Baixo Pinheiros has bars full of pandemics and a music circuit with DJs, funk, samba and rap

Anyone who goes out to enjoy the night in Baixo Pinheiros, the name given to the part of the neighborhood that is closest to Largo da Batata, in the west side of São Paulo, might be surprised. On a Friday, the sound of the drink carts that occupy the square comes around 8 pm, with funk and forró mixing with the trap — all this ten meters from a samba circle.

Working at the site for three years, the street vendor Wellington Carlisto, 32, makes a living selling popcorn and French fries and says that the hubbub in the region tends to attract people of different styles because of the dynamics between the bus terminal, the subway station and the offices of Faria Lima.

Those arriving by Metrô soon see the outside of Villa Coqueiro, where a musician sings rock music from the 1990s. While he spends his voice, customers drink beers at R$14 a bottle. Next to the place is Void, which mixes a bar, restaurant and shop. More cool, the place attracts young people who drink gin and tonics listening to some new rhythm derived from rap.

Continuing towards Fernão Dias street, you arrive at the main meeting point in the region: the famous Guaicuí street.

With just over 85 meters in length, the road lives up to its reputation for being one of the busiest night spots in the capital, even during the pandemic. There are so many bars in a short space that some of them share tables and chairs — sometimes even the waiters.

For law student Patrícia Borges, 25, the proximity between the establishments favors clients. “I end up ordering food in one place, but beer in another, depending on the price. And you can choose the bathroom in better condition,” he says.

At Guaicuí, musical diversity is mixed with gastronomic variety. Next to the Bráz Elettrica pizzeria, the Vila Madrugada bar sells, to the sound of funk, drinks that cost an average of R$ 25. Opposite, the Mica restaurant offers a more sophisticated environment and plays house and Brazilian food for a public that eats items like Brussels sprouts for R$35.

With a more hipster profile, with beach chairs around small wooden tables, Pitico chooses to play MPB mixed with the rock of some MTV acoustic.

Simbalaê Bar & Burger, on the other hand, is one of the few that works to the sound of country music, while customers crowd in and out of the place with bottles of beer or hamburgers sold for R$35.

Leaving Guaicuí and heading towards Rua Padre Carvalho, an establishment catches the eye — Bot&Co, which offers drinks, hamburgers, with prices ranging from R$ 16 to R$ 28, and is the most eclectic environment on the street. Last week, on the same day a samba group performed, a speaker was placed in the doorway playing from rap to hardcore rock.

Next to it is one of the branches of bar 44oito, where a DJ turns the sidewalk into a dance floor, with a set that includes electronic music, hip-hop and rock.

The place that attracts skaters who circulate in the region is LayBack, which has a sport track in the background. The house offers lunch and dinner and has a clothing and accessories store. During the night, a DJ animates the audience, also made up of rap artists, who even perform in small shows around there.

Also on Padre Carvalho is the Baixo Largo Bar. Decorated with floodplain soccer jerseys, the space has a samba circle, which, on Thursdays, is open to anyone who wants to play.

At the other end of the block, there is one of the most traditional addresses on the circuit: the C… do Padre bar, named for being at the back of the Nossa Senhora do Monte Serrate church. There, the barbecue portion costs R$22.

When dawn begins to invade the night, however, few places remain open. It is a reminder that Baixo Pinheiros is surrounded by houses and, increasingly, residential buildings. Anyone looking to extend the tour soon rushes to go somewhere else.

Houses cited no text

44oito

Father Carvalho, 677

Low Largo Bar

R. Padre Carvalho, 644

Bot&Co

R. Padre Carvalho, 681

Bráz Elettrica

R. Guaicuí, 38

C … do Father

Father Carvalho, 799

LayBack

Father Carvalho, 696

Mica

R. Guaicuí, 33

Pythian

R. Guaicuí, 61

Symbol Bar & Burger

R. Guaicuí, 75

Vila dawn

R. Guaicuí, 32

Villa Coconut III

Av. Brigadeiro Faria Lima, 870

Void

R. Martim Carrasco, s/nº