Eat in Zona Norte, São Paulo

Mocoto ★ 4.6

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.

Estado Luso ★ 4.2

Estado Luso has baked Portuguese-style bread in Sao Paulo's north zone since 1965, winning the 2021 Padocaria award for the city's best bread.

Worth the queuePao frances

Padaria Condessa ★ 3.9

Padaria Condessa has run since 1967 on Rua Conselheiro Saraiva in Santana, Sao Paulo, baking bread and cakes daily beside a full sandwich and snack counter.

Worth the queueBeirute sandwich

Frango Bar ★ 4.0

Frango Bar has run since 1987 in a 19th century house in Freguesia do O, Sao Paulo, pairing 400-plus beer labels with grilled chicken and coxinha.

DrinkMore than 400 beer labels, six on draft

FoodCoxinha with catupiry and grilled chicken with fried polenta

TipThe grilled chicken comes with fried polenta, farofa and salad: add a coxinha with catupiry from the petiscos list.

Casa Garabed ★ 4.3

Casa Garabed has baked wood-fired Armenian esfihas in Sao Paulo's Santana district since 1951, the lamb and pine nut version its house signature.

TryEsfiha de cordeiro com pignole (lamb and pine nut esfiha)

Pastel da Maria ★ 4.3

Pastel da Maria runs its Wednesday stall at the Santana street fair in Sao Paulo, the beef pastel that won the city's own pastel contest twice.

TryPastel de carne (beef pastel)

Casa Garabed ★ 4.2

Casa Garabed sells its wood-fired Armenian esfihas by the piece in Sao Paulo's Santana district, cheap counter food since the shop opened in 1951.

TryEsfiha de cordeiro com pignole (lamb and pine nut esfiha)

Emporio Nordestino ★ 3.8

Emporio Nordestino serves carne de sol and baiao de dois from a 19th-century casarao in Freguesia do O, Sao Paulo, far from downtown's food strips.

Why locals goSet inside a 19th-century casarao facing the old Freguesia do O church square, far from the city's usual Northeastern food strip.

TipOrder the carne de sol with green beans and cassava puree, one of the most requested plates, and save room for the jackfruit or cashew sweets.

Bar do Luiz Fernandes ★ 4.0

Bar do Luiz Fernandes has run as a family boteco in Santana, Sao Paulo, since 1970, Luiz behind the bar and Dona Idalina still making the appetizers.

TipDona Idalina's bolinhos, bacalhau and beef, and the pastéis are the house signatures; some 40 petiscos sit on the counter.