[Special Report] Los Mano Pizzas

This post from abroad came to me this morning from our member Mark, currently vacationing and avoiding kidnappers in Brazil...

Hey, I am in Sao Paulo Brazil, and decided to have a pizza club meeting for one. I took a few pictures, though I do not have any of the restaurant. I have a few minutes so here is a review written off the cuff:

The food in brazil has presented me with numerous new flavors and combinations of old flavors I would not have thought appropriate prior to the trip. As the trip winds down, I decided to see what the Brazillian take on pizza was like. I am currently staying in a Jewish neighborhood in Sao Paulo with a friend. This is not a neighborhood where tourists are seen, so I believe that this sample of one is fairly representative of a normal Brazilian pizza. The pizza place chosen was one 2 blocks away that seemed to be doin a fair amount of business. Los Mano Pizzas located at 1333 rua Dr. Albuquerque Lins, Higienopolis. Ph # 3662-0000, and yes, they do deliver. The menu presented several options that appeared very strange, including a banana pizza, and pizza with the cheese replaced by a mousse squeezed out of a pastry bag. The sauce appears to be a basic, I think, marinara, which is spread very sparingly on a very neutral pizza dough. The topping of choice is placed on top of slices of buffalo mozzerella the outside of the crust is then sprinkled with sesame seeds, and the pie placed in a wood fired oven for 8-10 minutes.

The word to describe the pizza best is neutral, the crust had no real distinctive flavor other than the presence of the sesame seeds which I must admit did not suit my taste. The sauce was minimal and fairly sweet. The cheese was of an excellent quality despite its placement in sliced form. The toppings were of a high quality, however I must admit when I received the pizza I was a little shocked. As this is an establishment where people always speak Portugese there was obviously no menu in English. I, having spent the last 9 days mastering the language, assumed I would be fine. What I ended up with was a pizza with the finest olives on it I have ever tasted, and a whole pile of tuna. The tuna was of higher quality (possibly from one of those vacuum packets rather than the can) and the oil and seasonings actually made the pizza much more tolerable than I expected, but I really dont like tuna.

The pizza was quickly produced and the staff were very interested to talk with a gringo such as myself, even if I only speak a little spanoish. They were totally unaware of the existence of stuffed crust, and I wrote down the address of the pizza club so they can get their minds blown at what the technologically mighty U.S. can produce.

As I ended up with a pizza with toppings that confused the review I do not feel that a rating is appropriate, however I do feel that this remains an excellent lesson in eating while in a foreign land; that you frequently end up with a food that you would never eat. Sometimes this ends up exposing you to flavors you have never tasted before, and sometimes you get a pizza with tuna on top of it.


Looks good...


I wonder if they deliver to Chicago?


Look at that! Sesame seeds!!