Carioca is the familiar term for inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro and an adjective associated with time-honored manifestations of Brazilian popular culture like Carnival and the samba. But the word also signifies a kind of open, sensual, pleasure-oriented conviviality. It is this type of congenial social and cultural experience that has set the tone of A Gentil Carioca since it opened in 2003 in one of the city’s typical working-class neighborhoods, a zone of traditional small businesses, originally Arab and now with a strong Chinese presence. Merchants and buyers mingle at the doors of an endless