I’m picky with restaurant sites. I care about color, smell, and story—yes, online. Brazilian food has that big, warm heart. So the site needs to feel like that too. If you want the granular, coffee-fueled version of the build, check out this behind-the-scenes report.
I tested three themes for a real job. I tried Rosa2 (by Pixelgrade), Grand Restaurant (from ThemeForest), and Astra’s Restaurant template. I built two sites: one for a cozy bistro in São Paulo and one for a sweet shop run by my aunt. I ended up sticking with Rosa2 for both. Let me explain why, and where it tripped me up.
Need inspiration for mouth-watering food photography and copy? Browse the examples on MyFoodTrip and you’ll see how the right visuals can almost make a screen sizzle. While refining my own food shots, I also looked at how lifestyle shooters capture intimacy and framing; a concise breakdown at Nude Snap reveals clever lighting tricks and composition habits that can upgrade any close-up—lessons you can borrow to make a humble bowl of feijoada look absolutely irresistible.
The Setup: Fast, but not magic
Install was simple. I used the demo import in Rosa2 and then swapped in my stuff. I edited with Gutenberg blocks. No big page builder needed. That kept things light.
- Hosting: I used a mid-tier plan on Hostinger.
- Plugins I added: WooCommerce, WooCommerce Mercado Pago (for Pix), Five Star Restaurant Reservations, WP Recipe Maker, Yoast SEO, and TranslatePress.
I also used Imagify to shrink my photos of feijoada, pão de queijo, and that shiny brigadeiro glaze. Big photos look great. They also slow things down. Shrink them.
Real Example #1: “Casa do Sabor” (Cozy Bistro in Pinheiros)
This one serves feijoada on Saturdays and moqueca during the week. The vibe is warm clay, green leaves, and tile. I wanted that on the screen.
- Hero section: Full-width photo of moqueca steam, with a soft parallax scroll. It gives a little wow without being loud.
- Menu grid: I used the theme’s menu block and added icons for farofa, vinagrete, and orange slices. It felt friendly.
- Booking: I set up Five Star Restaurant Reservations. The form sat right under the menu. Simple. My test booking email hit Gmail in 2 seconds.
- Payments: Not for dine-in, but we sold “Feijoada Para 2” kits through WooCommerce. Mercado Pago let folks pay with Pix. Yes, Pix worked. I tested it with R$10. The success screen was instant.
- Language: I added English with TranslatePress. “Moqueca capixaba” stayed in Portuguese. Some words are culture; I won’t water them down.
Speed on mobile? With images compressed, it loaded in about 2 seconds for me on 4G. Not perfect, but fine.
Real Example #2: “Doce Dona Lúcia” (My Aunt’s Brigadeiro Shop)
This one is sweet, bright, and tiny. She sells boxes for birthdays and Festa Junina.
- Shop: WooCommerce product cards showed “Brigadeiro Box 12,” “Beijinho,” and “Cajuzinho.” I set flavor swatches—little color dots—so folks could pick half-and-half mixes — oddly enough, the dough-like crumb makes brigadeiro a favorite among folks hunting for soft foods after surgery and still wanting a sugar hit.
- Pix + Card: Mercado Pago covered Pix and card. We added a small note: “Pix gets you a quick thank-you video.” People loved that.
- Seasonal banner: For Festa Junina, I made a striped ribbon banner with yellow and blue, like festa flags. It felt happy without being loud.
- Story page: A block with my aunt’s photo and her copper pan. You could almost smell the butter and cocoa. That page kept people on the site longer. I saw it in the stats.
One snag: the “Buy” button color clashed with her brand green. The theme settings got me close, but not exact. I added a tiny CSS tweak. After that, perfect.
Why I Kept Rosa2 (and didn’t use the others)
Grand Restaurant is beautiful. It felt heavy on mobile with the fancy sliders. Astra’s Restaurant template was super fast. But it looked a bit plain without more work. My takeaway echoes what I felt when tasting Chinese food in Rapid City: no matter the cuisine, the experience has to feel honest and unforced.
Rosa2 hit the middle: warm, bold images, clean menu blocks, and just enough flair.
Also, the typography felt right. I used Montserrat for titles and Lora for body text. It looked modern but still cozy, like sitting at a tiled table with a cold guaraná.
Little Things That Mattered
- Colors: I leaned into deep greens, sunny yellow, and a touch of red. Not flag-heavy—just hints that say “Brasil.”
- Patterns: I used a subtle azulejo tile texture in the footer. Soft, not noisy.
- Icons: A tiny picanha icon for the churrasco section made folks smile. Small joy goes a long way.
- Map: The built-in map block worked, but I swapped to a static image on mobile to keep it snappy.
Just as diners use map embeds to locate a new pastelaria, other local-search niches lean on highly focused directories; for example, massage-seekers in Wisconsin browse the Oak Creek listings on RubMaps, where the concise layout, zip-code filters, and candid reviews instantly surface the essential who-, where-, and when-details.
What Bugged Me
- The parallax hero looked great, but it can slow things if you upload huge photos. Keep images under 300 KB when you can.
- WooCommerce + Mercado Pago styling took a nudge. Buttons needed a color fix.
- The theme’s menu block didn’t support small allergen icons by default. I used emojis (🌰🔥🧀). It worked, and people get it.
A Quick Test Build for a Food Truck: “Churras da Praça”
This was a weekend gig. I built a single-page site in one evening.
- Sections: Menu, schedule, map, and WhatsApp order button.
- Pricing: I used a simple price list block. Picanha sandwich. Linguiça. Guaraná.
- WhatsApp: A big green button on mobile. People tapped. Orders came in. Done.
The site felt fun and bold, like a street grill at sunset. That’s the mood I wanted.
Tips if You’re Building a Brazilian Food Site
- Use WP Recipe Maker if you post recipes like farofa or canjica. It shows cook time and notes. Google likes it.
- Add Pix through WooCommerce Mercado Pago. People expect it in Brazil.
- Keep headings in Portuguese when it’s cultural. “Feijoada de Sábado” beats “Saturday Stew.” You feel the soul.
- For events like Carnaval or Festa Junina, drop a seasonal banner. Rotate photos. Keep it fresh.
Who This Theme Fits
- Restaurants that want booking, menus, and a warm look.
- Sweet shops that need a clean WooCommerce layout with Pix.
- Food trucks that want one page with strong photos and WhatsApp orders.
If you run a huge chain with lots of branches, you may want Astra for raw speed and a custom header. But for small and mid-size places, Rosa2 felt “home.”
Final Word
I wanted a site that smells like moqueca and feels like music. Rosa2 got me close, with less fuss. It wasn’t perfect. I had to fix a button, shrink photos, and mix in a few plugins. But the result? People found menus fast. Bookings worked. Pix worked. And my aunt sold out of brigadeiro twice in one week.
You know what? That’s the win that matters.