Nicolau Bar da Esquina

The brainchild of chef Leonardo Paixão from Belo's renowned Glouton restaurant, this buzzy newcomer northeast of downtown puts a whole new spin on the neighborhood corner bar. The attractive high-ceilinged space draws a youthful crowd for reimagined mineira classics like grilled pork with canjaquinha cremosa (creamy hominy grits) and ora-pro-nóbis (cactus leaves), or sandwiches of charbroiled homemade linguiça (garlicky pork sausage) with greens.