Restaurant in São Paulo, Brazil
Michelin-recognised Italian at a fair price.
Piselli holds two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) and a 4.6 Google rating from nearly 2,000 reviews — delivering Michelin-recognised Italian cooking at the $$ price tier inside São Paulo's premium Iguatemi shopping address on Faria Lima. Booking is easy, making it one of the more accessible Michelin-quality tables in the city for dates, business lunches, or low-fuss celebrations.
Piselli earns a clear recommendation for Italian dining in São Paulo, especially if you are eating at the $$ price point and want Michelin-recognised quality without the four-figure bill. Two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) confirm this is not a shopping-mall Italian restaurant coasting on foot traffic — it is a serious kitchen worth planning a meal around. The Google rating of 4.6 across nearly 2,000 reviews adds further weight: at this price tier, that volume of positive feedback is harder to fake than at a fine-dining restaurant with 200 covers. Book it for a date dinner, a business lunch, or a celebration that does not require the formality of a $$$$ room.
Piselli sits on the ground floor of Shopping Iguatemi on Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima in Jardim Paulistano — one of São Paulo's most commercially active and well-heeled corridors. The Iguatemi address matters: this is not a random food-court tenant. Iguatemi has long positioned itself as the city's premium retail environment, and the restaurants on its ground floor operate in a different register from typical mall dining. Piselli has clearly leaned into that positioning, earning Michelin recognition two years running while keeping prices accessible at the $$ tier.
Italian food in São Paulo has genuine depth , the city's Italian immigrant heritage is one of the strongest in the world outside Italy itself, and that history has produced a local Italian dining scene that runs from neighbourhood trattorias to Michelin-starred contemporary rooms. Piselli sits in the middle of that spectrum: committed enough to Italian technique to earn a Plate, priced democratically enough to be a regular rather than a once-a-year restaurant. For context on where the category goes at the leading end, Evvai is São Paulo's benchmark for contemporary Italian at the $$$$ level. Piselli is not trying to be Evvai , and at roughly half the price or less, it does not need to be.
The wine angle is worth addressing for anyone who treats the bottle as central to the meal rather than an afterthought. Brazilian wine culture has matured significantly in the past decade, and São Paulo's better restaurants now carry lists that include serious South American producers alongside European imports. At the $$ price tier, Piselli's wine program is unlikely to match the depth of a $$$$ room, but an Italian-focused kitchen almost always builds its list around Italian varietals , expect Sangiovese, Montepulciano, and Pinot Grigio-adjacent options alongside whatever Brazilian and Argentine bottles the list carries. For an occasion where wine pairing matters as much as food, consider whether stepping up to Evvai or Picchi , both strong Italian addresses in the city , gives you more list depth for the moment you have in mind. If the food is the primary event and wine is supporting, Piselli at $$ is the sharper call.
For Italian dining specifically in São Paulo, the competitive set is worth knowing. Borgo Mooca, Bottega Bernacca, and Marena Cucina all represent different corners of the São Paulo Italian scene and are worth cross-referencing depending on your neighbourhood and occasion. Casa Santo Antônio offers a different register altogether. Piselli's Iguatemi location gives it a practical edge for anyone already in the Faria Lima area , it is a natural choice for a business lunch that does not require a trek across the city.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which is meaningful. In a city where the leading tables at D.O.M. or A Casa do Porco require planning weeks in advance, Piselli's accessibility is a genuine advantage. If you are organising a meal for visitors to São Paulo who want Michelin-level quality with same-week availability, this is one of the more reliable answers in the city. For a broader sense of where Piselli sits in the São Paulo dining picture, see our full São Paulo restaurants guide.
Outside São Paulo, Brazilian diners and travellers exploring the country's restaurant scene should know that the Michelin Plate standard is applied consistently. Oteque in Rio de Janeiro and Origem in Salvador are two examples of the award carrying weight in other cities. Mina in Campos do Jordão is worth noting for São Paulo-area travellers heading to the mountains. Internationally, anyone curious how Piselli's Italian approach compares to the global standard for the cuisine should look at 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong or cenci in Kyoto , both represent what Italian cooking looks like when it travels far from its origin and still holds up.
For more on São Paulo, see our full São Paulo hotels guide, our full São Paulo bars guide, our full São Paulo wineries guide, and our full São Paulo experiences guide.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piselli | Italian | Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| D.O.M. | Modern Brazilian, Creative | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Evvai | Contemporary Italian, Modern Cuisine | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Maní | Brazilian - International, Creative | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Jun Sakamoto | Sushi, Japanese | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| A Casa do Porco | Regional Brazilian, Brazilian | World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Piselli and alternatives.
At $$, Piselli is among the stronger value plays for Italian in São Paulo — two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) signal consistent kitchen quality at a price point where that recognition is unusual. If you want Michelin-tracked Italian without the $$$ bill of somewhere like Evvai, Piselli is the answer. It won't redefine what Italian food means to you, but it delivers reliably at its price.
Piselli is inside Shopping Iguatemi on Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima — ground floor, so access is straightforward. Jardim Paulistano is one of São Paulo's busier commercial corridors, which means parking and foot traffic can be hectic, especially on weekdays at lunch. Its two Michelin Plates mark it as a step above the mall-restaurant default, so don't let the shopping centre setting lower your expectations for the food.
The venue database doesn't confirm private dining options or maximum group capacity. Given its ground-floor mall location, large private-hire bookings are less likely than at a standalone restaurant. Groups of four to six should be fine for a standard reservation; for anything larger, check the venue's official channels before assuming availability.
Bar seating details aren't confirmed in the available venue data. Italian restaurants at this price point in São Paulo typically offer counter or bar options, but verifying with Piselli directly before planning a solo drop-in is advisable — especially given the Michelin-Plate draw that can push covers at peak times.
No tasting menu is confirmed in the available venue data for Piselli. At a $$ price range, a multi-course tasting format would be atypical. If a structured tasting experience is your priority, Evvai is the more appropriate São Paulo Italian option — though at a meaningfully higher price point.
Dietary accommodation specifics aren't documented in the venue record. Italian kitchens at this level generally adapt for common restrictions, but given Piselli's Michelin recognition and likely structured menu, contacting them ahead of your visit is the practical move — don't assume flexibility without confirming.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
