One thing we enjoy when we visit New York City is stopping in random bodegas while hurrying from one museum or play to another. These small, family-run hole-in-the-wall grocers usually serve food to order as well, quite often sandwiches such as chopped cheese or bacon, egg and cheese, along with Jamaican beef patties, pancakes or chicken over rice. All of which can be had while browsing the canned goods and over-priced bottles of aspirin. With over 13,000 bodegas in New York, according to some estimates, they’re kind of hard to miss.
Dallas has many fewer, and they’re not easy to happen upon by random chance due to urban sprawl. But when you do find one, count yourself lucky. Brazil Latino Market in Far North Dallas is one such spot: Several aisles of Brazilian and Portuguese dry goods along with some frozen foods and a butcher. Nestled in the back is a place to order several varieties of Brazilian street food.
The menu includes sandwiches, pastels, fritters, breads and pastries, most of which were not familiar to us and were all priced at $3–$5 each. The staff is patient and eager to help, so we were able to put in an order of pao, kibbeh, empadinha and a pastel for a quick lunch.
The pao de queijo is the familiar Brazilian cheese bread made famous by Brazilian steak restaurants such as Fogo de Chão and Texas de Brazil. A larger portion than you usually receive at such places, this was a decent example of the crispy outer with a chewy cheesy interior that is the hallmark of these breads.
Next, the empadinha de frango. While the name suggests a form of empanada, this actually is more of a little pie, a savory tart with flaky crust and filled which chicken and cheese. A tasty bite; we could have eaten half a dozen.
The kibbeh queijo is the Brazilian take on the Lebanese treat, a fritter made with ground beef and bulgur wheat, seasoned with garlic, onions and mint, and deep-fried into a football-shaped croquette filled with melty cheese.
We finished with a pastel especial frango. The pastel is typical Brazilian street food, a thin-crust fried pie usually in half-circle or rectangular form, filled with goodies like ground lamb or beef, cheese, heart of palm, vegetables, codfish, shrimp or catupiry, a creamy dairy spread known as a Brazilian comfort food. It was larger than expected and filled with shredded chicken, corn and bacon.
All were really good, but all but the pao were deep-fried. We tried to work off the calories by wandering the aisles to examine all the unique items, poking about in the frozen section and perusing the butcher counter. Maybe we should have gotten a sandwich instead.
A restaurant, Brazil Latino Food & Music, is just two doors down and offers a buffet (by weight) or unlimited during lunchtime. There's also Brazilian pizza at dinner, with toppings such as heart of palm, hard-boiled eggs, tuna, jerked beef and Brazilian sausage that we’ll probably try at some point once it’s cooler and we can more easily walk off our culinary indulgences.
Dallas has many fewer, and they’re not easy to happen upon by random chance due to urban sprawl. But when you do find one, count yourself lucky. Brazil Latino Market in Far North Dallas is one such spot: Several aisles of Brazilian and Portuguese dry goods along with some frozen foods and a butcher. Nestled in the back is a place to order several varieties of Brazilian street food.
The menu includes sandwiches, pastels, fritters, breads and pastries, most of which were not familiar to us and were all priced at $3–$5 each. The staff is patient and eager to help, so we were able to put in an order of pao, kibbeh, empadinha and a pastel for a quick lunch.
The pao de queijo is the familiar Brazilian cheese bread made famous by Brazilian steak restaurants such as Fogo de Chão and Texas de Brazil. A larger portion than you usually receive at such places, this was a decent example of the crispy outer with a chewy cheesy interior that is the hallmark of these breads.
Next, the empadinha de frango. While the name suggests a form of empanada, this actually is more of a little pie, a savory tart with flaky crust and filled which chicken and cheese. A tasty bite; we could have eaten half a dozen.
The kibbeh queijo is the Brazilian take on the Lebanese treat, a fritter made with ground beef and bulgur wheat, seasoned with garlic, onions and mint, and deep-fried into a football-shaped croquette filled with melty cheese.
We finished with a pastel especial frango. The pastel is typical Brazilian street food, a thin-crust fried pie usually in half-circle or rectangular form, filled with goodies like ground lamb or beef, cheese, heart of palm, vegetables, codfish, shrimp or catupiry, a creamy dairy spread known as a Brazilian comfort food. It was larger than expected and filled with shredded chicken, corn and bacon.
All were really good, but all but the pao were deep-fried. We tried to work off the calories by wandering the aisles to examine all the unique items, poking about in the frozen section and perusing the butcher counter. Maybe we should have gotten a sandwich instead.
A restaurant, Brazil Latino Food & Music, is just two doors down and offers a buffet (by weight) or unlimited during lunchtime. There's also Brazilian pizza at dinner, with toppings such as heart of palm, hard-boiled eggs, tuna, jerked beef and Brazilian sausage that we’ll probably try at some point once it’s cooler and we can more easily walk off our culinary indulgences.
4727 Frankford Road, No. 409. Monday – Saturday, 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
