Bars in Vila Madalena - How to get there

If you are a foreigner in São Paulo, so surely someone has already told you Vila Madalena is the place to go if you want to go to a bar, have fun, meet people... in other words, to have a real night out.
Just to support this argument, check this search on Google Maps for the word "bar" in the neighborhood:

But you can also see on the map that the buzz is quite far from the nearest subway station, which is called Metrô Vila Madalena, but is actually in a neighboring area (indicated by the green arrow on the top of the image). Although you could say "I don't mind walking", you can see that most streets in the area are not straight. This was originally a very montainous area, so you will have lots of steep streets to go up and down. If you risk it on your way there, it will be impossible on your way back, after some drinks...

So I'll tell you another route to get to the same spot. You can check from the map above that the bars concentrate around some blocks of streets, between Rua Mourato Coelho, Rua Wisard, Rua Girassol and Rua Inacio Pereira da Rocha. If you get to these parts, you can simply walk around and find the bar or nightclub that suits you best, or where you spot more interesting people going in.

Focus on these two streets that lie to the east of the hub of bars: Rua Cardeal Arcoverde and Rua Teodoro Sampaio (to the right). On the map below you can see they are quite close to the location of bars, and, better still, only straight and plain streets connect them to the desired area. (Yes, the green area near the "A" is a cemetery). Av. Rebouças, that you see on the bottom, to the right, is also a good alternative for buses.

These are main streets served by many bus lines. Rua Cardeal Arcoverde runs from the top of the map to its bottom, so it will be perfect if you are coming from Centro, or from somewhere near Av. Paulista. Rua Teodoro Sampaio runs "up", so it will work for you if you are coming from some neighborhood in the south of the city of São Paulo. (From somewhere near Av. Brig. Faria Lima, for example).

To find which bus line might work for you, go to this website: www.sptrans.com.br

You will see this on the top of the page:

Click on LINHA DE ÔNIBUS (which means 'bus line' and this is what you want to know), then insert your address in the first slot, in front of DE/Endereço. Put an approximate number of your location. On the second part, complete like me: R. Cardeal Arcoverde N° 1600. Then click on "Buscar".

You will get some bus lines that will take you there, and their routes.


GOOD LUCK!!!



FOOD TRUCKS IN SÃO PAULO

A recent local regulation has established rules to allow for food trucks to sell food around the city. As the new ventures start to organize themselves and brand new trucks look for the best location in town, a pioneer idea has already taken shape in the format of a "Food Park".

BUTANTAN FOOD PARK is an otherwise unattractive space close to a busy hub of major thoroughfares, avenues, bridges and minor street. However, as a home to several food trucks and some stalls selling delicacies, it managed to become an almost pleasing setting, specially on a fine day, as, despite of a covered area with tables, most of its buzz takes place in the open.

Food vendors will take turns, so most likely when you come back after some time you will find different options to taste. In my visit last Saturday (June 6th) there were, among others, Argentine empanadas, Uruguayan sandwiches, Indian samosas, sweet and savory waffles, pork ribs, gourmet burguers, Argentine wines, ice creams, French pastries, churros, artisanal beers, apple pies, pasta, and the very Brazilian macaxeira.

The intention is not to offer cheap food, but rather items with some gourmet addition... most things ranged from 5 to 10 US dollars, but in the whole I believed they were worth the price.

All around the area there are communal wooden tables for you to share with other foodies. Avoid Sundays which are usually extremelly crowded. A Saturday afternoon would be a perfect time to visit.

Where?

R. Agostinho Cantu, 47 (in the neighborhood called Butantã)

Opening times: Mon-Wed 11am to 4pm/Thu-Sat 11am to 10pm/Sun 11am to 8pm

Within walking distance of the Butantã subway station (Yellow Line)

Shopping Malls in São Paulo

I certainly would not recommend a Shopping Mall if you want to experience the city, but I must admit they may come in handy in some occasions, particularly if you want a cheap no-hassle meal.
Among the 53 (and counting), these are some of the most centrally located malls in São Paulo:

Shopping Light - right in the heart of the city - www.shoppinglight.com.br

Shopping Pátio Higienópolis - in a very traditional and upscale neighborhood, though in a very central area - www.patiohigienopolis.com

Shopping West Plaza - large, doesn't have much character, but is easily accessible via innumerable bus lines and still within walking distance from the Barra Funda subway station - www.westplaza.com.br

