Vigia do Casqueiro

Everyone’s heard the phrase «off the beaten path» — well this place is literally on a beaten path. Since the Unilocal map can’t quite lut a pin on this place, I’ll help with directions. From the beach at Barra da Lagoa. take the pedestrian bridge across the river and continue up the walkway a few hundred meters or so and you can’t miss it.
First off, if you can get a table upstairs, the view is definitely worth it. I arrived right at sunset and now understand why the restaurant is where it is. The view of the setting sun over the Barra da Lagoa beach is quite impressive.
I happened upon this restaurant in the middle of winter, and it was almost empty. The waiter said that it does have a large lunch crowd on weekends, and is completely full every day in the summer. I really enjoyed the music selection and the waiter was gracious enough to tell me a bit about some of the Brazilian groups they played. They serve seafood, chicken and various steaks. I had the garlic shrimp appetizer and it was amazing. The grilled chicken (served with Brazilian standard sides rice, black beans and fries) was forgettable: not great, but not bad either. Overall, it’s definitely worth taking the road less traveled to get there.