Evvai Restaurant

I recently visited this restaurant, and unfortunately, I left feeling quite disappointed. While I will say that the food was good, I certainly wasn't blown away. It seemed to lack that special touch that would elevate it beyond the ordinary. The presentations were creative, and I appreciated the effort that went into making the dishes visually appealing. However, when it comes to dining out, I believe the value should match the price, and in this case, it simply didn't. The atmosphere was nice, albeit not remarkable enough to warrant the overall cost. For the money I spent, I expected more than just aesthetically pleasing plates. It felt as though I was paying for looks instead of exceptional taste or experience. In terms of service, it was merely average. Our bartender recommended a whisky that he claimed was comparable in price to a favorite of ours. We trusted his suggestion, but once we received the bill, I was shocked to see that the drink was three times the cost of what we normally pay. To add insult to injury, I didn't even enjoy the whisky as much as the one we usually order. This lack of honesty regarding the pricing left a sour taste in my mouth—literally and figuratively. Overall, I feel that the five-star reviews this place has received are highly overrated. If your preference is to leave feeling hungry while enjoying beautifully arranged food, this might be the spot for you. However, for a more fulfilling and value-driven dining experience, I would recommend looking elsewhere. After spending a significant amount of time in São Paulo over the past four weeks, this is not a place I would return to for a second visit. I left unsatisfied and unlikely to recommend it to others. #whoyouchoosematters #travelwithbobbiejean

Food is amazing but the service is not the best considering that the restaurant has 2 starts. We arrived 3 min before 19h for a reservation at 19h and had to wait for almost 20 min while the staff was having a meeting “washing dirty laundry” and discussing details of the night. We could hear it all from the waiting area. Small details in the service of a 2 start restaurant were missing but big kudos to the part of the service provided by Marcelo and to his knowledge and charisma while explaining the paring and some of the food.

Sensational Dining Experience at Evvai in São Paulo! If you’re in São Paulo and love gourmet cuisine, Evvai is an absolute must-visit! From the moment I stepped in, I was blown away by the ambiance—modern yet warm and inviting. The food was sensational—each dish was a work of art, both in presentation and flavor. I tried the tasting menu, and every course was a new, delightful surprise, full of complex and fresh flavors. The use of local Brazilian ingredients with Italian inspiration was truly exceptional. The standouts for me were the hamachi fish and the coconut cauliflower dessert—a perfect blend of tradition and innovation. Service was also impeccable—the staff were knowledgeable and attentive without being intrusive, making the entire experience even more enjoyable. Whether you’re celebrating a special occasion or just looking for a world-class meal in São Paulo, Evvai is the place to go. It’s a bit of a splurge, but worth every penny. Highly recommend making a reservation ahead of time! Two Michelin Star deserved!

After solid coverage on 50 best in Latam and others, this strikes me as the best in Latin America for sure. It was 4 hours of banger after banger, every dish felt like a favorite. New menu launched after 7 months of their previous menu on the night I arrived. It was as Brazilian as Italian IMO. I’d call out highlights but the entire menu was worthy of 3 Michelin stars (they have 2) and is better than every latam 50 best ahead of them on the list that I’ve been to on the food specifically, but the service from Davi and environs were exceptional. Cocktails good too, I believe the gentleman’s name is Mateo (sorry if I got the name wrong) but he’s thrown together an intentional cocktail menu. Great wine as well from their somm. 10.0/10

Outstanding gourmet restaurant with impeccable service and creative cuisine, Michelin starred (just recently awarded **) Luis Filipe Souza turns his Italian-inspired menu “Oriundi” into a gastronomic carrousel of exotic ingredients and familiar textures. Elegant ambiance and high quality service elevates this small restaurant in a quiet neighborhood in São Paulo to the pinnacles of international cuisine. Wine list is short but highly selective (prices are expensive, so I throw a hint: bring one bottle of your choice and order one from their cellar and the cork policy of USD 50 per bottle is waived).

