Restaurante Armazém Mazlawik

Located in Nova Petrópolis, along the Rota Romântica connecting Porto Alegre to Gramado, right on RS-235 near Linha Brasil, Restaurante Armazém Mazlawik stands out not just for its building and family atmosphere, but also for its great food, even while running as an all-you-can-eat rodízio.

History of Restaurante Armazém Mazlawik

This dining space was built in 1911, designated a municipal historic landmark, and remains under the care of the Wazlawick family to this day, now in its sixth generation. It opened its doors as a restaurant in 2018, after a restoration.

The family’s story in the region began in 1873, with Czech immigrants who, three decades later, built the historic Armazém Wazlawick.

Certificates

But don’t assume the building only ever served as a general store — it’s had several uses over the years, including a ballroom, a church, and even a community hospital. Today’s décor tries to preserve and honor that history, with furniture, objects, and old photos reflecting the site’s tradition and past.

Décor with antique furniture

Even the frame of an old bed now serves as a table. The space is also decorated with an antique counter, scales, a safe, a rotating display case, the cabinet that once held goods for sale, ledger books, photos of the people who once lived there, and immigration documents.

Old bed repurposed as a table

How the Rodízio Works

The space has an indoor dining room where you can see the antique furniture, and an outdoor area with a really pleasant garden, strung with lights throughout, making it genuinely beautiful.

Garden

The waiting area manages to be even more charming, with undeniably good taste.

Waiting room

It’s only open Saturdays and Sundays at noon, and at night they serve fondue on Fridays and Saturdays, running English-style, with waitstaff bringing the dishes to your table. The price is R$98 per person, with unlimited refills. Dessert is self-service, with plenty of delicious options to choose from — and yes, you can go back for more. The house chef is Rafael Benetti Wazlawick.

The rodízio starts with starters: fried potato dumplings, capeletti soup, and a salad with yogurt-mint dressing.

Starter with fried potato dumplings

Main Course

The main course includes a few risotto flavors: leek, mango, copa with colonial cheese, and caprese.

There’s also homemade pasta with a range of sauces, like four-cheese spaghetti with filet or shrimp sauce. For vegans, a great option is sweet potato gnocchi with tomato and basil sauce, along with a genuinely delicious sweet potato gnocchi.

Spaghetti with cheese and filet

Sides are also served, like pumpkin purée with bacon.

Pumpkin purée with bacon

As for the meats served: orange-glazed chicken, filet mignon, and pork with caramelized onion, served separately.

Filet mignon

All-You-Can-Eat Desserts

A variety of homemade desserts, like white and dark chocolate mousse, sagu, lemon pie, pudim, and several kinds of cake, and the selection keeps changing while you’re there, with new cakes constantly arriving — genuinely impossible to pick just one, and impossible to stick to your diet!

Dessert table

A Few Last Fun Facts

On Friday and Saturday nights, there’s also a fondue tasting sequence available. Behind the restaurant, there used to be a section of the house that operated as a café, but because of the pandemic it’s been repurposed as a waiting area — still a beautiful, pleasant space.

So we think it’s absolutely worth checking this place out, with its beautiful décor, great, generous food, and so much history. Our only tip: get there early, since depending on the time, the wait can get long!

Read more about our trip through the region in Rota Romântica and What to Do in Nova Petrópolis.