One of Toronto's top spots for Brazilian street food has recently opened a second location in the World Food Market near Yonge and Dundas Square.
Paulo Canabrava and his wife, Elisa Lima, opened Samba Brazil Eatery in April of 2019, motivated to share their passion for Brazilian street food with Toronto. They are excited to have a new location downtown, so that they can reach even more Torontonians with their comfort food.
Samba Brazil Eatery specializes in traditional salgados, known as savoury snacks. This includes pastel, one of Brazil's most popular street foods. They offer over 20 different varieties of pastel, including dessert options for those with a sweet tooth.
Pastel is a crispy, rectangular deep-fried pastry that can come stuffed with savoury meats, gooey cheeses and vegetables. Popular orders include the 'Pastel Carne Louca' filled with pulled beef, peppers, onions and spices, and the 'Carne Seca,' which comes with Brazilian-style beef jerky cassava and onions.
Popular sweet pastels include the 'Queijo Coalho com Doce Leite,' which is made with Brazilian grilled cheese and creamy dulce de leche.
Samba Brazil Eatery is also known for their 'Coxinha', which is a teardrop shaped dough, stuffed with shredded chicken and deep-fried, making it the perfect crunchy snack.
Amongst their many dessert options, find 'Brigadeiro,' a popular chocolate made with condensed milk, butter and cocoa powder.
Canabrava stresses the importance of serving comfort food made with high-quality ingredients. He notes that even though they consider themselves a fast food restaurant due to their menu's nature, he feels they are more like a home kitchen as everything is homemade and prepared from scratch.
Samba Brazil Eatery's new location in the World Food Market at 335 Yonge Street is open Monday to Friday from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for dinner. On Saturdays, they are open from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Sundays they are open from 12 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
