This Uniquely Brazilian, Corn-Topped Burger Is Served Outside an Açaí Shop in Richmond

On an episode of Parts Unknown, the late food philosopher Anthony Bourdain had this to say about the unwavering swagger of Brazilians:

“No beach? Hire a water truck. Economy in the shitter? Turn up the music and dance. It’s known here as the ‘little slippery way.’ You adapt. You survive. No matter what, you have a good time. And you don’t go it alone.”

Read: Brazilians can alchemize bad situations into good ones. They also know how to indulge — and how to feed others with whatever is at their disposal.

Few places in the Bay Area’s culinary scene uphold this spirit of Brasileiro transcendence as plainly as Brazuca Açaí and Brazuca Burger in Richmond. The açaí shop and food truck are owned by Christopher dos Santos, a 21-year-old semi-professional soccer player, and his immigrant father, Romilson dos Santos. Between their two homestyle businesses, the dos Santos family serves açaí bowls, juices, salgados and various twists on Americana, like a Brazuca hot dog and the Brazilian-style cheeseburger — known to Brazilians as “x-tudo” or simply “x” (pronounced “chis” in Portuguese) — which is a cult favorite in some parts of Brazil.

With their unabashedly Brazilian approach to food, the dos Santoses are certainly standing out. And they’re doing it all from the ground up.

“[Before Brazuca], I was working at a warehouse sorting boxes. Every day I worked the whole day, then would leave for soccer practice. I slept for four, five hours. I was drained,” Christopher says. “I was 19. I had nothing — no business, no plans. A pastor at my church pulled me aside after service one day, and God spoke to me. I knew I would be blessed with a food business.”

When a shop in the area went out of business, the younger dos Santos felt divinely moved to invest in the location to open his Brazilian enterprise. Prior to that, his father had been selling food out of their home and was a former restaurant owner in his hometown of Goiânia, Brazil, before arriving in the Bay Area 25 years ago as an undocumented laborer. (He has since gained citizenship.)

Since opening Christopher’s açaí shop last year, the father-and-son duo have doubled down on their Brazilian pride by importing even more ingredients and ideas from South America to “bring the taste from back home.”

The burgers, like the vibrant energy of Brazilians, are massive and unbridled. For the elder dos Santos — a construction worker by day who runs the food truck in the evenings — Brazilian burgers remind him of his upbringing, which was defined by poverty and a relentless determination. Building out his food truck took over three years, and he focuses solely on the burgers, which were his idea to serve.

“I do it my way,” he says. “If you’re cooking just for the money, it’s not worth it. You have to cook from your heart. You have to put your ‘alma’ in it.”

Each loaded burger — and I don’t say that lightly — will likely fall apart in your feeble hands with each bite. The version I tried comes with the usual fixings of a large American cheeseburger, but adds pineapple, bacon, egg, ham, sausage, corn and potato straws. It seems odd at first. Yet, miraculously, it all works. After trying to cram it into your mouth, you’ll need to recalibrate your angle once you comprehend its epic proportions — and how different it is from any burger you’ve likely eaten.

While the dad is busy slinging “x-tudos” from his flamboyantly decorated yellow and purple food truck parked out front, the younger dos Santos prepares fresh juices (including dragon fruit, maracuya and acerola), açaí bowls (Brazilian or American style) and salgados (traditional small bites like coxinha and kibe) with the help of his brother, Matthew, and their mother, Leonice.

“We just love home-cooked meals,” Christopher says from inside the tiny restaurant’s open kitchen. “The authenticity is important. Condensed milk and powdered milk are common in Brazil. That’s why we have that option here. It’s not common [in açaí bowls] in the U.S., but I just decided to bring it to the people, Brazilian style.”

When it comes to notable Brazilian eats around here, there’s Cafe de Casa in South San Francisco — which the dos Santoses mention as one of their favorites in the region — and The Brazilian Spot on Valencia Street. There are Brazilian sandwich shops and steakhouses, and a handful of humble sit-downs where you can get a great plate of feijoada scattered around the Bay, too. But none of these quite capture the oddly angled imagination of Brazuca, with its simple, savory snacks and food truck lovingly snuggled on the corner of an unassuming neighborhood.

Most of the time, Brazilian food in the United States gets flattened into a choice between high-end churrascarias — where the servers slice prime cuts of meat right in front of you in an endless, all-you-can-eat supply — or hyper-trendy açaí shops on posh avenues near a Lululemon. Rarely, however, will you find a Brazilian “lanchonete” — a style of working-class Brazilian luncheonette that serves bite-sized, fried and microwaved snacks on-the-go.

Brazuca Açaí (4500 Barrett Ave. Unit B, Richmond) is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and until 8 p.m. on Sat. and Sun. The Brazuca Burger food truck is open daily from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.