Shopping Bourbon - one of the newest malls in the city; a little bit dark, but offers a good mix - www.bourbonshopping.com.br

Shopping Center 3 - small compared to the others in this list, but very well located. Ample choice of fast-food restaurants, and an extremely interesting 'designers market' held in its corridors on Sundays - www.shoppingcenter3.com.br

Shopping Patio Paulista - nice location, near several cultural centers and the Paraiso subway station - www.shoppingpaulista.com.br

Shopping Eldorado - large, very interesting variety of shops, cafés, restaurants. It also has a large supermarket inside its premises - www.shoppingeldorado.com.br

Shopping Iguatemi - the most sophisticated mall in the city, home to several international top brands - www.iguatemisp.com.br

See link below for map with locations:
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zwEE05c03lno.k6bobxIUn9t0



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RUA AUGUSTA - Walking Along

RUA AUGUSTA – Downtown

Right next to the Consolação subway station, Avenida Paulista is crossed by Rua Augusta. Going all the way from the city center to the sophisticated (and snobbish) area of São Paulo called Jardins (“Gardens”), Rua Augusta has nothing in itself that could attract much attention; it is not wide nor beautiful. However, it offers several interesting options.

The half of Augusta that leads to the city center (signaled by the Banco Safra building on the corner) is called “Baixo Augusta” on its first blocks. This is probably the area where you will meet all the interesting, alternative and exotic types of São Paulo. A clearly gay-friendly area (the parallel Rua Frei Caneca and the shopping mall of the same name are commonly referred to as ‘Gay Caneca’), it is also full of intellectual types, tattooed girls, not to mention prostitutes and transvestites that can be seen at night.  If you have no money to spend on a club but want to have a night out, this is the place to go. Going down from Avenida Paulista, the first blocks are full of laid back bars in which people sit on plastic tables on almost every corner; going further down, you reach the area called Baixo Augusta, full of clubs. But actually most of the party takes place on the street… on Saturday night cars can barely move. At 4am the street has probably more people circulating than at 4pm…

These are some of the highlights:

·    At number 1611 is the side entrance to Shopping Center 3, a small mall which offers several fast food options, but more interestingly, an arts and crafts market on its corridors every Sunday. But these are not traditional/boring crafts, but quite modern and creative stuff.

·    A Mexican fast food called Tollocos is located at # 1524

·    A cool movie complex, Espaço Itau de Cinema, at Rua Augusta, 1475 is famous not only for the modern audience, but also for opening its doors for not-so-commercial flicks, such as European or arts movies.

·    After the film, why not go for a slice of pizza? The first place to sell pizza by the slice in São Paulo is nearby, at 1463; it is called “O Pedaço da Pizza”.

·    Cross the street and walk down some steps for a different option: an Indian fast food. Nice, varied and cheap food – approved by my Indian friend. Madhu, Rua Augusta, 1420.

·     At #1372 is a cool store housing several ‘boxes’ (literally) where designers may sell their objects, among which are glasses, costume jewellery, and clothes.

·     If you are into music and movies, and looking for something old or sold out, this might be a place to spend one or two hours… all kinds of Brazilian and imported CDs and DVDs on sale.

·     The modern, healthy-looking and attractive fast food at 1360 reminds me of “Pret a Manger”, where I used to eat in London… here it is called “Pic Nic”.

This should be enough to have you walking down some blocks further, and you will come across hair salons, bars, clubs, as well as one of the major comedy clubs in São Paulo… If you enjoy people watching, you will have tons of fun.

RUA AUGUSTA - Walking Along

RUA AUGUSTA – Southward

Right next to the Consolação subway station, Avenida Paulista is crossed by Rua Augusta. Going all the way from the city center to the sophisticated (and snobbish) area of São Paulo called Jardins (“Gardens”), Rua Augusta has nothing in itself that could attract much attention; it is not wide nor beautiful. However, it offers several interesting options.

