Brazilian street food is definitely a mirror of its diverse culture. In the list below you will find street delicacies of different origins (African, indigenous, North American, European) the same as population of Brazil it is a mixture of many cultures.
Acarajé
has African roots and came to Maceió from Bahia – pole of African culture in Brazil. It’s made with mashed beans and filled with shrimp sauce. Acarajé recipe in Maceió underwent some slightly changes and many locals believe that this version is much better than Bahian original.
When to eat: lunch or afternoon snack. It is very nutritious so not a good option for late dinner.
Place to eat in Garça Torta*: Acarajé da Chú – on the main street, across the road 50 m to the north from GoBrazil. Opens only on the weekends and holidays.
Best place to eat in Maceió**: Acarajé da Maria at Ponta Verde
Tapioca
Indigenous gluten-free alternative to crepes. It is made with the gum base of manioc flour, pressed and lightly heated. It can be filled or topped with salty or sweet ingredients which will define whether to eat it for breakfast, as a snack or even for dinner. The classic version is filled with coconut and cheese.
When to eat: anytime depending on the filling
Place to eat in Garça Torta: Pico da Garça, it´s a bit further than Acarajé, on the same side of the street as GoBrazil.
Best place to eat in Maceió: Kiosk at Jacarecica – very thin and a lot of filling.
Açai na tigela (bowl of acai)
açai berries are fruits from Amazon region, they gained recently global popularity as “super-food”. They are very nutritious and have various health benefits. Very popular as a beach snack served in a form of creamy smoothie topped with bananas, granola and seeds. This combination makes it even more nutritious, that is why it is especially loved by surfers and other beach sport athletes.
Place to eat in Garça Torta: Pico da Garça at night, Bar do Carlinhos on the beach during a day time.
Best place to eat in Maceió: Ponta Verde Kiosk, they even have Açai without sugar.
Pastel
analogs of this deep-fried pastry can be found all around the word. In Brazil it is stuffed with different fillings including cheese and meat. Sweet versions are also available. When buying it check if it is really filled with something else then air and ask the seller how long ago did he changed the oil used for frying. Sometimes they even use the same oil the whole day.
When to eat: anytime of the day. Brazilians like to combine it with sugar cane juice.
Place to eat in Garça Torta: By the bus stop just around the corner from GoBrazil.
Best place to eat in Maceió: to be found. Its so popular that its hard to define which place is the best.
Coxinha (Chicken thigh)
typical Brazilian snack which came from San Paulo. It is a crunchy, filled with chicken and shaped to look like a chicken thigh.
When to eat: anytime of the day. Small coxinhas are very popular as a party snack.
Place to eat in Garça Torta: The same place around the corner.
Best place to eat in Maceió: to be found.
Sanduíche or hambúrger
– here they call that all types of hamburger. Extremely popular in Maceió and can be found almost on every corner. Apart from general name adapted to “Brazilian” language, some variations of it also suffered peculiar adaptations. For example “X-Búrger” which came from cheeseburger (the letter X is pronounced as “shees” in Portuguese) but not always contains cheese. They just liked this fancy name and add X when they think it is cool. Like “X-tudo” (X-everything) – hamburger which has all kinds of possible ingredients – ham, cheese, eggs, bacon, salad, corn, peas, etc.
Place to eat in Garça Torta: Pico da Garça, Croc Burger
Best place to eat in Maceió: you can have all kind of hamburgers in Maceió – from simple street versions and McDonalds to different kinds of gourmet. One of good gourmet places is The Black Beef on Amelia Rosa street.
* Special advice for our students. When you got sudden hunger and there is nothing at home and you wonder if eating something on the street is safe just go to one of the places from this list.
** Our favorite places, based on friends advice and own experience
