Capoeira Restaurant — Restaurant in Jersey City

We had a great experience, food is excellent.

I wonder what happened to the Portuguese cafe that was here before? Since I think it’s different owners.

There are about 8 tables inside and on a Saturday night by 7 they were all filled. I made a reservation for 6:30 for two people. We sat right away but one thing I saw happen is musical chairs with other tables. Waitress asked a couple of tables to switch to other tables as new people or reservations came in. It all worked out but looked disorganized.

Also the waiter and waitress were very nice but you need to flag them down to order or ask for water refill or really anything. Not once did they come up to ask our order, refill water or ask if everything was okay. It was fine to flag them down since it’s a small place, and I think that system actually works well.

We had the meat and cheese plate which was amazing. Looked and tasted like what we have gotten before in Portugal. All the meats and cheeses were very fresh. It came with guava paste which is a Brazilian thing and it tasted very good when paired with the white cheese. Ham was on the honey dew, and I loved that. I liked the combo of salty, sweet and juicy. The cheese plate can feed 3-4, it was a lot for 2 people but we ate the whole thing!

Then we shared the bacalou a bras. Which is salted cod mixed with potatoes. There are some olives and onions in there as well. In Portugal the potatoes where more crispy. I think the addition of onion here made it more watery and pastey. But either way the flavor was delicious. And I loved that they served rice with it as well.

The pastel de nata was very good and I liked it with the ice cream. Nothing compares to a pastel de nata from Porto but this was still good. The brigadeiros tasted like average fudge. I’ve have these in São Paulo before and they were more dense and had a different texture, and were better.

Overall great place to get Portuguese and Brazilian food. It’s really cute and comforting inside. You feel like you’re not in jersey city. It’s BYOB and cool vines is a block away way, so my husband stepped out to get a bottle of...

Capoeira Restaurant was a great find. Usually, I see small Brazilian restaurants that try to mimic the "Fogo de Chão" model. Capoeira brings in more of the diversity of Brazilian food and mixes some Portuguese as well.

The Food: On all fronts it was executed well, from flavors to textures. The collard greens were amazing and went well with everything - odd to rave about such simple vegetables, but they were that delicious.

The little fried sardines were good, but they were much better if you paired them with an olive, which had a slightly briny and garlic taste.

The rice also had great flavor and could be eaten on its own or combined with other dishes - fish, rice, and collards could make a nice meal.

The feijoada stole the show and the meal itself was almost enough for two. Full or flavor, meat, and beans. The pork was fall-off-the-bone tender and the sausage had nice chucks of meat. I think they forgot the orange to go along with the meal.

The juice was interesting and I liked the concept of being able to introduce the different flavors. I've heard of some of these, but I had never seen them in the US.

The Service: This is an area where things could improve. The first night, starters and the main came out at the same time and there were no olives to start.

The second night there were olives and the starter came out first, but the main arrived before I was finished. The young guy and women were not unfriendly, but they weren't welcoming either - like they had better places to be.

One thing I definitely dislike, but can understand, is attaching a minimum charge to a reservation. I don't think this place is so busy that it is necessary - I easily entered without a reservation on a Friday night. I didn't make a reservation either night because of it. Maybe for parties greater than two, since the space is so small, it would make more sense

The Atmosphere: It was fun, welcoming, and overall I loved the vibe. Not the largest space and it would be difficult for a large group of people. FYI, the space is also BYOB with no option of...

Jersey City has always been one of those places that thrives in the shadows of Manhattan’s neon glow—gritty, honest, full of heart. It’s where cultures collide, where the old-school and the new-school battle it out over who gets to claim authenticity. And nestled in the middle of this beautifully chaotic landscape is Capoeira Restaurant, a Brazilian spot that doesn’t just serve food—it throws you into the ring with it.

Let’s be clear: this isn’t some polished, influencer-friendly, caipirinha-with-a-sparkler type of joint. No, Capoeira is the real deal. It hums with the spirit of the rodas, the calloused-footed dancers who’ve turned a fight into an art form. There’s an energy here—part rhythm, part sweat, part slow-charred meat smoke drifting from the grill—that tells you you’re about to eat something that actually matters.

Start with the pão de queijo—because, really, you should never say no to warm, chewy cheese bread. Then go straight for the feijoada. If you don’t know feijoada, you don’t know Brazil. Black beans, stewed to a perfect velvet, laced with hunks of pork that have been kissed by patience and time. Salty, smoky, fatty—just the way it’s meant to be.

Then there’s the picanha, that glorious, marbled cut of beef that Brazilians treat like a sacred rite. Here, it’s done right—seared on the outside, bloody in the middle, salted just enough to remind you why simple things, when done well, are untouchable. Pair it with farofa, that golden, crunchy cassava dust, the kind of thing that shouldn’t make sense but somehow ties everything together.

Capoeira isn’t trying to impress anyone. It doesn’t need to. It’s the kind of place where you sit down, dig in, and forget for a while that you’re just across the river from the soulless skyscrapers of Midtown. This is food that has roots, food that carries stories. And if you’re the kind of person who gives a damn about those things, then you’ll know exactly why this...