Balaio is a large straw-like basket, and the purpose of the name for the restaurant is to blend the different culinary cultures of Brazil. It’s located on the ground floor of the Instituto Moreira Salles, which houses exhibitions and a library in photography, theater for screenings and music concerns, and classrooms for courses and workshops. The restaurant comes from chef Rodrigo Oliveira, who opened this restaurant located near our hotel on Paulista avenue. He’s also well known for Mocotó, a restaurant focused on Northeast Brazilian flavors. The restaurant is well known for its cocktails, but we came for the food. We made a reservation for 12:30 PM on a Saturday a few days in advance without any issues. If you are unable to speak or understand Portuguese, they do have the menus in English.

In the São Paulo city of Brazil, there are three prestigious rated restaurants with 2 Michelin Stars: Evvai, DOM, and Tuju. Since this is my second time visiting this city, we decided to knock out the third one this time around. In the Michelin Guide, they classify the flavors of this restaurant as creative, so the expectations are high that it will use plenty of Brazilian ingredients to bring a very local upscale finesse to the food. Tuju is led by chef Ivan Ralson, who steers this restaurant’s 10-course menu based on the seasons, trying to use the freshest ingredients available.

The Jardan Bar and Restaurant has a few locations, but the one we went to is located on Paulista avenue. What interested us about this restaurant was it had a vibrant crowd outside and inside, primarily because there was a Sao Paulo soccer game going on. We walked in for 2 at 8:00 PM, and we were seated immediately. The seating area is pretty wide open with a lot of tables, where most of the views face the large TV in the corner.

This Manioca location is in the JK shopping mall, where it’s surrounded by professional offices such as Amazon, Johnson & Johnson, Santander, and many more. The restaurant opens sharply at 11:30 AM local time, and at 12:00 PM, all the workers flock from their offices to this mall to eat in the food court and all the various restaurants. Manioca is a restaurant by Helena Rizzo, who also happened to own Michelin-rated Mani as well. We went to this restaurant to try because she has built a very nice reputation of having great foods.

Open 24 hours, Estadao is probably most similar to an American diner experience. There are stools that are planted into the ground, and it faces the kitchen. You can order your food pretty quickly, and most of the food options they offer are rustic and blue-collar types of meals. Think of these as a glutton of rice and beans with meat. They also offer beer for that post work relaxation. When you walk in, simply head to the back and take a seat anywhere that’s open. The attendant will come to you and take your order, or you can flag him down.

Located in the Mercadao Municipal area, this restaurant is located in the second floor of this bustling farmer’s market. When I arrived in this area, it’s very similar to farmers markets that have a vast variety of seafood, meats, and eats all over. For me, it felt like a blend of the east meets west, where there were a lot of fruit sellers and of the normal seafood and (cured) meats. We had gone here because one of my favorite actors, Terry Crews, raved about the mortadella sandwich located at Bar do Mane, which is located on the first floor. However, that was closed for some reason, and my partner said this place was better than that place in their opinion.

Sal e Brasa is a Brazilian churrascaria (steakhouse) chain that has all-you-can-eat meats, salads, and foods. In the outside, you can see these gigantic ribs on spits rotating. I have no idea if those were real, but they were pretty cool. We were able to walk in with seating for a party of 6 very easily in the middle of the afternoon. This was going to be our last meal before we head back to the U.S., and I was worried if I was going to get full fast.

Dobradinha do Lucas literally translates to “Tripe of Lucas”. Yes, we’re coming here to eat tripe. My partner had been a frequent visitor to this restaurant during their university days, and they decided to bring me here to give this a shot. The area is a little sketchy, but we came here mid-day when there wasn’t a whole lot of traffic or people. We sat outside along in their half covered patio on plastic tables and seats.

Curio is a local bar restaurant around where we were staying. My partner wanted to meet their friends locally here since it was new to them, and in the evenings, it appeared to be a very happening place. We were able to walk in for 4 people at around 6 PM without any issues. We had the option of sitting right in the outdoor area in front of the restaurant with security guards around, but we opted to sit inside toward the back.

Zeh Cozinha is located in the Midway shopping mall in Natal. It’s regarded as a local restaurant with many options of steak or seafood. The price is not too expensive for locals, and this restaurant is competing for business against Camarões and Outback in the same level of the shopping mall. Along with the foods, it also has a decent selection of drinks. We were really excited to try this restaurant out to get a feel for what’s a popular local restaurant.