Also: Restaurants in Sao Paulo
The restaurants worth a reservation in São Paulo, from neighbourhood bistros to the new classics.
The restaurants worth the trip in São Paulo. bistros, neo-classics, neighbourhood favourites, and the rooms locals book first.
A Casa do Porco in República turns nose-to-tail pork from its own farm into a bar menu in Sao Paulo, keeping tables every day for walk-ins in arrival order.
OrderPorco San Zé, the house pork slow-roasted for six hours
TipWithout a booking, leave your name with the hostess from 11:00; Monday to Thursday 15:00 to 18:30 is quietest, and at weekends arrive before 11:00.
Mocoto has served sertaneja cooking from the Almeida family since 1973 in Vila Medeiros, now run by chef Rodrigo Oliveira in Sao Paulo, a Bib Gourmand pick.
OrderDadinhos de tapioca, fried tapioca and cheese cubes
TipFounder Seu Ze Almeida opened the original house in 1973; his son Rodrigo Oliveira now also runs Balaio IMS and a Vila Leopoldina branch.
Jiquitaia in Paraíso is run by Marcelo Correa Bastos and Nina Bastos, a regional Brazilian kitchen with a Michelin Bib Gourmand seal in Sao Paulo.
TipBook by WhatsApp; the room is small and fills for both lunch and dinner seatings on weekends.
Corrutela in Vila Madalena builds its weekly menu around what small producers bring in, a Michelin Bib Gourmand kitchen in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
TipThe tasting-style menu changes with the week's deliveries, so ask the server what came in before ordering.
Komah has served contemporary Korean cooking in Barra Funda since 2016, pairing classic dishes with a cosmopolitan menu in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
TipThe kitchen also runs a full delivery menu with its own slightly earlier last-order times than the dining room.
Capim Santo, chef Morena Leite's Brazilian kitchen on Faria Lima, has a Michelin Bib Gourmand seal for its all-day menu in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
TipLeite also runs the smaller Casa Capim Santo inside the Instituto Tomie Ohtake in Pinheiros for a more casual version of the menu.
Balaio IMS, on the ground floor of the Instituto Moreira Salles on Avenida Paulista, is chef Rodrigo Oliveira's Bib Gourmand room in Sao Paulo.
OrderDadinhos de tapioca, the Mocoto classic Oliveira carries over here
TipThe fifth-floor Balaio cafe serves naturally leavened breads and cakes if the ground-floor restaurant is full.
Cepa moved from Tatuapé to a square in Pinheiros in 2024, keeping chef couple Lucas Dante and Gabrielli Fleming's menu in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
TipGabrielli Fleming runs the room and the wine: there is no fixed list, just natural wines from small producers she tracks down, so ask what is open.
Cora occupies a revived sixth-floor space above downtown Sao Paulo, chef Pablo Inca's short, shareable menu earning a Michelin Bib Gourmand seal.
OrderQueso de chancho and the lamb empanadas
TipThe building sat empty for over twenty years before this floor was restored to house the dining room and bar.
Bar da Dona Onça has run at the foot of Oscar Niemeyer's Copan building since 2008, chef Janaina Torres' popular Brazilian kitchen in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
TipThe bar occupies rooms 27 and 29 of Oscar Niemeyer's Edificio Copan; its pressure-cooker cozidos draw on recipes from across Brazil.
Tanit brings Catalan cooking to Oscar Freire, chef Oscar Bosch's tapas and rice dishes for a Mediterranean menu in Cerqueira Cesar, Sao Paulo.
OrderArroz de pato (duck rice) or the prawn fideua
TipBosch worked at El Bulli and El Celler de Can Roca before moving to Brazil in 2009 and opening Tanit.
Tordesilhas has run in Jardins since 1990 under chef Mara Salles, plating regional Brazilian dishes with feijoada served on Saturdays in Sao Paulo.
OrderBolinho de pirarucu or the shrimp bobo
TipThe full feijoada only runs on Saturdays; other days stick to the wider regional Brazilian menu.
Borgo Mooca kept the name of its original Mooca house before moving to Santa Cecília, where it now serves a classic Italian menu in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
TipThe name recalls the original Mooca location; the restaurant itself now operates from this Santa Cecília house.
Metzi pairs Oaxacan technique with Brazilian ingredients, chefs Luana Sabino and Eduardo Ortiz running a Mexican kitchen in Pinheiros, Sao Paulo, since 2021.
TipSabino is Brazil's first mezcal sommelier, so the bar list is worth exploring alongside the food menu.
Kosushi, founded in 1988 by sushi master George Koshoji and now at this Itaim Bibi address, held a Michelin star for five straight years in Sao Paulo.
TipThe name comes from the Japanese word for turtle, chosen by Sensei Taketo Okuda as a symbol of longevity for the restaurant.
Giulietta Carni grills thick Italian cuts over wood and coals next to sister room Nino Cucina, an industrial-look meat house in Sao Paulo's Jardim Europa.
TipThe open kitchen behind an iron door sits next to Nino Cucina, the same group's original pasta-focused restaurant.
Taboa Cozinha Artesanal, chef Carla Costa's Michelin Bib Gourmand room, shares Rua Medeiros de Albuquerque in Vila Madalena with Corrutela, Sao Paulo.
TipBook by WhatsApp; the small dining room also runs a private-event and delivery menu alongside table service.
Zena Cucina has cooked Ligurian recipes in Jardins since 2009, chef Carlos Bertolazzi's gnocchi-focused menu earning a repeat Bib Gourmand in Sao Paulo.
OrderGnocchi al pesto genovese, the house specialty
TipThe name is the Ligurian dialect word for Genoa, and the whole menu leans on that region's olive oil and pesto cooking.
Almanara has served Lebanese staples near Praça da República since 1950, the chain's flagship for sfihas, falafel and kibe in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
OrderClosed sfihas (sfihas fechadas) of beef or vegetables
TipThe Basilio da Gama house is the original; Almanara now also runs branches inside several Sao Paulo shopping malls.
De Segunda in Itaim Bibi is chef couple Gabriel Coelho and Júlia Tricate's short-menu room, both former Brazilian TV cooking champions, in Sao Paulo.
OrderStinco de leitao, deboned suckling pig shank with corn vinaigrette
TipCoelho won Mestre do Sabor in 2019 and Tricate won The Taste Brasil; both worked under Felipe Bronze before opening this room.
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