City guide · São Paulo
Best Sausage and Peppers in São Paulo
Where is the best sausage and peppers in São Paulo?
São Paulo has the largest Italian-descended population of any city outside Italy, and in Bixiga — the old Italian district — sausage and peppers becomes linguiça italiana com pimentões, grilled over charcoal and served with bread.
Locals ask for it as linguiça italiana com pimentões São Paulo (Portuguese).
| City | São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil |
|---|---|
| Ask for it as | linguiça italiana com pimentões São Paulo (Portuguese) |
| Top 100 spots here | 1 |
| Best time to go | Year-round. The Festa de San Gennaro in Bixiga each September is the big one. |
| Local rule | Charcoal and patience. Brazilian grilling is slower and lower than American grilling, and the sausage is better for it. |
Bixiga, officially Bela Vista, was settled by Calabrian and Neapolitan families, and its cantinas still cook from those recipes.
Brazilian linguiça is coarse, garlicky and grills beautifully. Paired with pimentões — bell peppers — it is the same dish in a different accent.
São Paulo on Larry’s Top 100
| Rank | Where | Order this | Larry’s note |
|---|---|---|---|
| #78 | Bixiga Italian district | Linguiça italiana com pimentões | The largest Italian city outside Italy, basically. |
Menus, feast dates and opening hours change. Call ahead before you travel.
How to order it in São Paulo
- Linguiça italiana com pimentões, grilled, with pão francês on the side.
- Ask for it apimentada if you want heat — Brazilian sausage is usually mild.
- A cold beer, served painfully cold. That is the local standard.
The local rule: Charcoal and patience. Brazilian grilling is slower and lower than American grilling, and the sausage is better for it.
Best time to go: Year-round. The Festa de San Gennaro in Bixiga each September is the big one.
Questions people ask about São Paulo
What is linguiça italiana?
Brazil's Italian-style fresh pork sausage — coarse, garlicky and mildly seasoned. It is the sausage to buy for this dish in Brazil.
Is there a San Gennaro festival in Brazil?
Yes. Bixiga in São Paulo holds its own Festa de San Gennaro each September, brought over by Neapolitan families.
Make it at home instead
You do not need a plane ticket. Larry’s own version takes about forty minutes in a cast-iron pan.
Sausage and peppers in other cities
Further afield
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