48 Hours of Drinking in Sao Paulo

A Casa do Porco is Jefferson and Janaina Rueda's celebrated Centro restaurant — and the bar programme is a serious draw in its own right, especially the basemen Drop bags. Find a hotel-adjacent bar within a five-minute walk. Order something simple to anchor yourself to the city.

Camaroes Restaurante Rooftop draws a steady local crowd in Itaim Bibi. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. The polished room you'd take a first date to. Sit at the bar. Talk to the bartender. Stay one drink — you're scouting, not committing.

St James British Pub draws a steady local crowd in Itaim Bibi. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Walk into the city's drinking quarter (the heart of the night, not the tourist version). Two drinks, two rooms. Pace yourself — Saturday is the long day.

Astor is the Vila Madalena flagship of the SubAstor group — a brasserie-style restaurant on the ground floor with the speakeasy SubAstor in the basement. Sunset. Find a rooftop. Order whatever the house specials around sundown. Take photos but don't lose 90 minutes to your phone.

Bar Balcao draws a steady local crowd in Jardim Paulista. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Eat somewhere with serious bartending built in. The right room is one you order both your dinner and your nightcap from.

Baretto-Londra at Hotel Fasano draws a steady local crowd in Jardins. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. The bar that made you book the trip. The pre-research one. Reservation-only ideally. Stay until last call.

There is no bar in São Paulo that carries the weight of history quite like Bar Brahma. Since opening on Avenida São João in 1948, it has outlasted governments, Mary, Mimosa, or whatever low-ABV house play the room runs. Eat. Pay. Walk.

Bar da Dona Onca draws a steady local crowd in Centro. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Find the hotel bar at your departure airport equivalent — somewhere quiet, low-volume, well-staffed. End the trip on a martini and a clean conversation.