This is probably my new favorite place in Brazil. A little buteco in Santo Antônio owned by the most incredible guy. They had a brief mention in the New York Times last year which is proudly displayed above the bar.

Get your feet wet at Mercearia Lili (Rua São João Evangelista, 696, Santo Antônio, 55-31-3296-1951), a regular participant in Comida di Buteco. It is one bar of many in Santo Antônio, an upscale neighborhood of steep hills that require superhuman parallel parking skills or, preferably, use of the city’s metered taxis.
The bar is typical in many ways, not least of which is the furniture: yellow plastic tables and chairs, with the maroon Skol beer logo, spilling out onto the sidewalk (600-milliliter bottles of the Pilsener Skol, to be shared in small glasses, are the citywide order of choice). The buzz of conversation and the clink of bottles — not a D.J. — provide the soundtrack; grey hair and what in the United States would be underage youth share the tables.

Without a doubt the best Carne de Sol com Mandioca that I’ve had in the city.

Note the little glass in the top right corner. I no longer drink beer out of a bottle or a can. I require a small glass. I’ll be bringing some home.

The view from the bathroom.

And this. More third world ingenuity. In this, greatest of all countrys, cartons of cigarettes come wrapped in paper and these fellas take that paper and staple it together to make a notebook to write down all the orders for the night.

And here’s the owner explaining the financial problems the U.S. (the world) is experiencing. As I understand it, our problem is that we sell a bunch of shit that has manufactured values. A piece of paper here and a piece of paper there, ad infinitum and no one know what the fuck they’re buying or selling. I love this because I love restaurants, restauranteurs, people that provide real services to their communities. But mostly it’s just cool to watch him talk.