RFK Cuisine · Steakhouse · Sao Paulo
Best Steakhouses in Sao Paulo 2026
Steakhouse · Sao Paulo · 7 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 20, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026
A hundred-year-old fig tree grows through the roof of the best dining room in Sao Paulo, its branches spread over the tables where the city eats its most serious steak. That tree, at Figueira Rubaiyat, is a fair emblem for how Brazil's largest city does beef: rooted in the churrascaria tradition of fire and abundance, but grown into something more refined. Here the signature cut is picanha, the fatty top sirloin cap, and the question at every table is whether you want it carved endlessly off a skewer or served as one perfect steak. Seven rooms, ranked on the beef, the fire and the value — from the estate-beef flagships to the all-you-can-eat rodizio giants.
1.Figueira Rubaiyat
The fig-tree flagship serving beef from its own farms; book for the most beautiful steak dinner in the city, in Jardins.
Figueira Rubaiyat, on Rua Haddock Lobo in Jardins, is the jewel of the Rubaiyat group and the most striking dining room in Sao Paulo — built around a century-old fig tree whose canopy spreads over the tables under a glass roof. The beef comes from the group's own farms, traceable from pasture to plate, and the menu runs from picanha and filet mignon to dry-aged premium cuts and milk-fed veal. It is the rare steakhouse where the setting matches the sourcing, and the room to book when the meal is also the occasion. Service is polished, the cellar deep. Reserve directly a few days ahead, earlier for a weekend.
Reserve direct; the estate picanha or the dry-aged premium beef, under the fig tree.
2.Varanda Grill
The city's discreet power-lunch steakhouse, famous for its filet; book ahead for the best single cut in Sao Paulo.
Varanda Grill is the steakhouse Sao Paulo's business class has trusted for decades, a discreet, clubby room in Jardins where deals close over the city's most celebrated filet mignon. The kitchen is a-la-carte and exacting: a short menu of impeccable cuts, the filet and the picanha at its heart, cooked precisely and served without fuss alongside a serious wine list and famously generous farofa and sides. There is no spectacle here — just the conviction that a great steak, properly cooked, needs no theater. It is the connoisseur's pick, and a genuinely hard lunch table. Reserve directly, several days ahead for a weekday lunch.
Reserve direct; the filet mignon, medium-rare, with the house sides.
3.Templo da Carne Marcos Bassi
The unflashy "Temple of Meat" where Marcos Bassi built his name; book for the most old-school serious steak in the city.
Templo da Carne, the "Temple of Meat" of the late Marcos Bassi in Bela Vista, is the antithesis of the polished Jardins rooms: a no-frills, decades-old steakhouse that locals revere for the quality of its beef and the seriousness of its grill. The picanha and the maminha are the orders, cooked simply over fire and served in a room that has never chased fashion. Bassi's name still carries weight among Sao Paulo's meat obsessives, and the kitchen continues the standard he set. It is the choice for a diner who wants substance over scene, and a glimpse of the city's working-class steakhouse soul. Reserve ahead for dinner.
Reserve direct; the picanha and the maminha, with a Brazilian red.
4.NB Steak
The refined rodizio from a Fogo de Chao co-founder; book for endless carved cuts with more polish than the giants.
NB Steak is the churrascaria of Arri Coser, a co-founder of Fogo de Chao, who built it as a more refined take on the rodizio format. Waiters circulate with skewers of a dozen cuts — picanha, ribs, the namesake NB steak from the beef shoulder — carving directly onto your plate until you flip your token to red, but the room, the sides and the service are a step up from the volume churrascarias. It is the rodizio for a diner who wants the endless-meat experience without sacrificing the surroundings. Multiple locations across the city make it an easy book. Reserve or walk in; weekends fill at dinner.
Reserve direct; the rodizio, holding out for the picanha and the NB cut.
5.Varanda Copan
The Varanda kitchen reborn beneath Niemeyer's Copan; book for a great steak with a slice of modernist Sao Paulo.
Varanda Copan brings the standards of the Varanda group to the ground floor of the Edificio Copan, Oscar Niemeyer's sinuous modernist landmark in the city center. The same a-la-carte focus on a precise cut applies — the filet and picanha cooked to order — but the setting trades Jardins polish for downtown energy and architectural pedigree, a more contemporary, design-forward room. It is the pick when you want a serious steak paired with a piece of Sao Paulo's modernist story, away from the Jardins restaurant cluster. The location makes it a natural stop around a day in the center. Reserve a few days ahead.
Reserve direct; the picanha or filet, before a walk around the Copan.
6.Rubaiyat
The Rubaiyat group's broader-menu sister to the fig-tree flagship; book for estate beef and seafood without the wait for Figueira.
Rubaiyat, the wider-reaching member of the family that runs Figueira, brings the group's own-farm beef to a larger, more all-purpose room in the Itaim Bibi business district. The sourcing is the same — traceable estate beef, the prized picanha and dry-aged cuts — but the menu opens out to seafood and a broader carte, and the room handles the long Sao Paulo business lunch with practiced ease. It lacks the fig-tree drama of its sibling, which is exactly why it is the easier, more flexible book when you want Rubaiyat-quality beef without the flagship's demand. Reserve ahead, especially for lunch.
