48 Best Restaurants in São Paulo, Brazil

This restaurant's name comes from one of the most traditional Italian neighborhoods in São Paulo, and no one argues that Bráz doesn't have the right. Each of the nearly 20 varieties of pies is delicious, from the traditional margherita to the house specialty, pizza Bráz, with tomato sauce, zucchini, and mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

During and after the Saturday crafts and antiques fair in Praça Benedito Calixto, it may take an hour to get a table at this homey restaurant. Among the shareable, traditional mineiro (from Minas Gerais State) dishes are the mandioca com carne de sol (cassava with salted meat) appetizer and the tutu (pork loin with beans, pasta, cabbage, and rice) entrée.

This busy little cantina is well-loved for both its cuisine as well as its location on an unforgettable restaurant-lined strip of Rua Avanhandava, where you may find yourself admiring the cobblestones on the street as you wait for a table. The menu has many terrific pasta options, such as the cannelloni with palm hearts and a four-cheese sauce.

Arguably the best Japanese restaurant in a town famous for them, Jun Sakamoto stands out for serving fish of the highest quality and for employing the most skillful of sushi chefs to slice them. You're best served if you let the waiters wearing futuristic earpieces guide you through the menu based on what's freshest the day you visit.

Contemporary cuisine, attentive service, and a luxurious, secret-garden charm help Kaá maintain its status as one of São Paulo's leading fine-dining establishments. The crayfish au gratin in endive cream is a top choice among the appetizers; appealing entrées include rack of lamb ribs and beer-cooked duck.

Contemporary Japanese plates with international influences are the draw at Kinoshita, where foie gras might accompany a Kobe beef hamburger or truffles might enliven salmon roe and shellfish. The freshness of the ingredients available on any given day determines the fare of chef Tsuyoshi Murakami, one of São Paulo's culinary superstars.

An animated, gay-friendly crowd chatters at this restaurant with Italian, Brazilian, French, and mixed cuisine, as contemporary pop music plays in the background. Although Ritz serves some of the best hamburgers in the city, another popular dish is bife à milanesa (breaded beef cutlet) with creamed spinach and french fries or salad.

Owner Roberto Loscalzo transformed a 1903 mansion into a remarkable dining space; expansive yet intimate, grandiose yet welcoming. At one end of the room chefs pull Napoli-style pizzas from the three mouths of a two-story brick oven that looms over diners like a cathedral organ.

Part of a chain of Lebanese semifast-food outlets, Almanara is perfect for a quick lunch of hummus, tabbouleh, grilled chicken, and rice. A full-blown restaurant also on the premises offers up Lebanese specialties rodízio style, meaning you're served continuously until you can ingest no more.

Because São Paulo isn't on the ocean, most restaurants here don't base their reputations on seafood, but Amadeus is an exception. Appetizers such as fresh oysters and salmon and endive with mustard, and entrées like shrimp in cognac sauce make it a challenge to find better fruits of the sea elsewhere in town.

For almost 20 years Arábia has served traditional Lebanese cuisine at this beautiful high-ceilinged restaurant. Simple dishes such as hummus and stuffed grape leaves are executed with aplomb, and the lamb melts in your mouth.

The family that owns and runs this restaurant serves meat from its ranch in Mato Grosso do Sul State. Charcoal-grilled fare—baby boar (request at least two hours in advance of your visit), steak, chicken, salmon, and more—is served at the buffet, and options abound at the salad bar. Wednesday and Saturday are feijoada nights, and on Friday the emphasis is on seafood.

With the look of an old-style saloon, Bar do Juarez has won awards for its draft beers and buffet of petiscos (small tapas-like dishes), but picanha (rump cap of beef) is this gastropub's calling card. Served raw on a mini-grill, the platter is perfect for small groups and gives individuals direct control over how their meat is done.

Cantaloup's converted warehouse has two dining areas: oversize photos decorate the walls of the slightly formal room, while a fountain and plants make the second area feel more casual. Try the veal cutlet with blinis of yucca or the stuffed shrimp with clams.

Wine casks and bottles adorn the walls at this typical Bixiga cantina, located on a street so charmingly human-scaled you'll hardly believe you're still in São Paulo. You won't be alone if you order the ever-popular fusilli—either ao sugo (with tomato sauce) or ao frutos do mar (with seafood)—or the traditional baby goat's leg with potatoes and tomatoes.

TV host, author, and chef Carla Pernambuco introduces Brazilian elements to a multicultural array of recipes at her popular restaurant. The four-cheese polenta and the red-rice risotto with lobster are among the many well-calibrated dishes served here.

Regularly named among the best restaurants in South America and the world, celebrity chef Alex Atala's D.O.M. is synonymous with exclusivity in São Paulo's gastronomic circles—its popularity is limited only by a self-imposed cap on the number of customers served. The focus is on Brazilian fare with added flair, such as filhote (Amazonian catfish) with tapioca in tucupi (manioc root) sauce and sweet potato in a Béarnaise made from maté, a South American tea.

Humble-looking Degas owes its more than 50 years in existence to word-of-mouth among the residents of São Paulo's western neighborhoods. Its famed filet mignon Parmigiana has gained near-legendary status, attracting foodies from across the city.

Good and simple Italian food is what you'll find at this traditional spot. Choose from a great variety of pastas, salads, and meat dishes.

Mineiro dishes are the specialties at this modest eatery with plain wooden tables. The classic cuisine is served as a buffet only: more than 50 stone pots hold dishes like feijão tropeiro (beans with manioc flour) and frango com quiabo (chicken with okra).

A snug bistro on as secluded a street as you're apt to find in São Paulo's hip southern neighborhoods, Enoteca triples as a wineshop, restaurant, and live-music venue. The kitchen's specialty is a risotto with wine-braised beef, whose plain appearance belies its exceptional flavor.

The beautiful people hang out in the bar of this highly regarded churrascaria. The thinly sliced picanha (similar to rump steak) is excellent; it goes well with a house salad (hearts of palm and shredded, fried potatoes), onion rings, and creamed spinach.

Quests for quick, cheap, and good food should start near São Paulo's origins at this greasy spoon that's open 24 hours a day. Estadão's recipe for staying in business for more than four decades is its succulent pernil (roast pork) sandwich, a staple of the local street-food scene.

A family-owned Northern Italian classic tucked away behind the elegantly modern lobby of the hotel of the same name, this restaurant is as famous for its superior cuisine as for its exorbitant prices. In the kitchen, a 20-strong brigade of chefs, butchers, and bakers commanded by Luca Gozzani sends out exquisite, sinfully rich dishes like agnollottis of Angola chicken on heart-of-mozzarella cream.

A pioneer in bringing French cuisine to São Paulo, Freddy opened originally in 1935. Despite moving from its original location, Freddy has managed to retain the feel of an upscale Parisian bistro, thanks to a number of small touches as well as some larger ones, like the grand chandeliers hanging from its ceiling, and traditional French dishes like coq au vin.

Paulistanos of all types and ages flock to this luncheonette on the stylish Rua Oscar Freire for its beirute sandwiches, filled with ham and cheese, tuna, or chicken, and for its draft beer and fruit juices in flavors such as acerola (Antilles cherry), passion fruit, and papaya.

The classic neon sign that adorns this restaurant's exterior cues diners about what to expect inside: traditional Italian cuisine. No surprises here, but dishes such as the unchanging and unmatchable polpettone alla parmigiana, a huge meatball with mozzarella and tomato sauce, inspire devotion among the local clientele.