Speranza Bixiga has baked its Margherita since the Tarallo family's Neapolitan cantina opened, the Bixiga oven credited with Sao Paulo's own thick-topped pizza style.

Italian immigrants, many from Calabria, settled the Bixiga district of Bela Vista from the late 19th century, opening the family cantinas that still line Rua Treze de Maio. Neapolitan pizza travelled with them and changed shape in Sao Paulo's ovens: the crust stayed thin but the toppings grew heavier and more generous, built for sharing at a family table rather than eating solo. Speranza, baking since the Tarallo family opened its Rua Treze de Maio cantina, is often credited with the country's first Margherita pizza and remains a Bixiga landmark. Castelões, in Bras since 1924, represents the same immigrant wave's other pizza tradition, thin-sliced and wood-fired.

2 editor picks for Pizza paulistana in São Paulo, ranked by editorial score. All São Paulo signature dishes · Pizza paulistana across every city.

Castelões ★ 4.5

$$ItalianBras

Castelões has baked its wood-fired pizza on Rua Jairo Gois in Sao Paulo's Bras district since 1924, now run by third-generation owner Fabio Donato.

OrderPizza Casteloes (thin-sliced artisanal calabresa and mozzarella)

DirectionsView

Speranza Bixiga ★ 4.4

$$ItalianBela Vista

Speranza Bixiga is the Tarallo family cantina in Sao Paulo credited with the capital's first Margherita pizza, still baked on Rua Treze de Maio.

OrderPizza Margherita and Tortano

DirectionsView

Learn to cook it, or eat it with a guide

Pizza paulistana makes more sense with someone from São Paulo explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.

Taste Pizza paulistana with a local in São Paulo

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