Sao Paulo Food Walk: Mercadao, Liberdade & the Mortadella Sandwich
Day tour
Food tour
Standard
Departure point
→
Destination
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Sao Paulo
1N (Participation Duration)
Walking (Transportation)
English (Language)
Number of participants 0/8
0 booked
Tour description
São Paulo is the largest Japanese city outside Japan, one of the largest Italian cities outside Italy, and home to enormous Lebanese, Portuguese and northeastern Brazilian communities. Its food is not Brazilian so much as all of those things arguing.
We start at the Mercado Municipal, a 1933 hall with stained glass windows, for two things it is famous for: the mortadella sandwich, which contains an unreasonable half-kilo of sliced mortadella between two pieces of bread and which you will share, and the pastel de bacalhau, a large fried pastry filled with salt cod.
Then the fruit counters, where sellers will hand you slices of things you have never seen - jabuticaba, cupuaçu, pitanga - and expect you to buy afterwards, which your guide will navigate for you.
From there we walk into Liberdade, the Japanese and East Asian quarter, for yakisoba, gyoza and pastel with Japanese fillings, with your guide on the 1908 migration that started it.
We finish with a coffee, because São Paulo has the best specialty coffee scene in South America and Brazil finally keeps some of its own beans.
Small group, maximum 8 guests.
We start at the Mercado Municipal, a 1933 hall with stained glass windows, for two things it is famous for: the mortadella sandwich, which contains an unreasonable half-kilo of sliced mortadella between two pieces of bread and which you will share, and the pastel de bacalhau, a large fried pastry filled with salt cod.
Then the fruit counters, where sellers will hand you slices of things you have never seen - jabuticaba, cupuaçu, pitanga - and expect you to buy afterwards, which your guide will navigate for you.
From there we walk into Liberdade, the Japanese and East Asian quarter, for yakisoba, gyoza and pastel with Japanese fillings, with your guide on the 1908 migration that started it.
We finish with a coffee, because São Paulo has the best specialty coffee scene in South America and Brazil finally keeps some of its own beans.
Small group, maximum 8 guests.
Meeting point:
View on map
Sao Bento metro station, Centro, Sao Paulo
We meet at the Sao Bento metro station exit on Line 1 Blue. Your guide will have a small sign with your name. Please arrive via Sao Bento rather than Luz.
Detailed itinerary
Stop 1 - Mercado Municipal: The 1933 market hall with its stained glass, with your guide on how São Paulo's immigrant communities built this building's trade.
Stop 2 - Mortadella sandwich: Half a kilo of sliced mortadella between two pieces of bread, shared between the group because one person cannot finish it.
Stop 3 - Pastel de bacalhau: A large fried pastry filled with salt cod, eaten with a squeeze of lime and hot sauce.
Stop 4 - The fruit counters: Jabuticaba, cupuacu, pitanga, graviola and more, tasted with your guide handling the sellers.
Stop 5 - 25 de Marco and the centre: A walk through the wholesale street and the historic centre, with your guide on the city's scale and its layers.
Stop 6 - Liberdade: The Japanese quarter, with yakisoba, gyoza and Japanese-Brazilian pastel, and your guide on the 1908 migration.
Stop 7 - Specialty coffee: A cup from a Brazilian single-origin roaster, with your guide on why Brazil is only now drinking its own best coffee.
Stop 2 - Mortadella sandwich: Half a kilo of sliced mortadella between two pieces of bread, shared between the group because one person cannot finish it.
Stop 3 - Pastel de bacalhau: A large fried pastry filled with salt cod, eaten with a squeeze of lime and hot sauce.
Stop 4 - The fruit counters: Jabuticaba, cupuacu, pitanga, graviola and more, tasted with your guide handling the sellers.
Stop 5 - 25 de Marco and the centre: A walk through the wholesale street and the historic centre, with your guide on the city's scale and its layers.
Stop 6 - Liberdade: The Japanese quarter, with yakisoba, gyoza and Japanese-Brazilian pastel, and your guide on the 1908 migration.
Stop 7 - Specialty coffee: A cup from a Brazilian single-origin roaster, with your guide on why Brazil is only now drinking its own best coffee.
Tour price includes
• Small-group English-speaking local food guide
• All food and drink tastings listed in the itinerary
• One local drink at the final stop
• Bottled water and wet wipes throughout the walk
• All taxes and service fees
• All food and drink tastings listed in the itinerary
• One local drink at the final stop
• Bottled water and wet wipes throughout the walk
• All taxes and service fees
Tour price excludes
• Hotel pick-up and drop-off unless stated
• Additional drinks beyond those included
• Personal travel insurance
• Tips for your guide (appreciated but never expected)
• Meals and purchases outside the programme
• Additional drinks beyond those included
• Personal travel insurance
• Tips for your guide (appreciated but never expected)
• Meals and purchases outside the programme
Cancellation policy
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the tour start time for a full refund. Cancellations within 24 hours are non-refundable. Tours run rain or shine, though São Paulo's summer storms in the late afternoon are serious and we finish before them.
Other notes
Runs daily at 10:00. On Sundays we add the Liberdade street fair, which is worth planning around.
Please arrive via São Bento station, not Luz. This matters: the area around Luz has a long-standing open drug scene that moves around the neighbourhood, and we route in and out to avoid it entirely. Your guide will explain.
Safety: phone theft in central São Paulo peaks in the late afternoon and early evening, which is why this tour ends at two. Keep your phone away on the street, and we will stop for photographs where it is sensible to take them.
Water: São Paulo's tap water is treated but we recommend bottled, and we provide it.
Weather: winter, June to August, is mild and drizzly; summer, December to March, is hot with violent late-afternoon storms. Bring a layer either way.
Michelin's Brazil guide has been through a pause and a relaunch and the current selection changes; we do not market any stop here on a Michelin claim.
Dietary needs: tell us at least 48 hours ahead. Vegetarian is workable via pastel, cheese, fruit and the Liberdade stops.
About 2.5 km of walking on flat but very crowded streets.
Please arrive via São Bento station, not Luz. This matters: the area around Luz has a long-standing open drug scene that moves around the neighbourhood, and we route in and out to avoid it entirely. Your guide will explain.
Safety: phone theft in central São Paulo peaks in the late afternoon and early evening, which is why this tour ends at two. Keep your phone away on the street, and we will stop for photographs where it is sensible to take them.
Water: São Paulo's tap water is treated but we recommend bottled, and we provide it.
Weather: winter, June to August, is mild and drizzly; summer, December to March, is hot with violent late-afternoon storms. Bring a layer either way.
Michelin's Brazil guide has been through a pause and a relaunch and the current selection changes; we do not market any stop here on a Michelin claim.
Dietary needs: tell us at least 48 hours ahead. Vegetarian is workable via pastel, cheese, fruit and the Liberdade stops.
About 2.5 km of walking on flat but very crowded streets.
Detailed price list
| Guest type | Price |
|---|---|
| Adults | $59 |
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