São Suppers Food Tour with 12+ Tastings

5.0
(1 reviews)
Sao Paulo, Brazil

4 hours (approximately)
Offered in: English

Most visitors experience São Paulo through its skyscrapers, traffic, and famous restaurants. We'll take you somewhere different.

This small-group food tour explores the neighbourhoods of República and Santa Cecília through the bars, bakeries, street vendors, and family-run institutions that locals have been frequenting for decades. Along the way, we'll uncover the stories behind Brazil's most iconic foods, sample 12+ tastings ranging from street snacks to regional specialities, and gain an understanding of how migration, architecture, and working-class culture shaped South America's largest city.

From cachaça tastings and legendary pork sandwiches to bustling street food stalls and old-school botequims, this is the São Paulo that exists beyond the guidebooks. With a maximum of just 8 guests, we'll explore a side of the city that many visitors simply walk past.

This isn't about fine dining, it's an authentic taste of the real São Paulo through the eyes of a local tastemaker guide.

What's Included

Led by professional tastemaker guides
Movable food feast with 7-8 stops around São Paulo
Bottled water included
12+ food tastings included, more than any other São Paulo food tour
Max 8 exclusive guests, smallest group size in São Paulo (private tour or 9+ guests possible)
Alcoholic drinks
Pick up and drop off from hotel excluded

Meeting and pickup

Meeting point

The meeting point Café Floresta is in the República neighbourhood. It is accessible by taxi from most of the city's central hotels. Uber is widely available, safe, and a popular mode of transportation in São Paulo, operating 24/7.

End point

The tour concludes outside the Parish Santa Cecilia in the Santa Cecília neighbourhood. The tour duration is approximately 3.5 to 4 hours depending on the pace of the group. Your guide can help you to find transport back to your accommodation if you wish.

Itinerary

Duration: 4 hours (approximately)
  • 1

    São Paulo is a city that never really stops and has enough eateries to keep a foodie busy for a lifetimes. Our feasting tour of 12+ tastings explores the neighbourhoods of República and Santa Cecília, two districts where old-school bars, street vendors, and neighbourhood institutions reveal the flavours that keep the city. Led by our team of tastemakers, you'll discover a side of the city that many visitors never see. Before we get started, our tour reflects the local cuisine and the limitations of street food vendors means we unfortunately cannot cater for every dietary restriction. Here's an honest appraisal for the tour so no-one is disappointed: 
✘ Unsuitable for vegan, vegetarian, no pork diets, halal diet, and lactose intolerance as the tastings would be very limited. ✔ Pescatarian diets and gluten intolerance are possible though some tastings do not have alternatives available and the menu would be more limited. ✔ Suitable for no seafood diets and mild nut allergies.

    15 minutes Admission ticket free
  • 2

    We begin with one of Brazil's sweetest success stories. The brigadeiro was created in the 1940s during a political campaign and somehow became a national obsession. Paired with a cinnamon-spiced coffee, it's the perfect introduction to a city fuelled by caffeine and sugar in equal measure. As we wander República's lively streets, the curves of Oscar Niemeyer's Copan Building rise above us. More than just an architectural icon, this giant concrete wave is home to thousands of Paulistanos and has become one of the defining symbols of modern São Paulo. Not far away, we pause to explore another Brazilian treasure: cachaça. Distilled from sugarcane for centuries, it predates many of the world's most famous spirits and helped build fortunes, fuel celebrations, and occasionally start a few fights. We'll sample a flight of three styles, from the classic unaged spirit to versions matured in native Brazilian woods.

    45 minutes Admission ticket free
  • 3

    Opened in the 1960s and still largely unknown to foreign visitors, our next stop is a true neighbourhood institution. Locals squeeze in shoulder-to-shoulder for what many consider one of the finest sanduíches de pernil in the city. Slow-roasted pork, juicy, messy and impossible to eat elegantly, arrives alongside golden coxinhas, Brazil's beloved chicken croquettes shaped like little teardrops. A few streets away, a bakery showcases another national addiction. Warm pão de queijo emerge fresh from the oven, their crisp exterior giving way to a stretchy, cheesy centre. Like most visitors, you'll probably wonder why every country doesn't have these.

    1 hour Admission ticket free
  • 4

    Street food is woven into the rhythm of São Paulo, and we wouldn't dream of skipping it. At a local vendor, beef skewers sizzle over hot coals before being rolled through toasted cassava flour, adding crunch and a distinctly Brazilian touch. Then comes another national favourite: the pastel. Crispy, blistered pastry envelopes savoury fillings that have fuelled market shoppers for generations. We'll sample both beef and heart of palm versions, paired with a fiery homemade chilli sauce that locals apply with varying degrees of bravery.

    30 minutes Admission ticket free
  • 5

    A short Metro ride carries us into Santa Cecília, one of São Paulo's most characterful neighbourhoods. Long favoured by artists, musicians, students, and old-school residents who refuse to leave, it's a district where faded mansions, trendy bars, and family-run eateries comfortably coexist. Here we dive into dishes that tell the story of Brazil's Northeast. Baião de dois combines rice, beans, cheese, and dried beef into a deeply comforting dish that punches far above the sum of its parts. Alongside it comes rich black bean broth and impossibly crisp torresmo, the pork crackling that Brazilians treat with almost religious devotion.

    45 minutes Admission ticket free
  • 6

    We finish where many of São Paulo's best evenings begin: at a neighbourhood botequim. Cold chopp beer arrives alongside modern takes on Brazilian classics, including beef rib croquettes and tender chicken gizzards coated in bright green salsa verde. There's more to this São Paulo food tour than the food itself. It's a glimpse into the bars, bakeries, immigrant influences, and neighbourhood institutions that have shaped South America's largest city. While it's possible to eat well on your own in São Paulo, you'd be hard-pushed to uncover these stories, flavours, and local favourites without our tastemaker guides.

    45 minutes Admission ticket free

Additional info

  • Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
  • Public transportation options are available nearby
  • Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
  • Not recommended for pregnant travelers
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Supplied by A Chef's Tour

Tags

Half-day Tours
Private and Luxury
Walking Tours
Street Food Tours
Small Group
Food & Drink
Short term availability

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

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Rating

5.0 Based on 1 1 review
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