The southbound half of Augusta (signaled by the Banco do Brasil building on the corner) is also called “lado Jardins”. Amid several clothes and shoes shops, and the kilo restaurants, the highlights on this stretch of the street are:

·  On the block between Avenida Paulista and Alameda Santos lies a group of buildings and shopping arcade collectively known as Conjunto Nacional.  On the ground floor, among some clothes shops, drugstores, candy stores and the like, lies the most beloved bookstore in São Paulo: Livraria Cultura. It has branches in other shopping malls, but it was born here and it has expanded its empire. Cultura has now five separate shops in the area, including one for geeks (with videogames and other geek paraphernalia), one for art books and a deliciously cozy megastore, with a nice café inside. It also holds a theater (Teatro Eva Herz) and a movie theather (Cine Cultura).

Apparently a regular street

·   Going down for one more block you will find a McDonald’s, a Habibs (local fast food restaurant which offers a good cost/benefit relation – and probably the cheapest ice cream in town, a scone for R$ 2,50), a Subway (near #1954) and a Starbucks (at # 1967, on the corner with Alameda Jau).

·  Just opposite, at number 2014 lies a shop selling funny and alternative T-shirts.

·  Rua Augusta, 2075 is home to Cinesesc, a movie theather holding unusual film festivals, providing a space for alternative, independent or classical movies, as well as flicks in languages other than English. The venue also boasts one of the finest and cheapest cafés in this area. You can drop by just to have a cup of coffee and you will not regret it.

·  Two branches of Escola São Paulo, at 2074 and 2113. Bearing the slogan “Creative Economy”, the school offers free courses of design, photography, fashion, cinema and the like.

·  From this point on, Rua Augusta becomes a reference point for the sophisticated area called Jardins. Most of the perpendicular streets bring top-notch shops, restaurants and bars, especially Alameda Lorena and Oscar Freire, which is home to several luxury brands, Brazilian or international, which hold here snobbish shops and concept stores.

·  Galeria Ouro Fino, a shopping arcade at number 2690, is famous for the alternative shops, catering for those interested in alternative fashion, and those looking for cool and creative gifts.

Eating in SP - Pastel

After pizza, pastel is the most typical food snack in São Paulo. Basically, it consists of a deep-fried pastry with different fillings, the most traditional of which are minced meat (usually with added bits of boiled eggs and olives) or cheese.
However, gone are these boring days. Today you could find almost anything inside a pastel, from pizza (yellow cheese and tomatoes) and palmetto to dried meat and pumpkin, endives and sweet fillings such as bananas, chocolate, caramel fudge... creativity is the limit. Prices will go from R$ 2,00 to 5,00.

Pastel de Carne

If you want to taste a pastel like paulistanos do it, head to a street market (Feiras Livres). These weekly outdoor markets have a stall selling pastel in almost every end. This is so traditional that the city has been holding an annual contest to choose the best pastel sold in feiras livres. For a pastel to be considered good, its fillings must be plenty and tasteful, and, though they are deep fried, they must be dry, golden, and crunchy! Check this site for a list of the 10 finalists and the locations of the street markets where they operate:

http://vejasp.abril.com.br/noticias/dez-melhores-pasteis-de-feira

To make it a complete experience, order also caldo de cana (a kind of juice obtained from squeezing sugar cane), but beware, it is really SWEET.

Caldo de Cana - add ice and lemon drops

Since Feiras Livres close at around 2pm, you have some other options... some stalls and some specialized snack bars called pastelarias. Here we go with some addresses:

- Pastel Yoka

R. dos Estudantes, 37 (Liberdade subway station)

- Hocca Bar (home of the famous cod-filled pastel)

Mercado Municipal de São Paulo (aka Mercadão)

R. da Cantareira, 306 (São Bento subway station)

- Barraca do Zé - a stall without the street market

Pça. Charles Miller, s/n - in front of the Pacaembu Stadium

(no subway station really close, best bet is Marechal Deodoro subway station, but this implies a good walk. Streets to get there are beautiful and lined with trees, though).

- Pastelaria Brasileira

R. Turiassu, 2113 (in front of the Bourbon Shopping Center)

(Barra Funda subway station - long walk; take any bus that runs along Av. Francisco Matarazzo and get off in front of the Mall, the pastelaria is opposite)

- Pastel Croc 30 - huge 30-cm pastel

R. Sena Madureira, 450 (Vila Mariana or Santa Cruz subway stations)

A DAY OUT – Parque da Água Branca

Parque da Água Branca is a park in the west zone of São Paulo, easily reachable by subway and buses. It is a small but pretty park, whose area was previously occupied by cattle fairs, the signs of which you might still see in some of its facilities. Except on Sundays, it is so calm that you could sit on its benches for hours on end reading a book or even taking a snap!

