El Tranvía Itaim Bibi

Firewood grills, Uruguayan salt-and-fire cooking and imported Aberdeen Angus, in the Itaim Bibi house opened in 2016.

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By Silas Brand · Steakpedia editorial voice · Who writes

How to book

Why go

Wood fuels the parrilla. BaresSP says El Tranvía roasts its meat the Uruguayan way, with fine salt, on traditional grills fired with firewood. The beef is imported Aberdeen Angus. The Itaim Bibi house opened in 2016, the latest step in a group that began in 1997 in a narrow corridor in Santa Cecília, a space that looked like a streetcar aisle and gave the restaurant its name, tranvía. En Primeur lists the Itaim Bibi house as a Michelin Plate in 2024 and 2025 and shows it again in 2026, at number 43 on the Rio de Janeiro & São Paulo list. The room has an open kitchen and outdoor tables beside a park, per En Primeur.

What to order

Bife ancho
Asado de tira, bife de chorizo, tapa de cuadril
Fries and Uruguayan flan

Firewood

BreedAngus

Price$$$

Opened2016

Not published: aging, grade.

01What to order

Bife anchoThe cut En Primeur suggests, with provoleta, the grilled cheese.
Asado de tira, bife de chorizo, tapa de cuadrilThe cuts a Michelin summary lists, which also speaks of matured meats on the grill. Steakpedia read it through a search summary, because the page did not load.
Fries and Uruguayan flanMichelin's summary recommends both; the flan comes with dulce de leche.
Chajá and massiniTwo Uruguayan desserts on the BaresSP description: chajá is chantilly, meringue and peach; massini is chantilly with layers of caramelized sugar.
La Tregua TannatThe house wine, a Tannat from Uruguay, per BaresSP.

02The beef

Aberdeen Angus, imported, described by BaresSP in 2017 as high-standard beef. No source names the country of origin, the feeding or the aging. Michelin's summary mentions matured meats but gives no days. The cuts named by the sources are asado de tira, bife de chorizo, tapa de cuadril and bife ancho. BaresSP says the menu covers beef, lamb, pork, fish and chicken. Sides come in a quantity that depends on the number of guests, per Michelin's summary.

03The fire

Firewood. Traditional parrillas. Fine salt. That is the whole method BaresSP gives, in a 2017 listing: meat roasted the Uruguayan way on grills fed with wood. No source says which wood, or the grate height or distance to the embers. Steakpedia stops where the sources do.

04The story

The group began in 1997. The official website places the first house in a narrow corridor on Rua Conselheiro Brotero, in Santa Cecília; BaresSP puts it in Higienópolis, with 20 seats, and says the restaurant now has 200. A Uruguayan family that moved to São Paulo in the 1980s founded it, and Juan Fontana and Alexandre Furini now run the La Tregua group. BaresSP lists the growth: Alphaville in 2010, Campinas in 2013, Sorocaba in 2014 and Itaim Bibi in 2016. The official site says there are six operations in São Paulo state, although it lists five addresses: Higienópolis, Itaim, Perdizes, Campinas and Iguatemi Sorocaba.

05The practical

Rua Leopoldo Couto de Magalhães Júnior 1372, Itaim Bibi. Phone (11) 2361-3588. The official site gives Monday to Saturday 12:00 to midnight and Sunday 12:00 to 17:00; En Primeur's listing for March 2026 shows weekdays opening at 11:30. Reservations are online, choosing the unit. Every unit has a kids' space, pet-friendly areas and parking, and there are private rooms for events. En Primeur lists a $$$ price level and a smart-casual dress code. No menu prices are published. Book ahead.