Where to Eat in São Luís

Where to eat in São Luís: first off, the main local specialty is cuxá, a kind of stew made with vinagreira leaves (an herb), cassava flour porridge, toasted and pounded sesame seeds, and dried shrimp. It’s really tasty!

Another local specialty is shrimp pie, and for dessert, we’d recommend cream desserts made with regional fruits like bacuri and cupuaçu.

The best-known restaurants are Maracangalha (currently renovating and reopening with a new concept), Dona Maria, and Cabana do Sol.

We picked Cabana do Sol, and here’s how it went.

Cabana do Sol — a São Luís food tip

• À la carte restaurant

The setting

There are three locations, and we went to the one in Ponta do Farol, since it was closest to our hotel. The space is decorated with regional touches reflecting the local culture, with both an outdoor area and an air-conditioned indoor section.

Starter

Meat pastel with pepper jelly — a bit dry, but genuinely tasty. The jelly is also delicious, and the pepper isn’t too strong; they sell it separately too.

Main course

One dish serves two people, and we ordered Carne de Sol de Carneiro (sun-dried lamb), which was a bit tough, but tasty.

It comes grilled over coals, with sides of white rice cooked in lamb broth, farofa, vinaigrette, and breaded banana.

We really wanted to try the cuxá rice, which wasn’t part of our dish, so we asked if we could try it as a courtesy — and we loved it.

Dessert

Finally, we ordered the cupuaçu cream, topped with caramelized cupuaçu — we loved both.

Price

It came out to an average of R$100 per person, including two Guaraná Jesus sodas and a juice. Worth it for the sheer amount of food — we think this dish could easily serve 3 people.

Local drinks

Guaraná Jesus

The region’s signature drink is Guaraná Jesus, created in 1920 by pharmacist Jesus Norberto Gomes, who was actually trying to make a medicine and ended up creating a syrup that turned into a sales sensation instead.

It’s a pink-colored soda with a tutti-frutti aroma, and in 2001, Coca-Cola bought the formula, though it’s still only sold in Maranhão state.

Juices

There are several local fruits, and we ordered a few to try. I had a bacuri juice at the restaurant — I wasn’t a fan of the texture or the flavor, but it’s still worth trying at least once.

Ice cream — a São Luís food tip

There are several local fruits here that make for genuinely unique ice cream flavors. We had ours at Praça dos Poetas, in the historic center.

We picked one murici and one cupuaçu — we preferred the cupuaçu, both in texture and flavor.

Read more food tips in Where to Eat in Rio de Janeiro and Where to Eat in Florianópolis.