The SENAC restaurant, run by the national vocational training organization as a working training kitchen, is one of the best places in São Luís to eat traditional Maranhão cuisine at reasonable prices. The buffet includes all the regional classics: arroz de cuxá, moqueca de peixe, caruru, and various crab and shrimp dishes. The quality is consistently good and the setting — in a restored colonial building in the historic centre — is charming.
Students serve and cook as part of their culinary training, which means the service has an earnest enthusiasm that puts most professional restaurants to shame. Go for lunch, when the buffet is at its fullest. Prices are well below what you'd pay at comparable restaurants in larger Brazilian cities.