Exímia Bar sits on the second floor of Rua Manoel Guedes in Itaim Bibi, and it makes the most serious case in Sao Paulo that a drinks list can read as national research rather than a menu.
Anyone who treats cocktails as a subject will settle in fast. Anyone hunting a loud night with bottle service will feel out of place, because the room is built for tasting and conversation.
The bar reopened in Itaim after an earlier run, and the current space keeps the focus tight. A long counter, low light, and a team that talks through each pour set the tone. CNN Brasil Viagem e Gastronomia reported the move and described the program as coquetelaria guided by Brazilian identity.
Bartender Marcio Silva builds the list around native and seasonal Brazilian ingredients, drawing on the history of classic cocktails. The kitchen carries the signature of Manu Buffara, named the best chef in Latin America by Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants in 2022. Order from the current house list rather than asking for standards, because the research drinks are the reason to come.
The credential that matters arrived in September 2025, when Exímia debuted at number 61 on The World's 50 Best Bars list. It was the only Sao Paulo room to enter that year's extended ranking, a signal that the city's cocktail scene now reaches past Pinheiros and Vila Madalena into Itaim.
Pricing sits at the top of the city's range, in line with Itaim's destination cocktail rooms. Reservations are the right move on Friday and Saturday, when the counter fills early. Go on a Tuesday or Wednesday for the calmest version, when the bartenders have time to walk a guest through the full menu.
The crowd skews toward people who came for the drinks: industry regulars early in the evening, then couples and small groups who booked ahead. The volume stays low enough to talk, which is rare for a room with this much hype.
The menu changes with the season, and the team frames each drink with a short note on where the idea came from, which turns ordering into a guided read of Brazilian pantry staples. Marcio Silva has built a national reputation on this approach, and the room reads as its fullest expression to date.
Food is not an afterthought. Manu Buffara's plates are designed to sit beside the cocktails rather than soak them up, so a seat at the counter works as a light dinner as much as a drinks stop. That pairing is part of why the bar earns a place beside the city's restaurant bars rather than apart from them.
For a first visit, take the counter over a table. The bartenders narrate each build, and the best of the list lands when someone is there to explain the native ingredient behind it. Couples and small groups who want to talk over careful drinks are the natural fit, and anyone after a quick round before dinner will get more from a simpler room down the street.
Allow time once seated. The pacing is deliberate, the list rewards a second drink, and the room is not built for a rushed stop on the way to somewhere else.
For more of the city's best pours, see our ranking of the best cocktail bars in Sao Paulo and the wider Sao Paulo bar guide. Readers who like this style also book Guilhotina in Sao Paulo and Tan Tan in Sao Paulo, both regular fixtures on the same award lists. Our editorial cocktail guide places all three in context.
Sources: CNN Brasil Viagem e Gastronomia (2025); The World's 50 Best Bars 2025, positions 51 to 100; World Class Brazil; Tripadvisor listing; Exímia on Instagram.
