São Paulo is the gourmet capital of Brazil. It's the city with the money to attract the country's best chefs, with the clientele to pay the tab at the most outstanding restaurants. Plus, with no beaches or mountains to play on, Paulistas amuse themselves by eating out. People dress up for dinner here (or more than they would elsewhere in the country) and usually go out around 9 or 10pm at the earliest. It's becoming more common for restaurants to accept reservations, but many still don't. If waiting for a table drives you to distraction, better to arrive unfashionably early at 8pm.
The variety of cuisine is larger than anywhere in the country. Like New York or Toronto, São Paulo is a city of immigrants. Many of the city's best restaurants are Italian. However, the city has a number of top Middle Eastern restaurants, as well as the best Japanese food in the country, plus Spanish, Portuguese, Bahian, and even Thai cuisine. Churrascarias are always a favorite, as are lunch-time kilo spots, which mad-for-work Paulistas see as the perfect way to fuel up for long hours at the office.
The Guia São Paulo, the entertainment listing published in the Friday Folha de São Paulo newspaper, contains a detailed restaurant section, handy for confirming hours and phone numbers. Also note that the long street names are often abbreviated by Paulistas; for example, the Rua José Maria Lisboa may also be known as Rua Lisboa.