The park has a lake with koi, a small area with books and chess pieces available for visitors, nice lanes for strolling amidst its green areas, and a large sandy area where children may play. On Saturday mornings, it holds a renowned fair selling organic fruit and vegetables, as well as other homemade organic products; on Sunday afternoons, it is common to find a large group of elderly people who get together to play the guitar and sing popular Brazilian country songs (a picturesque sight!).

The opposite side of the park is home to a recently opened trail amidst the trees called Trilha do Pau Brasil (Brazil wood trail), in which most trees received labels identifying their names and origin.

If you begin to feel hungry, the park does not offer much besides the coconut water and popular snacks. Although there is a shopping mall nearby where you could resort to some fast food chain, I’ll give you some other options:
The park has a secondary entrance/exit, on R. Germaine Burchard. Right on the corner you'll find a pleasant bar, for a beer in late afternoons or early evenings, called Bar do Parque.

In case you are there around lunchtime, I suggest a nearby street – across Av. Antártica - which is home to several kilo restaurants: R. Barão de Tefé.

I heartily suggest two of them:

- Sucre (R. Barão de Tefé, 137) Apart from the kilo options, the restaurant also offers a la carte items based on fish (specially cod) as the patrons also own a Portuguese restaurant

- Mussy Mussy (R. Barão de Tefé, 79) Nice and varied assortment of dishes, topped up by its magnificent desserts.

As this is an office area, most restaurants around will be crowded from midday to one p.m., so it would be wiser to go a little later.

Parque da Água Branca - Av. Francisco Matarazzo, 455

http://www.parqueaguabranca.sp.gov.br/

By subway:

Barra Funda subway station

When leaving the huge station, follow the signs to Memorial da América Latina. Once out, go “up”, or ask for the park or the avenue, both are widely known.

By bus:

From Av. Paulista:

875P – to Barra Funda subway station

877T – to Av. Francisco Matarazzo (bus stop right in front the entrance of the park)

From the city center, all these buses will leave you on the bus stop in front of the park:

From Parque D. Pedro:

8615 - PQ DA LAPA

From R. Xavier de Toledo (near the Theatro Municipal) :

8000 – TERM. LAPA

8400 – TERM. PIRITUBA

8677 – JD. LIBANO

8622 – MORRO DOCE

8594 – JD. D’ABRIL

8696 – JARAGUA

From Largo do Paissandu:

8686 - V. MANGALOT

A NIGHT OUT - Karaoke

As the idea for this blog is to give out suggestions for off-the-beaten track places, here we go! Your travel guide probably suggests you should visit Liberdade, the Japanese (and now also Korean and Chinese) neighborhood in São Paulo, whose streets are adorned with typical Japanese lights and red posts, plus Japanese and Chinese restaurants, shops, not to mention an arts and crafts market on Sundays (very entertaining, actually).

But let's imagine you want to spend the night out with friends and would like to do something a bit weird, but fun... that's what I did yesterday, I spent the night singing at Samurai Karaoke (R. da Glória, 608 - Liberdade). Samurai holds an oriental restaurant on the ground floor and the karaoke room on the top floor. Entrance is R$ 10,00 for women and R$ 15,00 for men (for the karaoke room only) and you may sing as much as time allows you (hostesses take people from each table in turns, so the emptier the place, the more you sing). They've got lots of songs in Portuguese, English, Japanese, and even a good deal of songs in Italian and Spanish. You may also order food and drinks from the restaurant below. The whole place has an air of decadence, receiving loners, groups of elderly people, Japanese ladies, and even large crowds of young people celebrating birthdays... you feel somehow inside the movie 'Lost in Translation', but if you like to sing and you do have some nice company, you certainly will have a good time! The place is open from 6pm from Monday to Saturday and closes after 3a.m.

Rua da Glória is parallel to R. Galvão Bueno, the main shopping street in Liberdade. Just go one block down... Actually the area has some other karaokes, the most famous of which is Karaoke Choperia Liberdade, on the 523. This is a much larger, crowded and completely kitsch place in which you have to pay R$ 2,00 for each song you sing and sometimes wait for hours to sing one song. But the atmosphere is that of a large party, but if perhaps you don't really have a large group of friends and would like to meet some locals (and maybe singing is not really your goal) this is the place to go!

