Pizza Rio – The Brazilian Way

Why go: Servers circle the room with trays of savory and dessert pizzas at one fixed price, Brazilian churrascaria style, with caipirinhas and a full wine list to go with them.

About Pizza Rio

Pizza Rio – The Brazilian Way is not a pizzeria in the sense that Pigeon Forge usually means it. The restaurant runs on rodizio, the continuous table service that Brazilian churrascarias use for meat, applied here to pizza: servers move through the dining room with trays, you take a slice of whatever looks good, and it keeps coming for one set price until you stop them.

There are two ways to sit down to it. The Brazilian Way opens with a spread of Caesar and house salads, Brazilian wings, handcrafted beef and pork meatballs in marinara, and focaccia with crostini, then moves into the endless pizza service. The Savory & Sweet Way skips the appetizer course, gives you a choice of one salad, and goes straight to the pizzas. Both tiers price separately for adults and for two children’s age brackets.

Every savory pizza is built on mozzarella and a slow-simmered pomodoro pelati sauce, and the list is genuinely Brazilian rather than Italian-American with a flag on it. Calabresa sausage with red onion and black olive, chicken strogonoff topped with potato sticks, and picanha with garlic-infused olive oil sit next to a Margherita and a plain pepperoni. The dessert pizzas are treated as a real course rather than an afterthought, running from Nutella and strawberries to brigadeiro and a banoffee built on Brazilian dulce de leche.

The restaurant occupies a converted dinner theater off Showplace Boulevard, which gives it a room far larger and more open than the format usually gets, and a second location operates in Gatlinburg.

Getting to Pizza Rio

Showplace Boulevard runs off the north end of the Pigeon Forge Parkway, closer to the Sevierville line than to the Old Mill district, and the restaurant sits just in from that turn. The building is large, timber-framed, and set back from the road with its own lot, which makes it easier to find and considerably easier to park at than anything on the Parkway itself. Coming from the south, you will pass most of the strip before the turn, so allow for traffic in the evening.

Why Choose Pizza Rio

If you have eaten at a Brazilian steakhouse, the rhythm here will feel familiar. If you have not, this is the only place in Pigeon Forge running the format at all, and it is worth understanding what you are signing up for before you decide.

• One price, continuous service. You are not ordering a pizza and waiting for it. Slices arrive at the table throughout the meal, and you take what appeals and pass on what does not.
• Dessert pizzas are part of the deal. Five sweet options come around in the same service, so the last course is included rather than tacked on at the end.
• The savory list is actually Brazilian. Strogonoff de frango, frango com catupiry, and picanha com alho are not translations of an American menu.
• Dietary requests are handled a la carte. The restaurant states that most pizzas can be made vegan, lactose-friendly, or gluten-friendly on request.
• A full bar with a point of view. Caipirinhas and caipiroskas, sangria by the glass or the liter, Xingu Brazilian lagers, an international wine list, and Brazilian coffees.
• Room for a crowd. The converted theater space seats larger parties comfortably, which is difficult to find in Pigeon Forge on a Saturday night.

Menu Favorites

The pizzas that come around are not announced on a menu board, so knowing what to watch for saves you from filling up on the familiar ones.

• Calabresa. Brazilian calabrese sausage with red onion and black olives, and the pizza most likely to convince a skeptic that this is a distinct cuisine.
• Picanha com Alho. Sliced picanha, the cut Brazilian steakhouses build their reputation on, with garlic-infused olive oil.
• Frango com Catupiry. Shredded chicken under catupiry, a mild Brazilian cream cheese that melts into something closer to a sauce than a topping.
• Strogonoff de Frango. Chicken stroganoff finished with crisp potato sticks, which sounds implausible and is one of the best things in the rotation.
• Brazilian Wings. Crisp wings in a house seasoning, part of the opening spread on the fuller experience.
• Nutella com Morango. Nutella and fresh strawberries, the dessert pizza that tables consistently ask to see again.
• Brigadeiro. The Brazilian chocolate confection spread across a crust and finished with chocolate sprinkles.

What to Expect

The format comes with rules that a normal pizzeria does not have, and a few of them will change how you plan the evening.

• The whole table commits together. If one guest chooses one of the continuous dining experiences, everyone at the table has to participate in it.
• No to-go boxes with continuous dining. What you take from the tray is what you eat, so pace yourself rather than stacking slices.
• Children are priced in brackets, with separate rates for ages seven to twelve and four to six. Children three and under dine complimentary.
• Reservations are available through the restaurant’s own site, and are worth making for a weekend evening.
• A la carte is an option. If nobody at the table wants the full format, the restaurant keeps a separate menu, and carry out orders run from that rather than the rodizio.
• Alcohol carries an extra tax. A liquor-by-the-drink tax is added to the final bill alongside local and sales taxes, so the bar tab lands higher than the menu suggests.
• Closed Mondays, and the kitchen starts late. Weekday service does not begin until the afternoon, which rules it out for lunch most of the week.

Nearby in Pigeon Forge

• Boss Hogg’s BBQ Shack. Casual barbecue out on Wears Valley Road, away from the Parkway crowds.
• Puckett’s Restaurant. Southern plates, pulled pork nachos, and live music in a Tennessee grocery-store setting.
• Brick & Spoon. A Louisiana-leaning brunch house with build-your-own Bloody Marys, good for the morning after.
• Junction 35 Kitchen & Bar. A working distillery with tastings and a kitchen attached, over on Teaster Lane.
• Azul Cantina. Bright, modern Mexican with fresh guacamole and a half-price happy hour.

Explore More

My Smoky Mountain Guide Pigeon Forge is a great resource for finding places to eat and things to do.

• Pigeon Forge Food & Beverage Guide. Restaurants, dinner shows, breweries, distilleries, and eateries throughout Pigeon Forge, from sit-down meals to grab-and-go stops.
• Pigeon Forge Outdoor Adventure. Mountain coasters, UTV rentals, rafting, helicopter tours, and other ways to experience the Smokies from outdoors.
• Pigeon Forge Attractions. Museums, escape rooms, mini-golf, arcades, and other family-friendly stops across the city.
• Pigeon Forge Entertainment. Dinner shows, live music, comedy, magic, and theater experiences throughout Pigeon Forge.