cause such a weak coffee culture here beyond the variables. I don't think it has anything to do with regional preference. read more

I finally got a chance to try this cafe, which one of my friends has been recommending for ages. He says its his favorite cappuccino in rio and I have to agree! Hidden away in the second floor or a garage/shopping building, it's a bit tricky to find but only a 5-10 minute walk from the Carioca metro station. The open cafe features boards explaining the costs and revenues, and after ordering you pay whatever you think is fair in the money basket. Awesome! read more

See all

Simply the best coffee in Rio. Nothing more needs to be said, but I'll say a few more things anyway ;P As you can see from the other reviews, you pay what you think is fair. There is a ton of information on the chalkboard, but basically they tell you what it costs in materials, and what it costs them to keep the store going (labor, rent, utility bills, etc.) They also tell you what their budget is for the month, and how much money they've taken in. Don't expect anything fancy. There isn't any place to sit down and get some work done. There is only one bench along the wall, and it's usually full of people. There are some condiment tables where you can add sugar, chocolate, cinnamon, etc. to your drinks. Definitely come here for your coffee if you are in Centro. It's in a kind of weird location - right at the top of the escalators if you enter the building on the side of the park. read more

if your in the area you MUST drop by. Best coffee in rio. I'm a professional barista in Philadelphia and this is the place! Wonderful staff and incredible pay what you can coffee. remember it's on the second floor but totally worth the find! read more

Curto Café - two espresso machines. two lines. one for cappuccino, one for espresso. request curto for more standard "international"espresso. - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Rio de Janeiro, RJ

After searching everywhere for decent coffee in Rio, my coffee snob taste buds were used to sub-par espresso everywhere I went. Curto Cafe changed my views on coffee in Rio. An interesting business model and location. They have three types of roasts on offer depending on what you like. The espresso was delicately smooth and went down a treat. I would have to say the best coffee in Rio. read more

The first place we started our day off at was Curto Cafe. Rio doesn't have a huge coffee presence like San Francisco, but they do love their espresso drinks. Curto offers only two options in the morning: espresso or cappuccino. Your barista asks you how many you'd like, and makes them on the spot. When it comes to payment, it gets even more interesting. Payment is on a donation basis. If your cappuccino was absolutely terrible, you can pay R$3. If the drink was mediocre, you can donate R$4. And if you loved your beverage, anything from R$5 is appreciated. There's also a deep explanation about how this all works on a chalkboard, but we needed a little bit of help to interpret it. Thankfully, there were a few people in the crowd that helped us understand, and one of the baristas was able to help as well. I downed my drink and proclaimed it the best cappuccino I've ever had. Located on the second floor of a department store, it certainly makes for a unique location. That being said, there were a number of locals queued up for their late morning fix, so you KNOW it's worth the find! read more

See all

Solid crafted espresso, not so easy to find surprisingly in this land of coffee. This café can be tricky to find (and should categorized under Yelp's "coffee and tea" section as no food is served) - take the escalator to the 2nd floor patio at the entrance on the corner of Rua São Jose and Praça Mário Lago. It's above the shops Bagaggio (on the left) and Hering (on the right). Benefit from my wandering around lost in desperate search of a good cappuccino after 3 days of no good espresso (what? You dare close for Christmas?) and hit this place. Their La Marzocco, barista skill and their own blends of espressos for sale will satisfy the jitters. And pay what you want - what a concept. But pay closer to American prices - their cost is ridiculously low and they need to be rewarded for their efforts and skills. read more

This is probably the best coffee I've ever had and I've had a *LOT* of coffee around the world. The espresso is incredibly smooth and it's not bitter at all which is hard to do. Also, they have a pay as you can business model. Pay them what they deserve. Don't be a cheapskate. The only caveat is their location. They are near the escalators on the first floor (2nd floor if you are from the US). read more