AVENIDA PAULISTA - Supermarkets

One of the first things I look for in a new city is a supermarket. This may come in handy for any unexpected necessity, and for my customary daily supply of mineral water – I refuse to pay the amount hotels charge for a small bottle, and I do drink lots of water during a day.

If you are staying or hanging around Av. Paulista you have at least two choices of supermarkets to count on:

EXTRA SUPERMERCADOS – Av. Brigadeiro Luis Antonio, 2013. One block from Av. Paulista, on the even-numbered sidewalk. (www.extra.com.br)

A large market with all ranges of products and reasonable prices. Good choice of fruit, if you care to taste some local specimens Also nice for foreigners who like to buy cigarette packages, which are apparently much cheaper in Brazil – in this case you must ask for the cashier, for the cigarettes are visible on a glass display at the entrance, but must be asked for and brought to the cashier by one of the market’s employees. Order (or write on a piece of paper) “(number of packages wanted) pacote(s) de (cigarette brand you desire)”.

PÃO DE AÇÚCAR – Alameda Santos, 2071. One block from Av. Paulista, right behind Conjunto Nacional (odd-numbered sidewalk). (www.paodeacucar.com.br)

Unfortunately this is a small shop of this nice supermarket chain, and as a consequence of the lack of space, the shop is somewhat crammed and confused. If you care to walk a little longer, you’ll find another Pão de Açúcar on r. Pamplona, 816

This supermarket will not have huge supplies of anything, and prices are not the cheapest in town, but they do offer variety and uncommon things. Lots of imported, organic, or  homemade products, different brands, typical Brazilian brands, etc. Good for foreigners who would like to take home some Brazilian coffee, but to have more choices for their pick. Also Brazilian chocolates with local fruits such as cupuaçu, take-away food and sandwiches, fresh juices, and always new and interesting items.

Eating in SP - Bread

As soon as you get your first breakfast here (or mostly anywhere in Brazil) you’ll get acquainted with our most common local bread, named here “Pão Francês,” literally “French bread.” You’ll have this for breakfast and this is the bread that will envelop your sandwich in case you choose to have one for a meal at one of our several Padarias.

 Freshly-baked Pão Francês

Slightly salty, a fine loaf of Pão Francês must be crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside… its crust should be crispy, and make a delicious noise as you bite it. Some rubbery versions may indicate that the bread is not fresh, or maybe just that the recipe is not good.

Some suggestions to try at any local padaria:

- pão na chapa (an open loaf of pão francês that receives a generous amount of butter and is pressed for some minutes on the grill where other sandwiches are prepared; a classic for a quick breakfast when you’re on the go);

A typical order: pão na chapa with coffee and milk

- sanduíche de churrasco com queijo (a nice piece of meat is grilled together with a bountiful amount of yellow cheese… if you prefer something less fatty, ask for yours “aparado”, this means the evident fat of the beef will be removed):

- sanduíche de carne-louca (a classic in old-times kids parties is now offered by some places; well-seasoned shredded beef, wet with tomato sauce, fills in a loaf of bread for that quick meal; nice with a glass of orange juice or a Guaraná).

Carne-louca means "mad meat"!!!



AVENIDA PAULISTA - Walking Along 2

Now let’s take the left-hand sidewalk. Still on r. Bernardino de Campos, at the 98, try one of the delicious juices of Bolados Sucos (the menu in this link is in English) – go for some typical tropical fruit.

This juice shop is the corner shop of a gallery that goes through the block and reaches the street behind. In case you’re missing international chains, cross this gallery and you’ll find Subway and Starbucks on the back street.

But going on to Av. Paulista, at number 37 is Casa das Rosas (House of the Roses), a cultural center with daily activities and exhibitions. Pocket shows, poetry, literature… get inside its beautiful garden and check what is on. If nothing grabs your interest, you may try the charming café. The setting somehow reminds me of the gardens of the Musée Rodin in Paris.

 The garden of Casa das Rosas

 The house itself

The café at the back - not visible from the street.

Some steps ahead, at number 149 you’ll find another cultural center, Itaú Cultural. Maintained by a huge banking institution, the site is home to more avant-garde exhibitions, usually involving new technologies, breakthrough artists, video installations, etc. Music and other performances are usually free, people just have to queue for tickets one hour before the appointed time.  The second floor is a library and the ground floor is home to a nice café.