Reserve direct; the estate picanha, or the beef-and-seafood for a mixed table.
7.Fogo de Chao
The churrascaria that took Brazilian rodizio global; book for the definitive all-you-can-eat picanha experience.
Fogo de Chao, founded in southern Brazil in 1979 and now a global name, runs its Jardim Paulista room as the textbook Sao Paulo rodizio: gaucho-style waiters moving constantly between tables with skewers of fire-roasted meat, carving picanha, ribs, lamb and sausage onto your plate for a fixed price until you surrender. A market table of salads and sides rounds it out. It is the most polished and reliable of the volume churrascarias, the one to bring a hungry group or a first-time visitor to understand what Brazilian barbecue means. Not subtle, and not trying to be. Reserve for a group; walk-ins are usually fine midweek.
Reserve direct; the full rodizio, and pace yourself for the picanha.
How Sao Paulo eats steak
Brazilian steak culture splits in two, and Sao Paulo does both at the highest level. The churrascaria serves rodizio — an all-you-can-eat format where waiters circulate with skewers of fire-roasted meat and carve cuts onto your plate until you turn your table token from green to red — while the a-la-carte steakhouses serve individual cuts cooked to order. The cut that defines both is picanha, the top sirloin cap with its thick fat cap, salted with coarse rock salt and grilled over coals. Beyond it, look for maminha (tri-tip), fraldinha (flank) and the estate dry-aged premiums at the Rubaiyat rooms. Sides matter too: farofa, toasted cassava flour, and grilled provolone are standard.
Lunch is the great Sao Paulo steakhouse occasion — the business districts of Jardins and Itaim fill the a-la-carte rooms midday, and the best filet tables are harder to land at lunch than dinner. A service charge of around 10 percent is typically added to the bill, and the dollar value is generally strong for visitors. For the global context of the form, compare the picks in the best steakhouses worldwide guide and the parrilla tradition next door in the best steakhouses in Buenos Aires; for the rest of the city, the Sao Paulo dining guide maps every neighborhood.
Where not to book
Skip these for a serious steak
The bargain-basement rodizio aimed at tour groups. Sao Paulo has plenty of cheap all-you-can-eat churrascarias that move volume with lesser cuts and a frantic pace; the meat is fine but it is not the city's best beef. If you want the rodizio experience done well, Fogo de Chao or NB Steak are worth the step up.
The rodizio giants if you want one precise cut. The endless-skewer format is built for abundance, not for a single perfectly cooked steak. For that, the a-la-carte rooms — Figueira Rubaiyat or Varanda Grill — are the right book.
Frequently asked
What is the best steakhouse in Sao Paulo?
Figueira Rubaiyat, the fig-tree-canopied flagship of the Rubaiyat group on Rua Haddock Lobo in Jardins, is the city's benchmark, serving beef from the group's own farms in one of Sao Paulo's most striking dining rooms. Varanda Grill is its closest rival for a premium a-la-carte steak. For the all-you-can-eat rodizio experience, Fogo de Chao and NB Steak are the classics. The best choice depends on whether you want a precise cut or an endless parade of grilled meat.
What is picanha?
Picanha is Brazil's signature cut, the top sirloin cap, prized for the thick layer of fat that bastes the meat as it cooks. In a churrascaria it is skewered, salted simply with coarse rock salt, grilled over coals and sliced at the table; in an a-la-carte steakhouse it appears as a thick steak. Tender, beefy and richly fatty, it is the cut to order first at any Sao Paulo steakhouse, from Figueira Rubaiyat to Templo da Carne.
What is the difference between a churrascaria and a steakhouse in Sao Paulo?
A churrascaria serves rodizio, an all-you-can-eat format where waiters circulate with skewers of grilled meat and carve cuts directly onto your plate until you flip your token to red. Fogo de Chao and NB Steak run this way. An a-la-carte steakhouse like Figueira Rubaiyat or Varanda Grill instead serves individual, precisely cooked cuts to order, closer to an American or Argentine steakhouse. Rodizio is about abundance; the a-la-carte rooms are about a single great steak.
How much does a steak dinner cost in Sao Paulo?
Plan on roughly 250 to 500 Brazilian reais a head at a top Sao Paulo steakhouse before drinks, depending on the room and the cut. The premium a-la-carte rooms like Figueira Rubaiyat and Varanda Grill sit at the upper end, especially with imported or estate beef; the rodizio churrascarias offer a fixed price for unlimited meat, which can be strong value for a big appetite. A service charge of around 10 percent is typically added to the bill.
Do you need a reservation for Sao Paulo steakhouses?
For the premium a-la-carte rooms, yes, especially at lunch, when Sao Paulo's business district fills them, and on weekends. Figueira Rubaiyat and Varanda Grill book out days ahead for prime times and take reservations directly or through their sites. The rodizio churrascarias like Fogo de Chao are more forgiving and often seat walk-ins, though a weekend dinner still benefits from a booking. Reserve ahead and confirm whether lunch or dinner suits the room.
More steak, by city
More from RFK
Browse the full Sao Paulo dining guide, compare the world's best beef in the best steakhouses worldwide, see the parrilla tradition in Buenos Aires, plan a meal to impress clients in Itaim, or open the full RFK cuisine index.
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