A Chapa

A Chapa, one of the snack bars which pioneered the São Paulo burger scene in the late 1960s, serves some of the best burgers in town.

In the late 1960s, the São Paulo food scene was marked by the opening of several burger joints. A Chapa (pronounced a SHA-pa, meaning "The Hotplate") is a successful example of permanence, having evolved from a small store on the main business avenue of the residential Aclimação district to four stores with increasingly better installations.

The cheeseburger (named by Playboy Magazine in Brazil as one of the best sandwiches in São Paulo) is one of the leading choices on the menu. Try it with the house fries (Country Wedges).

With the advent of baked, leaner options in the São Paulo burger scene, it became easier for some local foodies to snub traditional, hotplate-made burgers. A Chapa has creative comebacks in its veggie, organic burger (developed in a partnership with Casa Santa Luzia and Samurai Tofu organics) and the Fit Burger, in which bread was replaced with beet leaves. The menu also features lots of low carb salads, ciabatta, pita bread sandwiches and more other appetizing options in light fare.

Another cool partnership - this one, with Suplicy Cafés Especiais, allows A Chapa to serve great espressos prepared by trained baristas.

I love originals and, as a former resident of Rua Muniz de Souza, the Aclimação Park street, I recommend the first A Chapa if you get hungry during a visit to the neighborhood. But there's no doubt that the newest and more touristic location, on Rua Melo Alves in Jardins, beats all the others with its up-to-date, wheelchair-accessible facilities.