turismo ·
Paraguayan food: what to try at the border
Marco Três newsroom · edited by Annie Grellmann
Chipa, a "soup" that is actually a cake, UNESCO-listed tereré and the lomito árabe: the dishes and the addresses in Ciudad del Este and Foz do Iguaçu
Typical Paraguayan food is built on corn and cassava: chipa, sopa paraguaya (a savory cake, despite the name), mbeju, vori vori and ice-cold tereré. At the border you can try it in the chiperías and grills of Ciudad del Este, or without crossing the bridge, at spots in Foz do Iguaçu.
Quick answer: At the Paraguayan border, try chipa (cassava-starch bread with cheese), sopa paraguaya (corn flour savory cake), vori vori (chicken broth with corn dumplings ranked world's best soup), and lomito árabe (flatbread with marinated beef). Drink tereré, yerba mate with ice water through a metal straw. Sample milanesa and asado at local grills. Visit Chipería Mi Abuela, Hoplon Club, or La Mansa Paraguay in Ciudad del Este.
On the Paraguayan side of the Friendship Bridge, the food changes along with the currency. The base is corn and cassava, a Guarani heritage to which the Spanish added cheese and beef, and most of it is eaten by hand, still warm.
Corn and cassava
Chipa is a ring of cassava-starch bread with cheese and eggs, sold warm all day; in Ciudad del Este, cars with loudspeakers drive around downtown announcing a fresh batch. Sopa paraguaya, despite the name, is solid: a savory cake of corn flour, onion, cheese and milk, baked and served in slices. Its cousin chipa guasu ("big chipa" in Guarani) swaps the flour for fresh corn kernels. Mbeju is a thin griddled cake of starch and cheese, one of the oldest dishes in Guarani cooking. And vori vori (or bori bori) is a chicken broth with dumplings of corn flour and cheese that TasteAtlas ranked the world's best soup three years running, 2023 to 2025.
Tereré, the national habit
Paraguay drinks its yerba mate with ice-cold water. Tereré, sipped from a guampa cup through a metal straw and mixed with medicinal herbs (pohã ñana), joined UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2020. Tereré circles set the pace of business in Ciudad del Este; being offered a sip is a welcome.
Lomito árabe, milanesa and asado
The lomito árabe was born in the 1990s as Paraguay's take on shawarma: flatbread, marinated beef, garlic sauce, cabbage and onion. In Ciudad del Este, home to a large Arab community, it is the classic street snack. Milanesa, breaded steak with rice or cassava, is everyday food; asado shows up at the grills, with boiled cassava instead of bread.
Where to try it
In Ciudad del Este: Chipería Mi Abuela (Av. Alejo García) is the reference for handmade chipa; Hoplon Club (Av. Mcal. Estigarribia at Picuiba) serves vori vori, sopa paraguaya and grilled meats; La Mansa Paraguay (Aka Karaya street at Av. Rogelio Benítez) has a menu of typical dishes. Without leaving Brazil: Chipa & Café (Rua Xavier da Silva 839, downtown Foz do Iguaçu) bakes chipa daily, and Cabeza de Vaca (Av. General Meira, Jardim Eldorado) mixes the three countries' kitchens.
Tip
Buy chipa in the morning, from the first batch, and eat it warm. On the Paraguayan side you can pay in guaraníes (₲) or Brazilian reais (R$), but change usually comes back in guaraníes. Prices change — check on site.
Frequently asked questions
- What is typical Paraguayan food?
- A corn-and-cassava cuisine with Guarani roots: chipa (a cassava-starch cheese bread), sopa paraguaya (a savory corn cake), chipa guasu, mbeju, vori vori and tereré, yerba mate drunk with ice-cold water.
- Is sopa paraguaya a soup?
- No. Despite the name, it is a baked savory cake of corn flour, onion, cheese and milk, served in slices. It is the rare "soup" you eat with a fork.
- What is tereré?
- Yerba mate drunk with ice-cold water and medicinal herbs (pohã ñana), from a guampa cup with a metal straw. It joined UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list in 2020 and is Paraguay's national drink.
- What is lomito árabe?
- A Paraguayan take on shawarma created in the 1990s: flatbread with marinated beef, garlic sauce, cabbage and onion. In Ciudad del Este, which has a large Arab community, it is the most common street snack.
- Where can I eat chipa at the border?
- In Ciudad del Este, at Chipería Mi Abuela (Av. Alejo García) and from street vendors downtown. In Foz do Iguaçu, at Chipa & Café (Rua Xavier da Silva 839, downtown).
- Do I need to cross the bridge to try Paraguayan food?
- No. Foz do Iguaçu has Chipa & Café downtown and Cabeza de Vaca in Jardim Eldorado, both with Paraguayan dishes on the menu. On the Paraguayan side, the difference is chipa coming out of the oven warm, on the street.
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Content verified by the newsroom based on an official source: UNESCO — Patrimônio Cultural Imaterial (tereré). Last checked: 7/22/2026. Found something inaccurate? We fix it fast. How we work.
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