A Casa do Porco

A Casa do Porco, in São Paulo's República district, is chef Jefferson Rueda's whole-hog tasting-menu restaurant and one of the most talked-about tables in Brazil, regularly placing on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list and topping Latin America's 50 Best in multiple years. The concept is built entirely around pork: a multi-course tasting menu moves from crispy pork ear and pork belly preparations through house-made charcuterie, using nearly every part of the animal in a nod to nose-to-tail cooking traditions. The dining room occupies a converted commercial space with an open, industrial-chic layout—exposed structure, communal energy and an open kitchen that lets diners watch the cooks work the pig from raw cut to plated course. Downstairs, a more casual bar serves a shorter, walk-in-friendly menu of pork sandwiches and small plates for guests who don't have a tasting-menu reservation, and it's here that a queue often forms before opening, since A Casa do Porco does not take walk-in bookings for the upstairs tasting room. The beverage program leans into natural and low-intervention wines alongside cachaça-based cocktails designed to cut through the richness of the pork-heavy menu. Because of its global reputation, the upstairs tasting menu is one of the hardest reservations in São Paulo; bookings typically open weeks ahead online and fill quickly, especially for weekend dinner seatings. Visitors without a reservation can still experience the restaurant's cooking by joining the bar-side line, though wait times can run well over an hour during peak periods. The restaurant sits a short walk from São Paulo's historic center, making it easy to combine with sightseeing in Centro before or after a meal.