Two-time national champion of snacks, Bar do Jão proves that there is bar life outside Santa Cecília

Bar do Jão’s credentials are impressive. He is the current national champion of the Comida di Buteco contest, a title he won for the second time; in the São Paulo stage of the competition, he has already won the mug four times.

A marketing event is not enough to crown Bar do Jão as the best in Brazil – on the other hand, it is understandable that the owners of the place proudly display the trophy.

Despite being multi-awarded, Bar do Jão hardly appears in guides like this one. It is located in Penha, on the east side, far from the circuits highlighted by the accommodated media in addition to Radial and Minhocão. There is life outside Santa Cecilia. I needed to see her with my own eyes!

I leave the home office in Perdizes and an hour later from Uber, I arrive at Jão. The bar is in a popular shopping area right in the center of Penha, very busy at dusk.

Is small. And it’s a real pub, with a pork rind and a Portuguese guy behind the counter. The gourmet ray has not yet reached Penha. This finding alone makes the trip worthwhile: given the awards curriculum, I imagined a house enlarged and remodeled a thousand times, with little tufts that dilute the soul of the place.

Bar do Jão doesn’t lack soul. Waiters and customers treat each other like friends. I want to participate. When the waiter opens another beer, I ask his name. He answers: “Nego”. The customer at the next table chimes in amiably: “I’m his lawyer.”

As for me, I carry a huge sign that says “outsider”. My friend, who is even more foreign (from Rio de Janeiro), suggests that we ask to turn down the ambient sound of forró, samba and sertanejo. Better not, I answer. He nods.

Time to snack. Let’s go with two classics from any bar that wants to be the best anywhere: crackling (R$ 24) and pastel (R$ 26, six units).

The crackling comes in seconds, directly from the greenhouse. It is good for a kiln crackling, with the expected pieces too hard or too soft or too soaked.

Pastéis are freshly fried and come in two flavors (meat and cheese), with two sauces (barbecue and capers). Correctly fried, dry, meat well seasoned, I would exchange both sauces for a fair vinaigrette.

We move on to the original repertoire, to the tidbit that gave Bar do Jão the victory in the bar food contest: the Madeiran flakes from Grandma Encarnação (R$49.90).

There’s no description on the menu, but Nego’s perfect verb: “These are Porto cod chips, desalted on ice for three days, with white sauce, parmesan and crispy onion; they accompany cassava chips and pesto with almonds and ginger”.

Here, Jão’s kitchen shows what it came from. The cod has a perfect texture and smooth flavor, the white sauce is far from being cloying. The cassava crunchy serves as a bread roll, without interfering or stuffing. The pesto adds extra layers of aroma and acidity. Everything works fine.

At around 9 pm, the movement had already dropped a lot – both in the bar and in the surroundings.

Before taking the Uber back, I exchange a few words with João Nunes, a native of Madeira Island, who is at the cashier wearing a blue Portuguese bar coat.

Very friendly, Seu Jão says he has a soft accent because he has lived in Brazil since 1962. The bar was opened in 1994, and Alexandre, son of the founder, is in charge of the business.

Is it the best bar in Brazil? From Sao Paulo? Jão’s customers will say yes, and they have a mountain of prizes to prove it. That’s what makes a good bar: a loyal and brave parish like a football crowd.

No bar rankings should be taken too seriously. You can judge a bar on the quality of the food, the service, the hygiene, but it all means very little.

What really counts is subjective, it’s passionate, it’s the connection that the bar establishes with the community of patrons. Penha is not my community, and that’s why I steal a star from Jão in my 100% personal rating. It’s a hell of a bar, visit when you get the chance.