# São Paulo Notes --- ## Entries ### Museums My personal hierarchy for two days: 1. **[Pinacoteca do Estado de SP](https://pinacoteca.org.br/)** — Personal favorite. Three buildings in the same neighborhood (Luz): the main one, a contemporary art annex, and a third that shares space with a memorial to victims of the dictatorship. All worth it. 2. **[MASP](https://masp.org.br/)** — The more famous one, on Avenida Paulista. Two buildings side by side, stronger international collection. A must. 3. **[Museu da Língua Portuguesa](https://museudalinguaportuguesa.org.br/)** — Interactive and accessible, right next to the Pinacoteca. Easy to do both in a day. 4. **[Instituto Moreira Salles](https://ims.com.br/)** — On Paulista, great for photography and visual culture. Depends on your interests. Paulista Avenue alone has about 10 museums. **Ibirapuera Park** is basically São Paulo's Central Park, with its own cluster of museums inside. The one worth singling out is the **[Museu Afro Brasil](https://museuafrobrasil.org.br/)**. --- ### Beaches *nearby* Quick geography note — the options are quite different from each other: - **Praia Grande** — ~1.5h from SP. Convenient but not particularly beautiful. The historic center of nearby Santos has some charm. - **Ubatuba** — My recommendation. ~3h from SP, still in São Paulo state, genuinely stunning. Worth the drive if you have a day. - **Paraty** — ~4h, technically in Rio de Janeiro state. Beautiful colonial town, very different crowd. Worth it if you can spare the full day. **Go to Ubatuba if time is the constraint.** Uber works fine for longer routes, or rent a car. --- ### Food #### My picks - **[Casa do Porco](https://casadoporcobar.com.br/)** — Non-negotiable, number one without a doubt. Book now — it fills up weeks in advance. - **[Tordesilhas](https://tordesilhas.com/)** — One of the best for traditional Brazilian cuisine. - **[A Baianeira](https://abaianeira.com.br/)** — Right on the ground floor of the MASP building. Simple, very good, incredibly convenient. #### [[Maria Siqueira]]'s list _The second highest authority in my life on food (after mom). Her picks below, with minimal editorial._ **The classics / more traditional** - **Acrópoles** — Greek food. Good to pair with a visit to the Pinacoteca. Old-school, no frills. - **[Guanabara](https://barbearia-guanabara.negocio.site/)** — A historic old-school bar-restaurant in the city center, the kind of place that's been there forever and fully deserves to be. Order the _virado à paulista_ (beans, rice, pork, egg, banana), _parmegiana_, or Oswaldo Aranha steak. - **Buona Fatia or [Speranza](https://speranza.com.br/)** — Go to Bixiga (São Paulo's little Italy) for good, cheap pizza. Both may have queues. If you can time it for a Friday evening, the neighborhood has informal street samba spilling out of the bars — that alone is worth going for. - **Halim** — Best family-run Arabic food in the city, in the Paraíso neighborhood. Gets full but turns over quickly. Good option when finishing up at the Paulista end (near Japan House, for instance). **A step up / more considered** - **[Jiquitaia](https://jiquitaia.com.br/)** — Very good Brazilian countryside cooking — the kind that doesn't fit the usual tourist stereotypes. Think rural Brazil rather than coastal. Good cachaça and cocktails too. Also in Paraíso. - **[Manioca](https://manioca.com.br/)** — Helena Rizzo's more accessible restaurant. Not heavily focused on traditional Brazilian dishes, but the fish and the _pamonha salgada com matambre de porco_ (savory corn cake with cured pork) are excellent. Awkwardly located but worth it. - **[Jesuíno Brilhante](https://jesuinobrilhante.com.br/)** — Sertão cooking — food from the arid backlands of northeastern Brazil. Small space, very special, and genuinely a different side of Brazil from what most visitors ever see. In Pinheiros. - **[Consulado da Bahia](https://consuladodabahia.com.br/)** — Her pick for the best _moqueca_ in São Paulo (the classic Bahian fish stew, slow-cooked in coconut milk and palm oil — non-negotiable at least once). Also fills up. Also in Pinheiros.