8 Best Restaurants in São Paulo, Brazil

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Generous portions at reasonable prices and live music—that's the Lazzarella way. The cantina, a classic Italian joint founded in 1970, is hardly extravagant, but the rich flavors of a meal here and the Neapolitan stylings of the crooners circling among the red-and-white checkered tabletops are memorable. The signature house lasagna dish, made old-style with ground beef and mozzarella in a Bolognese sauce, is meal enough for two. All the pastas here are worth a try.

One of the most traditional pizzerias in São Paulo, this restaurant is famous for its margherita pie. In 2010, Speranza became the first pizzeria in Latin America to win recognition from the Italian pizza quality-control board Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. Pasta, chicken, and beef dishes are also served.