Sao Paulo's Spanish restaurants are not spread evenly across the city. They cluster, which makes them easy to walk between if you know which cluster you are in. There are ten in our directory and they fall into roughly three groups: Pinheiros in the west, the Jardim Paulista and Bela Vista blocks around Rua Oscar Freire, and a pair of doors in Ipiranga.
A two-day route can take in all three.
Saturday afternoon: Pinheiros
Start at Huevos de Oro on Rua Pedroso de Morais. It opened in 2019 as a contemporary tavern modelled on the Spanish barra, the standing bar counter, and its listing says the founders built it around the products and recipes of Spain rather than a reinterpretation of them. Pinheiros is one of the city's denser eating districts, which is part of why it is there.
XXPintxos Bar, which takes its cue from the Basque Country. Its record lists pintxos on bread, cured meats, artisanal cheeses, Spanish wine and Basque cider. If you have never poured sidra from height, this is the place in Sao Paulo to ask about it.
Saturday night: Rua Oscar Freire
A few numbers apart on Oscar Freire sit Tanit at number 145 and Nit Bar de Tapas at 153. Both come from Spanish chef Oscar Bosch and both took a Bib Gourmand in the 2020 Michelin guide, according to their listings.
They are not the same restaurant twice. Tanit is the contemporary Catalan-leaning kitchen; Nit opened in 2019 specifically to do tapeo, the habit of moving between bars eating small plates, and its record notes it was named best bar to eat at in Sao Paulo by Folha's guide that same year. Eat at one, drink at the other.
If you want a terrace instead, Mercado Iberico is on Rua Pamplona in Bela Vista. It opened in 2021, founded by Javier Amigo Martinez and the actress Mara Carvalho, and its listing describes a room full of plants and one of the better terraces in the city, with a wide Iberian wine list.
Also in Jardim Paulista: Consentido Culinaria on Alameda Campinas, run by Francisco Javier and Mirthes after several generations of family restaurants. Its own description is blunt about the intention, calling the cooking Spanish, without fusions.
Sunday lunch: Ipiranga
Sunday is the rice day. Two listings sit almost next door to each other on Rua Bom Pastor in Ipiranga, at 1644 and 1660.
Emporio Pata Negra at 1644 describes itself as the first Spanish ham and tapas bar in Brazil, set up by three partners who wanted traditional tapas with a modern edge. Start there with jamon iberico and a glass of something cold.
Then walk a few doors along to Paellas Pepe at 1660, open since 1990 under chef Pepe Lopez. More than three decades is a long run for any restaurant, and the listing puts the paella at the centre of it. Book, and go hungry: rice is cooked to order and it arrives for the table, not the person.
If you have a third day
Two more sit outside the walking clusters and are worth a car.
- Torero Valese in Itaim Bibi, open since 2008 under chef Juliano Varese. Its listing mentions a best tapa in the city award from Epoca Sao Paulo and a Comer & Beber award in 2014.
- Lola por Dios in Vila Mariana, a small room on Rua Voltaire doing seafood paella, tapas and jamon at reasonable prices, by its own account.
Worth knowing before you build the route: Pinheiros and the Oscar Freire blocks are walkable within themselves but not to each other, and Ipiranga is a separate trip. Pick one cluster per sitting rather than trying to stitch them together in an evening.
