Ever wondered where you might go if you wanted to spend say 40$ on a pizza? We learned the stupid way. One night we were looking up reviews on pizza and decided to place an order where the stars ranked highest on tripadvisor, our go-to "yelp" replacement. Portuguese is a tough language to learn but its even harder over the phone. So when my husband called I think he was so nervous about getting the order, address and conversation right that he forgot to ask the price. One hour later the 'moto boy' (delivery guy) showed up at the door with a pizza and a R60$ receipt. We honestly thought we were getting three pizzas and somehow the order got screwed up. Nope just one single pizza all by its lonesome, no cokes, no napkins and certainly no hot red pepper and parmesan packets. After a good laugh the pizza was so good it became a silly memory. We vowed never to spend that much on pizza that was driven 20 minutes from its location in the pouring down rain by a guy on a motorcycle going 90mph and literally risking his life in traffic to finally get us our now slightly chilled pie. But we would be happy to go there and enjoy it with a nice cold Bohemia Chopp!
Now its our every once in a while midweek date night or friday evening meet up with friends spot because the atmosphere is perfect and for Sao Paulo so is the pizza. Its all relative right? I refuse to compare this to my all time favorite pizza at Mici's in Denver or even the old brick oven and deep dish stomping grounds back in Chicago but this our place in Sao Paulo! While we don't go there as much as we would if it were 18$ pizza, we love it and if you come to this city and crave some mozzarella and fresh tomatoes on dough this is your casa!
Now its our every once in a while midweek date night or friday evening meet up with friends spot because the atmosphere is perfect and for Sao Paulo so is the pizza. Its all relative right? I refuse to compare this to my all time favorite pizza at Mici's in Denver or even the old brick oven and deep dish stomping grounds back in Chicago but this our place in Sao Paulo! While we don't go there as much as we would if it were 18$ pizza, we love it and if you come to this city and crave some mozzarella and fresh tomatoes on dough this is your casa!
8 comments:
Dear Jana,
You made me almost cry tonight...we have a serious case of Sao Paulo pizza cravings now... :)
Let me give you some advice...don't ever even mention parmesan cheese or ground red pepper at a Pizza place in Sao Paulo or they will drag you away in a straight jacket before you can say "cheese" :)
There are not enought Italians in Rio so poor Cariocas have no good references when it comes to Pizza and they put mayonaise, ketchup and mustard...YES, on their Pizza, I just gagged a little while writting this...but most of their Pizza sucks anyway so nobody really cares...love Rio but they don't know the first thing about Pizza.
Pizza in Sao Paulo is serious business, Olive Oil is the only acceptable topping as you may have noticed by now...
"Margeritha Pizzaria" on Haddock Lobo Street in Jardins is one of my favorites and they make a mean Sangria, the requeijao with hearts of Palm Pizza is the best in my opinion, I am not sure if they deliver to Vila Madalena where you leave but they just might, you are not too far.
"Famiglia Mancini" is a very traditional Italian restaurant in downtown Sao Paulo, they always have a HUGE wait and they opened a Pizzaria in recent years, they Pizza place is awesome because it has great live music of good taste...either Jazz or Piano, nothing too loud that you coudn't talk and they have a section of the place divided by glass in case you want quiet and don't want music...great Pizza too.
My brother's favorite Pizza place in Sao Paulo is "Camelo", they are just your traditional Pizza place, nothing fancy, absolutely great authentic Pizza and not expensive at all, they deliver all over the place and probably already have a branch in your area by now...they have serveral branches around your Region. Camelo also deliver other options for food such as "Stroagnoff".
"Crystal" is another good Pizza place, they are on the fancy side, I am not even sure if they deliver but they have great Pizza and also serve steaks and other cool dishes, they are a good option if you have a group of friends who want different things, one can have Pizza, one can have steak, salmon, pasta whatever...it is all made right in front of you in the middle of the restaurant, it is a cool experience.
I tried "Santa Pizza" in your area a few years ago and really liked it, they are a hip new kind of Pizza place, not your traditional Sao Paulo Pizzaria but cool if you want to vary aa little and have Ostrich Meat Pizza and exotic things like that...
Hope you enjoy...Now I have to try the Casa Braz, it sounds great.
You are probably learning the hard way that Sao Paulo is a freaking expensive city when it comes to eating out...very good, but expensive.
Ray
As a Rio/Niterói resident I can atest that folks here make HORRIBLE pizza (and yes, they put mayonaise and ketchup on it!)
Coincidentally this article appeared today in my Google Alert Brazil file:
http://www.freep.com/article/20110116/FEATURES07/101160334/1032/Sao-Paulo-20-million-people----and-samba----keep-things-lively
Cool link Jim...
Just for the record Sao Paulo Pizza is the best in the whole wide world...
New York forgeaboutit...! :)
YUMMY! Jim, I wouldn't say horrible. You can find a couple of good ones in Zona Sul, but nothing close to the US. Very greasy.
I'll have to try this place if I ever make it back to SP :)
Before I came to Sao Paulo, my husband told me "there's a pizza place on every corner and they are all delicious". With a few exceptions, I have to say he's right.
Braz is probably the best pizza I've had in Sao Paulo, but don't even bother with delivery. By the time it gets to your house it will have just turned into a very expensive version of what you could get from the regular place down the street. It doesn't travel well. Definitely make a trip there. Their chopp is famous for a reason.
I love your pizza place in Denver. It quickly became my favorite. So many good times. I miss you! We are doing great here! xoxo
We gamble with delivery by using http://www.restauranteweb.com.br they show the prices, as I almost had the same pizza experience.
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