Centro Cultural Itaú - exhibitions, library, performances, and a café.



AVENIDA PAULISTA - Walking Along

Here we are back to Av. Paulista… though we intend to explore other areas, Paulista can’t be beaten as the place to go for tourists to feel the atmosphere of the city. On weekdays, busy people hurrying to cross the streets and having lunch in 15min, men in their suits and women in high heels; on weekends, a completely different picture, the large avenue becomes a promenade where people walk leisurely heading to its movie theaters, cultural attractions, or a relaxing cup of coffee. Our proposal is to walk along the avenue and pinpoint some interesting features you may miss.

Starting from the beginning, at the Paraíso subway station (which is actually on r. Bernardino de Campos, before the beginning of Paulista), walk towards Paulista on the right-hand sidewalk and you’ll find Pça Oswaldo Cruz, which marks the very beginning of Paulista. On number 26 is Ponto Chic, a traditional sandwich bar with a 60’s feel, famous for the Bauru ao Ponto Chic, sandwich with roast beef, tomatoes and a gooey abundant mix of melted cheeses (R$ 17,90). Or go for my favorite, Seleto, which adds ham to that mix (R$ 22,10). To help it go down, ask for the lemonade; beside the large cold glass containing it they usually give you a small aluminum bucket of almost as much juice, all the precious liquid that was left in their mixer.

Make sure you order the sandwich; there is a version served as a dish, with bread aside.

It's more expensive and not the real deal.

Some steps ahead, now on r. 13 de Maio, lies the Shopping Pátio Paulista. The name is not written in large letters on its façade, but rather in small letters on a large Big Ben-like clock over the main doors. Though I talked about food courts in shopping malls here I don’t really believe a mall should be of much interest for tourists, but I also admit that many times while traveling I headed to one, especially when all I wanted was fast food and clean toilets. After a wide renovation, this mall offers a wide range of shops and fast food restaurants, and probably a dozen cafés (though I feel sitting on a table in the corridor of a mall takes away much of the charm of a café). Anyway, there are two things I recommend here. As you enter, turn left and take the escalators going down. Look for these:

- Freddo – a kiosk of the Argentine ice cream parlor. Ok, it’s Argentine, but their milk caramel (doce de leite) options are unsurpassable. A must, simply delicious. (R$ 8,50 for one scoop).

- Brigaderia – now for the local goodies… As I explained here, if you want a (very sweet) taste of local treats, brigadeiros are your article. Here you’ll find them with several different toppings, in extremely pretty and well-done wrappings.

IMPORTANT AND USEFUL INFO: On the same floor of the mall there is a Currency Exchange Shop, named Cotação Câmbio (câmbio being 'exchange' in Portuguese). Contact phone: 3285-4845; www.cotacao.com.br

 

Eating in SP - Brigadeiro

One of the most typical Brazilian sweets is the brigadeiro, a trufle-like bonbon. Originally it was a homemade treat  served basically at children’s parties, made with cocoa powder and condensed milk, cooked till a luscious creamy consistency was reached; recently  brigadeiros have become the new hype, earning exclusive shops, sophisticated wrappings and added ingredients such as pistachio, pepper, coffee, coconut, hazelnut, etc.

Some specialist shops are:

Maria Brigadeiro - R. Capote Valente, 68 - Pinheiros

Brigaderia - R. Treze de Maio, 1947 (Shopping Pátio Paulista)

Brigadeiro Doceria e Café - R. Padre Carvalho, 91 - Pinheiros

Brigadeiros by Cousin's - R. Cardoso de Almeida, 1371 - Perdizes

These shops, and also several restaurants or cafés may also offer a recent interpretation of the classic, the brigadeiro de copinho, in other words, the chocolate cream in a small  plastic cup, like you see below:

Many other delicacies are also inspired by brigadeiros, such as cakes, puddings, and ice creams.

Eating in SP- Snacks

SALGADOS

A variety of salgados

Salgados, meaning “savory thing”, is a general term to refer to a wide range of items Brazilians eat when in a hurry, or when not willing to spend money on a proper meal. Most are stuffed pastries filled with things like ham and cheese, cream cheese, chicken, sausages, or other creative things. They are usually grab-and-go items, but in some places you may sit down to taste them, together with some juice, soda, or even beer.

