Porto Alegre is arguably the best city in Brazil for meat. The churrasco gaúcho — the original all-you-can-eat grilled meat tradition, not the watered-down version that spread north — is practised here with genuine seriousness. A traditional churrascaria brings cuts of beef, lamb, chicken, and pork on long skewers directly to your table, carved at the tableside; the signal is a little card, green side up for keep going, red for stop. Barranco, Galpão Crioulo, and Gambrinus are all well-regarded; the last, inside the Mercado Público, has been feeding portoalegrenses since 1889. Portions are enormous and the price is fixed per head.
Beyond churrasco, the German and Italian immigrant heritage shapes the whole food culture. You will find excellent pasta, polenta, and cured meats in the Colônia Italiana tradition in the hills around the city, and schnitzel and dark beer in the more Germanic corners of the state. The Mercado Público Central is the best single place to eat well at all budgets, with stalls selling pastéis, grilled meats, fresh seafood, and the best churrasco sandwiches in the city. Chimarrão — the bitter maté infused in a gourd and sipped through a metal straw — is not exactly food, but it is the social lubricant of the whole region; you will be offered it constantly, and accepting is polite. The neighbourhood of Moinhos de Vento has the city's best concentration of contemporary restaurants, many with creative takes on gaúcho ingredients. Bom Fim is the place for cheaper, student-friendly eating, with good pizza and falafel reflecting the neighbourhood's Jewish heritage. Do not leave without trying arroz de carreteiro — a one-pot rice dish made with dried beef and sausage that is the gaúcho cowboy staple.