Michelin star experience and service, got a 14 course tasting menu w wagyu add on, the presentation was beautifully unique and creative, like many other molecular gastronomy restaurants, the food is not incredibly tasty but overall decent. Drink pairings were phenomenal. Pricey for a SP restaurant, $600 usd for 2 ppl but worth it. Our servers were so lovely and fun and spoke English

A culinary experience not to miss. Luiz Souza and his staff have created something very special. The journey we were taken on throughout each dish was a great experience. The food combinations are incredibly creative. Special thanks to our waiter Enzo was lovely. We will definitely return next time we come to Sao paulo.

One of the best fine dining experiences I have ever had

I recently visited this restaurant, and unfortunately, I left feeling quite disappointed. While I will say that the food was good, I certainly wasn't blown away. It seemed to lack that special touch that would elevate it beyond the ordinary. The presentations were creative, and I appreciated the effort that went into making the dishes visually appealing. However, when it comes to dining out, I believe the value should match the price, and in this case, it simply didn't. The atmosphere was nice, albeit not remarkable enough to warrant the overall cost. For the money I spent, I expected more than just aesthetically pleasing plates. It felt as though I was paying for looks instead of exceptional taste or experience. In terms of service, it was merely average. Our bartender recommended a whisky that he claimed was comparable in price to a favorite of ours. We trusted his suggestion, but once we received the bill, I was shocked to see that the drink was three times the cost of what we normally pay. To add insult to injury, I didn't even enjoy the whisky as much as the one we usually order. This lack of honesty regarding the pricing left a sour taste in my mouth—literally and figuratively. Overall, I feel that the five-star reviews this place has received are highly overrated. If your preference is to leave feeling hungry while enjoying beautifully arranged food, this might be the spot for you. However, for a more fulfilling and value-driven dining experience, I would recommend looking elsewhere. After spending a significant amount of time in São Paulo over the past four weeks, this is not a place I would return to for a second visit. I left unsatisfied and unlikely to recommend it to others. #whoyouchoosematters #travelwithbobbiejean

Food is amazing but the service is not the best considering that the restaurant has 2 starts. We arrived 3 min before 19h for a reservation at 19h and had to wait for almost 20 min while the staff was having a meeting “washing dirty laundry” and discussing details of the night. We could hear it all from the waiting area. Small details in the service of a 2 start restaurant were missing but big kudos to the part of the service provided by Marcelo and to his knowledge and charisma while explaining the paring and some of the food.

Sensational Dining Experience at Evvai in São Paulo! If you’re in São Paulo and love gourmet cuisine, Evvai is an absolute must-visit! From the moment I stepped in, I was blown away by the ambiance—modern yet warm and inviting. The food was sensational—each dish was a work of art, both in presentation and flavor. I tried the tasting menu, and every course was a new, delightful surprise, full of complex and fresh flavors. The use of local Brazilian ingredients with Italian inspiration was truly exceptional. The standouts for me were the hamachi fish and the coconut cauliflower dessert—a perfect blend of tradition and innovation. Service was also impeccable—the staff were knowledgeable and attentive without being intrusive, making the entire experience even more enjoyable. Whether you’re celebrating a special occasion or just looking for a world-class meal in São Paulo, Evvai is the place to go. It’s a bit of a splurge, but worth every penny. Highly recommend making a reservation ahead of time! Two Michelin Star deserved!

After solid coverage on 50 best in Latam and others, this strikes me as the best in Latin America for sure. It was 4 hours of banger after banger, every dish felt like a favorite. New menu launched after 7 months of their previous menu on the night I arrived. It was as Brazilian as Italian IMO. I’d call out highlights but the entire menu was worthy of 3 Michelin stars (they have 2) and is better than every latam 50 best ahead of them on the list that I’ve been to on the food specifically, but the service from Davi and environs were exceptional. Cocktails good too, I believe the gentleman’s name is Mateo (sorry if I got the name wrong) but he’s thrown together an intentional cocktail menu. Great wine as well from their somm. 10.0/10

Outstanding gourmet restaurant with impeccable service and creative cuisine, Michelin starred (just recently awarded **) Luis Filipe Souza turns his Italian-inspired menu “Oriundi” into a gastronomic carrousel of exotic ingredients and familiar textures. Elegant ambiance and high quality service elevates this small restaurant in a quiet neighborhood in São Paulo to the pinnacles of international cuisine. Wine list is short but highly selective (prices are expensive, so I throw a hint: bring one bottle of your choice and order one from their cellar and the cork policy of USD 50 per bottle is waived).

