Brazil is South America's largest country, offering stunning biodiversity from the Amazon rainforest to iconic beaches like Copacabana and Ipanema. Experience vibrant culture, world-class cuisine, spectacular waterfalls at Iguazu, and the rhythm of samba in Rio de Janeiro.
Top food tours
Guided experiences that show you Brazil through its food.
Santa Teresa Gastronômica
Rio's most charming bohemian neighborhood hosts this intimate walking food tour visiting artisan producers, hidden botequins (neighborhood bars), and chefs' tables. Sample feijoada, coxinha, and pastel while learning about carioca food culture from local guides.
Mercadão Market Tour - São Paulo
The Municipal Market of São Paulo (Mercadão) is Brazil's most extraordinary food market, with this guided tour exploring Italian immigrant food stalls, the famous mortadella sandwich, exotic tropical fruit sellers, and artisanal cheese vendors from Minas Gerais.
Pelourinho Afro-Brazilian Cuisine Walk
Salvador's UNESCO-listed historic center is the birthplace of Brazil's most distinctive regional cuisine. This tour visits Bahian market women (baianas de acarajé), tries traditional dendê-based dishes, samples street foods, and learns about the African roots of Brazilian cooking.
Cachaça and Churrasco Tour - Rio de Janeiro
Brazil's two most celebrated food and drink traditions are explored in this evening tour visiting artisanal cachaça producers, a traditional churrascaria for prime cuts, and a botequim for the cold chopp draft beer experience that defines carioca nightlife.
Liberdade Japanese Food Quarter - São Paulo
São Paulo has the largest Japanese population outside Japan, and the Liberdade neighborhood is the gastronomic heart of this community. This tour visits Japanese bakeries, a 1940s izakaya, the Sunday fair, and ramen restaurants revealing Brazil's unique nipo-brasileiro cuisine.
Belo Horizonte Boteco Tour
Belo Horizonte's boteco culture - where free petiscos (appetizers) accompany cold beer - is the pride of Minas Gerais. This tour visits 4-5 traditional botecos sampling torresmo (chicharrones), linguiça sausage, and the city's celebrated chopp draft beer.
Tour formats
Different ways to experience Brazil's food scene.
Street food tours
Brazil's street food culture features acarajé (fried bean fritters) in Salvador, pastel (fried pastry) at markets nationwide, and coxinha (chicken croquette) ubiquitously. Street food crawls are most rewarding in Salvador and São Paulo's market districts.
Market tours
Brazilian market tours at Mercadão São Paulo, Mercado Modelo Salvador, and Ver-o-Peso Belém reveal the extraordinary diversity of Brazilian produce including Amazon exotic fruits, Northeast spices, and artisanal cheeses.
Restaurant tours
Multi-course dinner experiences at top Brazilian restaurants range from D.O.M.'s Amazonian haute cuisine tasting menu to traditional churrascaria and Mineiro farmhouse cooking. Booking essential for top restaurants.
Specialty tours
Cachaça distillery tours in Minas Gerais (Paraty is a historic cachaça region), wine region tours in Serra Gaúcha (Rio Grande do Sul), and Amazon superfood tours are Brazil's distinctive specialty food experiences.
Cooking classes
Take a piece of Brazil home with you.
Senac Pelourinho Cooking School
Salvador's most respected culinary school offers hands-on workshops in traditional Afro-Brazilian cooking covering moqueca de peixe, caruru, and acarajé. Professional chefs teach dendê oil techniques and the West African roots of Bahian cuisine in a historic setting.
Escola de Churrasco Gaúcho - Porto Alegre
Learn the authentic gaúcho art of wood-fire barbecue from master churrasqueiros in the home state of Brazilian BBQ. Classes cover fire management, prime cuts, salt seasoning technique, and the ritual of sharing churrasco that defines Southern Brazilian culture.
Manauara Kitchen Lab
Manaus-based cooking class focusing on Amazon regional cuisine using exotic ingredients including tucupi (fermented cassava broth), jambu herb, pirarucu fish, and Brazil nuts. Learn to make tacacá soup and maniçoba stew with local chef guidance.
Instituto Atelier Cuisine - São Paulo
São Paulo's upscale cooking school offers classes with professional chefs teaching modern Brazilian techniques. Weekly themed classes covering different regional cuisines - Minas Gerais, Bahian, Southern - with wine pairings and cookbook recipes.
DIY self-guided food tour
São Paulo's self-guided food tour route through the city's diverse neighborhoods reveals why it's Latin America's gastronomic capital, covering everything from Japanese-Brazilian fusion to traditional boteco culture
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Stop 1: Padaria Sirena (Jardins) - 7:30 AM - Brazilian pão de queijo and cafezinho breakfast
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Stop 2: Liberdade Sunday Fair (São Paulo) - 9:00 AM - Japanese-Brazilian food market on Sunday mornings
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Stop 3: Mercado Municipal (Centro) - 11:00 AM - Famous mortadella sandwich and tropical fruit tasting
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Stop 4: Bar Leo (Rua Aurora, Centro) - 12:30 PM - São Paulo's oldest bar since 1940, traditional lunch
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Stop 5: Haddock Lobo Street (Cerqueira César) - 2:00 PM - Artisan food trucks and street food on Tuesdays-Fridays
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Stop 6: Empório São Paulo (Pinheiros) - 4:00 PM - Artisan cachaça tasting and Minas cheese selection
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Stop 7: Bar Astor (Vila Madalena) - 6:00 PM - Cold chopinho and classic boteco petiscos at sunset
Foodie tips
Get more out of every meal.
The 'prato feito' (PF) lunch special at neighborhood restaurants offers a complete meal of rice, beans, salad, and protein for R$20-40 - the best value eating in Brazil
Mercado Municipal São Paulo (Mercadão) has the famous mortadella sandwich that is a São Paulo institution - try it at Hocca Bar inside the market
Salvador's acarajé is UNESCO-recognized intangible cultural heritage - the authentic version is made by baianas in white dress and should include vatapá, caruru, and shrimp
Brazilian coffee culture centers on the tiny cafezinho espresso - served very sweet unless you specify 'sem açúcar' (without sugar). Drink it at the counter (balcão) like locals
Ver-o-Peso market in Belém is the gateway to Amazon cuisine - try tacacá soup from market vendors and fresh açaí (purple, thick, unsweetened as Pará locals eat it)
Botequins in Belo Horizonte serve free petiscos with each drink order - one chopp beer comes with a plate of free food. Ask for local recommendations rather than tourist spots
Cheese from Minas Gerais has UNESCO cultural heritage status - artisanal queijo minas varies by region (Canastra, Serro, Araxá) and is best bought directly from producers