I’ll introduce you to some of these:

COXINHA

A mouth-watering coxinha

The translation for coxinha would be ‘chicken drumstick’. They consist of chicken bits, seasoned with onion and herbs, coated by a layer of mashed potatoes; but as they are deep fried, be careful where you eat them, otherwise you might get something too oily. But in general they are quite tasty. A famous spot for coxinhas is Frangó, a bar which is completely off the beaten track for tourists, but well worth the visit, for their food is quite typical, they have a vast range of beer brands (Brazilian and international), and the location is quite picturesque. If you will not have the chance to see small Brazilian towns, this is the closest you can get from their feel inside São Paulo.

EMPADA

Crunchy and tasty empadas



Empadas are tasty small pielike salgados, consisting of a buttery pastry filled with either shredded chicken or palm tree core, usually well-seasoned with added tomato sauce to give it some color. Though you may find large ones, the typical empada can be eaten in three or four bites. It must look somewhat glossy and golden. Prices will range from R$ 2,00 to 5,00. Other choices of filling include cod or even shrimps.

Recently some specialized shops have come up, so if you come across one of them (named Rancho da Empada, Casa da Empada, Empadaria da Vovó, Empada Caipira, etc) you might go crazy and venture yourself in dozens of fillings like meat and cheddar cheese, pumpkin and dry meat, sweetcorn, or even sample sweet ones, filled with chocolate, banana, etc etc.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Most salgados can be found at your local padaria; the food chain Viena will usually have them in miniature sizes, in case you want to experiment a little. They have a kiosk right at the entrance of Conjunto Nacional (Av. Paulista, 2073), and a restaurant at the back, on the corner of R. Augusta and Alameda Santos.



Eating in SP - Cheap & Good

Ragazzo

You've probably heard, or soon will discover, that eating in Brazil has become quite expensive. Ok, maybe you have money to splash, so check where to go on official tourism guides. My intention here is to give you some options if you only intend to eat honest food at reasonable prices.
Recently I was amazed to discover Ragazzo, a fast food chain that offers a wide range of choices at incredible prices for São Paulo. Even regular fast food restaurants here will be quite expensive; it's impossible to spend less than US$ 10. Average spending would be around US$15 and above.
To begin with, though they may be called a 'fast food restaurant', you sit down and order your food from waiters, and pay the bill as you leave. Italian food prevails in their menu (pasta, pizzas), but also include dishes with grilled meat, sandwiches, salgados (see post here), salads (you pick seven ingredients from a list; the small one costs about US$3), soup (a bowl for less than US$2), juices and dessert. Nothing is exceptional, but good and surely clean. And quite cheap. See their complete menu here. Though everything is in Portuguese, the menu is plenty of photos that will surely help you out when selecting your choices.
When walking around Avenida Paulista, try this one:
Ragazzo - Alameda Santos, 2209, some steps from the corner with Rua Augusta (near Conjunto Nacional).
Subway station: Consolação
Buses: any bus running along Avenida Paulista, get off in front of Conjunto Nacional (southward) or near Rua Frei Caneca (westward).

Eating in SP - Kilo Restaurants

Kilos (or in Portuguese, Quilos) are self-service restaurants in which you help yourself at a buffet and pay for the amount of food you picked. Typically you’ll stand on a line and get a tray and a dish (cutlery may be either near the dishes or given to you at the end). Usually the buffet starts with the desserts (paid for separately), then you walk along to find salads and then proper food. At the end of the line you’ll find an employee who will use a scale to weigh your plate, write down the number of grams it contains (discounting the weigh of the dish itself), note down if you have taken any dessert and ask you if you want anything to drink. Some restaurants leave soft drinks and juice cans available for you to grab, others will have a waiter taking them to your table.

This is a very popular system around town, especially for lunch. Street ‘kilo’ restaurants will not open for dinner, only those located inside shopping malls, which operate all day long.

Most kilos are reliable places to eat, and healthy too, for they usually offer a good range of salads and hearty food. Some will even have quite sophisticated options among their options for the day. But in any case, be sure to check the overall cleanliness of the place. Prices will range from R$ 24,90/29,90 at the simple kilos, to more than R$40,00/kg at the fancy spots. Only try something cheaper than R$ 24,90/kg if recommended by someone you really trust!