In Trancoso, a bohemian beach village south of Porto Seguro in the Brazilian state of Bahia, how one eats changes rather drastically between the night and the day. During the day, when the sweltering sun is high, the entire town is beside the ocean, where they order from beach bars and barracas or snack from a never-ending parade of roving vendors. The town, on cliff above the sea, is quiet until the sun drops into the Atlantic. It’s then that life returns to the restaurants surrounding the quadrado, Trancoso’s UNESCO-protected town square, and its surrounding streets.

Acaraje & Tapioca stalls

During the day you can find an acarajé (bean patties fried in dendê stuffed with shrimp and other fillings) cart, Acarajé da Dona Nén, on the beach at Praia dos Coqueiros. There is another acarajé cart that is open in the afternoons until the evenings at the plaza at the start of the quadrado, which is sided by two tapioca stalls, Tapioca A Colina and Tapioca da Elma.

Beach Snacks

-Pineapples: A mule powered cart, Manoel da Abacaxi, is loaded up with pineapples and roams up and down the beach.
-Queijo Coalho Grelhado: Kebabed coalho cheese grilled it over buckets filled with hot charcoal.
-Lagosta and Camarão Grelhado: Grilled lobster and shrimp.
–Pasteis: fried hand pies studded with shrimp or fish.

Uxua Quadrado

While Uxua, a collection of beautifully restored fishing houses surrounding the quadrado, is Trancoso’s most luxurious place to stay, their two forward-thinking dining options (see Uxua Beach Bar below for the other) are quite reasonably priced. Their dining service begins with homemade ice creams (jenipapo/ jabuticaba, açaí/guarana, or cocada/mango) that utilize the fruits that grow on the property. Blossoming into one of Trancoso’s most creative restaurants with former Mandioca cook Ju Pedrosa’s eclectic menu driven by Bahian ingredients, don’t miss Wednesday evenings when Pedrosa serves a set menu based around a different international cuisine. Uxua.com.

Uxua Praia Bar

Set in antique wooden fishing boat beneath a thatched roof on Barra do Rio Trancoso, a 500-meter beach beside the Trancoso River, this chilled out beach bar serves the best food and drinks near the ocean. You can get your Netuno or caipirinha fix there while snacking on skewers, dadinhos de tapioca (fried tapioca cubes), and ceviche. Uxua.com.

Hamburgueria São João Batista

After cooking at Alex Atala’s famed restaurant DOM in São Paulo, Paulo Sitolini opened up a fine dining restaurant on the quadrado for several seasons that focused on Bahian ingredients. That closed and he opened up this gourmet burger spot with big, meaty burgers and hot dogs, plus fries slathered in cheese and bacon.  Facebook page.

Restaurante Vitoria

The best traditional Bahian food comes from owner Donna Janete’s restaurant Vitoria on the quadrado. Their two-person moqueca (seafood stew) is one of Trancoso’s can’t miss dishes, though all of her hearty Bahian specialties – casquinha de siri (stuffed crab shells), escondidinho de carne seca (salt cured meat and yuca), bobó de camarão (shrimp stew) – are worth a meal. Additionally, Janete’s family members also run several of the other Bahian restaurants on the quadrado, such as Silvana e Cia beside Uxua, and the menus are pretty much the same. Facebook page.

Jacare do Brasil

At one time the beachy chic interiors of Jacare do Brasil was the setting for a partnership with celebrated Argentinean chef Francis Mallmann for a branch of his restaurant Los Negros. It only lasted a few summers, but the fish and classic Argentine cuts of beef (ojo de bife, bife de chorizo, etc) grilled over a wood fire are still there, plus there’s a long list of comfort foods like pastas, ribs, and burgers. jacaredobrasil.com.br.