Discover 13 places in SP that sell cheese bread, cookies, empanadas and other delicacies

The special O Melhor de São Paulo Gastronomia – Restaurantes, Bares e Cuisine brings a selection of more than 900 places to eat and drink in the city, presented according to their specialty and with information about the neighborhoods in which they are located.

In addition to the selection, the project highlights winners elected by the specialized jury and highlights the opinion of city residents through a Datafolha survey, which draws up a list of the best addresses in São Paulo according to São Paulo residents.

Check out the list below for 13 delicacies that are worth visiting.

BOLDY COOKIES

It was born during the pandemic with the aim of recreating the experience of the famous Levain Bakery in New York. It initially operated in a dark kitchen (kitchen dedicated to delivery) and, in March 2022, it started to occupy its own store in the central region. Today it has five employees and offers 20 flavors of sweet and savory cookies. Best sellers are the red velvet and Nutella, both for R$12.
R. Bento Freitas, 204, Vila Buarque, central region, tel. (11) 97809-2891, @boldycookies

BULGARIAN HOUSE

The delicacies with a typical Eastern European appearance have been prepared since 1975 in a house in Bom Retiro, founded by the Bulgarian cook Lina Levi (1927-2018). Today, who is in charge of production is her daughter, Shoshana, who maintains the tradition of delicious burekas, made with puff pastry in the shape of a donut. The menu offers seven options of fillings, such as meat, potatoes, gorgonzola, spinach and Bulgarian cheese, each for R$ 13.80. To sweeten it up, order the apple strudel with walnuts, for R$13.80.
R. Silva Pinto, 356, Bom Retiro, central region, tel. (11) 3222-9849, @casabulgara

COOKIE STORIES

Created in Curitiba, the network specialized in cookies has a house in the capital of São Paulo. In Pinheiros, the unit is located in a collaborative space with other brands. The brookie, a sweet that mixes brownie and cookie (R$ 19.50), is among the most ordered. The cookie gateau is inspired by the petit gateau, with vanilla cookie dough with chocolate drops and chocolate fudge filling (R$ 20.90).
R. dos Pinheiros, 570, Pinheiros, west region, @cookie_stories

FORMAGIO MINEIRO

It has more than a decade of experience in the production of cheese bread. There are 11 stores in São Paulo and one in Goiânia (GO). It supplies around 600 resellers across the country, including Fasano and Empório Santa Luzia. The cheese bread appears in the gluten-free version and also in the dulce de leche and guava flavors. Among the frozen options, there are traditional (R$ 42, 500 g), gorgonzola (R$ 59, 500 g) and chocolate (from R$ 73, 500 g).
R. Cardoso de Almeida, 1.306, Perdizes, west region, tel. (11) 93753-9769, @formaggiomineiro

JACA BÔ-AH

The vegan house is a mixture of café, patisserie and rotisserie in Santa Cecília. Composed of women, the company is led by mother and daughter, Leila and Mariana Bertelli. They started in 2017, cooking inside their apartment. They had a physical store and, in 2022, opened a coffee shop. They also make orders for cakes, pies, pastries, quiches and sweets. The suggestion is to try the jackfruit empanada (R$10) or the banoffee (R$20 a slice).
R. Tupi, 177, Santa Cecília, central region, tel. (11) 99818-9988, @jacaboah

LA GUAPA EMPANADAS

Paola Carosella launched her brand of empanadas nine years ago. With 15 versions, including the classic salteña and the vegan one, they cost R$10.90 —except for the Canastra, which costs R$12.50. The latest addition to the menu is called Sofia, inspired by Bolognese sauce and stuffed with beef and pork, accompanied by tomato, mozzarella, onion, oregano, garlic, pepperoni, basil and olive oil (R$ 12.50) .
R. Itapura, 1.392, Tatuapé, east region, tel. (11) 2091-5528, @laguapasp

MINTCHI CROISSANT

The store specializing in puff pastry was created by Luisa Garbarino, who graduated in architecture and took a pastry course at Le Cordon Bleu, in Paris. It produces croissants, worked for three days, with imported flour and butter. Among the sweets, there is the pain d’orange —a pain au chocolat with almond cream with orange zest and laminated almonds (from R$15). On the savory list, the one with smoked salmon and sour cream is finished with dill leaves (from R$22).
R. Simão Álvares, 114, Pinheiros, west region, WhatsApp (11) 98141-8662, @mintchi_croissant

MOMU

Run by the Nepalese couple Amar and Anusha Ale, the house, a small door in Pinheiros, accumulates long queues selling a single delicacy: momo, a bundle of light steamed pasta. The typical Nepalese dumplings are offered with three fillings —beef, pork or mushrooms— and bathed in a slightly spicy tomato sauce with sesame and spices. The portion with eight units costs R$ 15 and the one with 16 goes for R$ 25.
R. dos Pinheiros, 480, Pinheiros, west region, @momu_luv

DONA ZELDA’S CHEESE BREAD

Athená Rodrigues and Lucas Meira created the brand in June 2020. Inspired by her grandmother’s recipe, Athená decided to make her own cheese breads and honor her with the name of the business. The suggestion is to order the black olive (R$8) and the pastrami, with cured cheese and tomato confit (R$23). To sweeten it, choose the cheese bread stuffed with brigadeiro (R$12). The house is in store 76 of the Copan building.
Av. Ipiranga, 200, República, central region, WhatsApp (31) 9781-8118, @dona.zelda

PASTRY OF THE SONHO

It all started with the vegan snack shop Um Sonho de Coxinha, which also produces donuts and pastries. With the success of pastéis, Tabata Iglesias and João Oliveira opened a house dedicated to delicacies. The ingredients, all vegetable, reproduce traditional flavors. The most ordered are the chicken with catupiry and corn (R$23), the pizza, which has ham, cheese, catupiry, tomato sauce and oregano (R$18), and the meat with egg and cheese (R$ $21).
R. Br. de Iguape, 158, Liberdade, central region, @pasteldosonho

OOEY COOKIE

Since opening a physical store in December last year, Vecks’ cookies business, as the owner is known, has had frequent queues. He started producing the candy in 2016 on demand and now offers the handmade recipes at a counter in the Vila Buarque region. Orders are placed in a machine: you press the button with the image referring to the desired flavor, such as pistachio, guava, matchá, macadamia and chocolate drops. Each one costs from R$ 13 to R$ 19.
R. Aureliano Coutinho, 278, Vila Buarque, central region, @ooeycookie

YOKA

The pastries at the shop in the Liberdade neighborhood come in different flavors and are served dry, winning over palates for over two decades. Founded in 1996 by Takashi Yokoyama, the house is a family business that preserves an old artisanal preparation process for its pastries and snacks. Among the options, there are from the classic ground beef pastry (R$12) to Romeo and Juliet (R$14.50).
R. dos Estudantes, 37, Liberdade, central region, tel. (11) 3207-1795, @pastelyoka

YOKOYAMA

The pastry shop was founded in 1967 as a small counter with a few options for pastries and kibbeh. The founder, Mr. Takashi, passed the business on to his nephews, João and Álvaro, two years later. Today, the Yokoyama brothers run two units, one in Cambuci and the other in Vila Clementino. The pastry shop offers flavors such as heart of palm (R$12 each) and meat, catupiry and mushroom (R$23).
Av. Lins de Vasconcelos, 1.365, Cambuci, central region, tel. (11) 3207-9613, @pastelyokoyama