Fortaleza eats from the Atlantic and the sertão at once — crab claws and grilled peixe on the beach, sun-dried carne de sol with buttery manteiga da terra inland, and cashew fruit juice everywhere. Three days of markets, barracas and forró-hour bars.
The fish market beside the Mucuripe jangada beach opens at dawn when boats land. Stalls sell pargo, camarão and lagosta by the kilo, and adjoining barracas will grill or fry your pick for a small fee. Busiest 08:00-10:00.
The Fortaleza original of Brazil's biggest seafood chain, on Avenida Beira Mar. Portions serve two to three: camarão internacional, lagosta ao thermidor, peixe à delícia with banana and cheese. Open daily 11:30 until midnight.
Four floors, 550-plus boxes in the Centro behind the cathedral. The food stalls sell castanha de caju in every roast, doce de caju, rapadura, cachaça from Viçosa do Ceará and bottled pimenta. Mon-Sat 08:00-18:00, Sun to 13:00.
Late-afternoon tapioca griddles fire up around Rua dos Tabajaras and the Iracema seafront. The Ceará version is thin, filled with queijo coalho and coconut, or carne de sol and manteiga de garrafa. Sweet ones use banana and condensed milk.
Roaster and café in the cultural quarter serving Brazilian single-origin from Minas and Bahia alongside bolo de macaxeira and pão de queijo. Terrace tables face the Dragão do Mar walkway. Opens 09:00 Tue-Sun.
Ceará's carne de sol institution since 1988 — beef salted and sun-dried for a day, grilled and served with macaxeira, manteiga da terra, feijão verde and baião de dois. Portions are built for sharing; open daily from 11:00.
Fortaleza's tropical-fruit ice cream counter, open since 1988. Regional flavours you won't find south: cajá, graviola, siriguela, bacuri, umbu, tapioca and rapadura. Open late, usually until 23:00 or later at weekends.
Thursday is crab night on Praia do Futuro — the big barracas (Chico do Caranguejo, Crocobeach, Vira Verão) serve whole boiled crabs by the dozen with wooden mallets, plus casquinha de caranguejo and fried peixe. Music starts around 20:00.
Fortaleza's biggest neighbourhood market, running for decades around the Parangaba lagoon. Cassava, jerimum, macaxeira and bundles of coentro from the interior, plus stalls selling cuscuz with milk, tapioca and mungunzá for breakfast.
Long-running regional kitchen serving peixada cearense — fish stewed with coconut milk, peppers and egg — plus paçoca de carne de sol and baião de dois. Lunch service starts at 11:30 and the fish plates run out first.
Ceará craft brewery taproom pouring its own pilsen, IPA and a witbier made with local fruit, with tanks visible behind the bar. Snacks lean local: bolinho de carne de sol, isca de peixe. Opens mid-afternoon, busiest after 18:00.
The rock bar on the Dragão do Mar square, open since 1994, with tables spilling onto Rua Dragão do Mar where the whole strip drinks. Cachaça-based caipirinhas with cajá and siriguela, cold Original on tap, petiscos until late.