August 23, 2011
Mr. Beer is a chain of shops with various locations around Rio and Brazil. They aren’t shops per se, they are actually kiosks mostly in shopping centres. The one I frequent is in Botafogo, conveniently close to the metro. The ambiance isn’t great as it’s in a shopping centre and there’s no enclosed exclusivity but there are some small tables and chairs set up to taste some beers on the spot. The service is usually not bad, there is one person in the kiosk but I don’t think they know much about beer. I gave it a good mark for the selection, not because it’s huge, but because it has beers that I haven’t seen anywhere else in Rio. There is no food that I’m aware of apart from some nuts so I can’t rate the food. The value is a bit of a problem with some of the highest prices I’ve seen around, but it’s usually not too much more than other places and for the extra beers you can’t get elsewhere in Rio, it’s worth it for the local beer aficionado. Overall not a great place but it’s decent for something new. It’s also good to see more and more beer places springing up around Rio for beer lovers and Brazilians gaining more of a discerning taste after decades of drinking crap like Skol, Brahma and Itaipava.