Michelin star experience and service, got a 14 course tasting menu w wagyu add on, the presentation was beautifully unique and creative, like many other molecular gastronomy restaurants, the food is not incredibly tasty but overall decent. Drink pairings were phenomenal. Pricey for a SP restaurant, $600 usd for 2 ppl but worth it. Our servers were so lovely and fun and spoke English

A culinary experience not to miss. Luiz Souza and his staff have created something very special. The journey we were taken on throughout each dish was a great experience. The food combinations are incredibly creative. Special thanks to our waiter Enzo was lovely. We will definitely return next time we come to Sao paulo.

One of the best fine dining experiences I have ever had

Entertainment in context of meal is not a typical reason to satisfy a craving, yet there are a handful of places around the world that have managed to cross that line. And to be blatantly clear, it is not entertainment in form of dancing, shows or theater, but purely of the dishes themselves. It is a sort of strange enjoyment, to appreciate a meal for something that is beyond taste and being unable to hide that smile when seeing a dish being set on the table. Evvai, a mind blowing combination of Italian cooking and Brazilian products, is an entertaining adventure like no other. Evvai is most closely translated as an exlamation that implies satisfaction and excitement, used when you reach a goal or something that you wanted to happen occurs. A project by a young chef, Luiz Filipe Souza, highlighting the immigrant's contribution to Brazil's food. Before the Japanese arrived and after the slave trade ended, Italians were the primary group of immigrants coming here to work on coffee plantations in late 1800s. Despite the abuse and difficult labor, due to tricky contracts and debts imposed upon them, many were unable to return home and stayed. More than a century later, we have restaurant projects such as Evvai, by the young generation of Italians, to put Brazil on the map of food and highlight Italian origin of many Brazilians as a source of pride, as opposed to oppression. Over the recent years, Louiz Filipe earned several key honors, such as the Michelin Star and the Forbes under 30 recognition. There are very, very profound reasons for that. Every dish is truly a piece of art and entertainment, with flavors that match the beauty of presentation. The tasting menu included delicacies such as meat components across the cow, ox tail, farro surrounded by olives, tomato broth infused with unsprouted seeds, fermented eggplant with honey from native bees, crawfish tortelli with lard, cacciatora chicken and many others. Every single dish was inventive, fun and tasty in very profound ways. The environment at Evvai can best be described as cozy and elegant, with a couple floors and small dining rooms that are inviting, with upstairs being a darker, more intimate space and downstairs as a light filled larger room. The only real downside to Evvai is the lack of English. The only person who spoke English was the sommelier, who was working across many tables. Thus, figuring out what is being brought to the table involved improvisation through taste and sight. Nobody on the wait staff spoke English and even the written storybook menu was not available in English. Although there is some fun in trying to figure out and decompose these immensely complex dishes, eventually it does get a bit tiring and tough due to unusual ingredients and presentation. From Michelin starred establishments in São Paulo, this was the only one where not a single waiter would be able to explain the dish. I realize that this isn't US, but for better or for worse, English in today's world is the only unifying and commonly taught language across nations, thus having one person on shift speaking English would allow almost any traveler from around the world who does not speak Portuguese to understand the menu. All that aside, Evvai is an extremely unique, fun and taste provoking establishment that shines to bring a spotlight on the contributions of Italians to the kitchens of Brazil. With a young inventive chef, Evvai is likely only the beginning rather than the end.

This was my second time at Evvai, the creativity is astounding and the surprises kept coming. The team is so well calibrated and works very seamlessly - the food is allowed to be the real center of attention. The bartender is a wonderful welcome to the experience - I was amazed he remembered me from my first visit! Made us feel at home and prepared a cocktail that was insanely tasty! Evvai should have a second location in the US! One of the top restaurants worldwide when it comes to creative culinary but it does it with the typical feeling and intensity of the Brasilian people, it's food with emotion. Bravo... again!