Bar Amigo Giannotti

R. Santo Antonio, 1106, Bela Vista/Bixiga

11-3211-3256

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An almost criminally limited menu of three to four dishes per day is the endearing quality to the little-known Bar Amigo Giannotti, a dusty, no-frills cantina located away from the main restaurants strip of Bixiga, and must be the reason for the dirt-low prices. Diners nosh in a narrow room underneath a real, stuffed crocodile and Italian memorabilia, divvying up its specialty the fogazza, a fried calzone that arrives hot as heck in a variety of stuffings like mozzarella and broccoli. The house's cassava gnocchi is served on every 29th of the month, a traditional date when Brazilians put a R$2 note underneath their plate of gnocchi to ward of any coming bouts of financial hard times. Photo: Crispin Cairns