Eating well in Curitiba is routine, not a weekend program
The healthy food scene of Curitiba belongs to those who eat out all week, not to a tourist in detox mode: the demand came from the training routine in a cold city and the result is a map that goes from the city government's organic fair, on Saturdays at Passeio Público, to the affordable vegan buffet in São Francisco, from the 24h bakery with natural fermentation in Bacacheri to the concentration of pokes, bowls and functional cafés on the Batel, Água Verde and Bigorrilho axis. Whoever trains early or at night finds an open table at both ends of the day, and the local standard is a plate with real protein, fresh juice and a menu that changes with the season, at meal-prep subscription prices, not only weekend brunch prices.
Whoever searches on Google already asks by neighborhood and by specific house, and this guide follows that logic: four regions, twelve real addresses in operation, each with what to order and why it works for those who train. None of them lives on diet promises: all of them are real places to sit down, eat well and bring the crew.
Centro and São Francisco
The central region concentrates the oldest and cheapest options of the city: vegan buffet in São Francisco, functional sugar-free café next to Shopping Curitiba and the organic fair of Passeio Público on Saturday morning.
- Semente de Girassol (São Francisco, Rua Mateus Leme, 115). Order the all-you-can-eat vegan lunch buffet, with the hot dishes and savories of the day, and close with the house's cakes, pies and juices. It works for those who train because it is the cheapest way to solve the post-workout lunch of the central region at a fixed price, without weighing on the macro count.
- Breakfit Sugar Free (Centro, Rua Dr. Pedrosa, 353, 50 meters from Shopping Curitiba). The functional pay-by-weight buffet brings proteins, eggs, fruits and cereals, and the tapiocas and wraps are assembled on the spot. The house's own products are sweetened with stevia, so the protein smoothie and the açaí with more than 15 toppings come with no added sugar. It is a complete functional breakfast and lunch in the rush of the Centro.
- Feira Livre Orgânica do Passeio Público (Centro, Rua Presidente Faria, 550). Every Saturday, from 7h to 12h, the municipal organic fair occupies Passeio Público with produce straight from the producer, weekly organic baskets and food stalls. It is the supply run for those who cook their own training food, inside the most classic running spot of the center.
- Veg e Lev (Centro, Alameda Prudente de Moraes, 1218, with a location in Shopping Curitiba). The menu is short and changes every day to reduce waste: five hot dishes on the day's rotating menu, always with a vegan option, a gluten-free option and a dish with organic white meat. It serves the mixed group without leaving anyone without a choice.
Batel, Água Verde and Bigorrilho
The noble axis has the highest density of healthy cooking in the city: pokes, healthy gastronomy with dinner service and grab and go displays pile up in a few blocks, with the advantage that almost everything also opens at night.
- Malauí Gastronomia Saudável (Batel, Rua Teixeira Coelho, 350). It is the name curitibanos search for the most when researching healthy food in the city. Order dishes such as the strogonoff, the sorrentino and the curry, all served with a mini salad, a fresh juice and, on Saturday, the reinterpretation of a Brazilian dish from the special menu. It serves dinner beyond lunch, which solves the meal of the night training without leaving the light proposal.
- Mana Poke (Batel, Rua Francisco Rocha, 933). The Curitiba location of one of the largest poke chains in the country, elected by iFood among the best healthy deliveries in Brazil. The poke is assembled on the spot, with base, protein, sauce and toppings of your choice, from the salmon poke to the shrimp one. Opens every day, from 11h30 to 22h30.
- Club Life To Go (Batel, Rua Comendador Araújo, 639). Grab and go display of dishes with protein, carbohydrate and salad, fresh juices and functional sweets, with a menu that changes every day. Made to grab and take away: it is the post-workout meal without a scheduled time.
- All Natural (Bigorrilho, Rua Martim Afonso, 2910, with another location in the Batel and Água Verde area). A traditional healthy food house of the city. Worth the hot dish of the day, the cold and hot salads of the All Long Day line and the breakfast items. The house publishes a nutritional table by menu category, which helps those who count macros choose before leaving home. For those looking for a real salad, it is the neighborhood's answer.
Juvevê and Hugo Lange
Residential region to the north of the central area: Juvevê concentrates country and sea cooking and poke on two different corners, and Hugo Lange has a restaurant, bakery and natural products store at the same address.
- Vivá Você Saudável (Juvevê, Rua Rocha Pombo, 251). Country and sea cooking that serves lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday. Order the bowl or poke from the menu, the yakisoba (there is a version with shrimp) or the roast chicken with vegetables. It was nominated for the Bom Gourmet Award in the Healthy Cooking category and carries a 4.9 rating on Google, with more than 500 reviews.
- Poke To Wok (Juvevê, Rua Nicolau Maeder, 862, store 1). Curitiba chain with locations in other regions of the city. The salmon and tuna poke comes with Japanese rice and tare sauce, and the bowl can be built your way, in poke or wok version. 4.9 rating on Restaurant Guru, with more than 1.1 thousand reviews: it is the place to vary the protein of the day without leaving the routine.
- Restaurante Clorofila (Hugo Lange, Rua Fernandes de Barros, 1685). Restaurant, bakery and natural products store at the same address. The natural lunch menu cites about 40 preparations, with options for vegetarians, vegans and macrobiotic and whole-food preparations, and also fish and eggs for those who need animal protein. The breads and natural products of the bakery and the store complete the visit.
Bacacheri
The north of the city has the menu of those who train outside business hours: a 24h bakery with a declared healthy line in the same neighborhood as Parque Bacacheri, a classic running and walking spot.
- Panificadora Aquarius (Bacacheri, Avenida Prefeito Erasto Gaertner, 363). 24h bakery with 53 years of history, according to Gazeta do Povo, and a declared healthy line, with low carb, vegan and gluten-free options. Order the naturally leavened bread with 24 to 72h of fermentation, an omelet or a crepioca, and the nutritious salad with fresh juice at any time of day or night. It solves both the early morning run and the workout that ends late.
How to use this map
If the yardstick is density of options, the Batel, Água Verde and Bigorrilho axis is the best region of the city: Malauí, Mana Poke, Club Life To Go and All Natural are relatively close and almost everything also opens at night. The central region answers with the cheapest and oldest options, and Juvevê and Bacacheri complete the map. By the clock: the Passeio Público fair is Saturday morning, from 7h to 12h; Mana Poke runs until 22h30 every day; Malauí serves dinner; and Aquarius never closes, 24h in Bacacheri. For poke at home, ItiGO, a brand created by the Ichigo Ichie restaurant, operates delivery only.
This guide is part of a series of healthy places for those who train: the guides for healthy restaurants in Porto Alegre and healthy restaurants in Florianópolis are already out, in the same format by region, with what to order and why each address works after training.
