Avenida Paulista is the center of São Paulo’s financial district; the Comedoria SESC Paulista sits 14 floors above it and therefore provides an excellent lookout of all the busy goings-on.

The food is simple and the prices, friendly but the main attraction is definitely the terrace, whose al fresco dining provides such fine people-watching. The café even provides binoculars for the near-sighted and the overly-curious. Ever seen Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window? Well, Comedoria SESC Paulista’s view is like that, only hopefully without any murders. It’s certainly worth riding the elevators just for one cup of coffee!

The Comedoria is attached to the Centro Cultural SESC: a stroll through its exhibitions will drag you back (kicking and screaming, perhaps) up to high culture. And on Wednesdays, at least, you can pretend to watch the live “chorinho” performers who sweeten the air with samba music.