When Charles Spies rides his bike on trails along the Mississippi River in St. Paul, he used to stop at a Caribou Coffee location near Upper Landing Park for a cup of coffee.

But when that Caribou closed, Spies had an idea for what should replace it: Little Brazil, a cafe and market that would offer a taste of his home country.

So he came up with a plan and pitched it to the building’s owner — whose wife, it turned out, is also from Brazil. Everything seemed to fall into place, Spies said.

“It was kind of destiny,” said Spies, who grew up in Itapiranga, a smaller city in one of Brazil’s southernmost states. “What I’m trying to bring here is the flavors you’ll find in Brazil — in an easy way you can eat every day.”

Little Brazil is now open at 230 Spring St.

As far as Brazilian-owned or influenced restaurants in the Twin Cities go, Spies said, we currently only have two basic business models.

One: churrascaria-style rotisserie steakhouses. Think Bullvino’s in Lowertown and Bloomington, Rodizio Grill in Maple Grove, Fogo de Chão in Minneapolis. They’re special occasion spots, Spies said. High-end and expensive. And two: the Bebe Zito extended universe — playful ice cream, burgers and, recently, pizza at their newer Ouro Pizzaria concept at Eat Street Crossing.

Spies’ goal with Little Brazil is to create a third model: To showcase the wide range of affordable, straightforward recipes that families in Brazil might make at home or eat on a daily basis.

“That was one thing we were missing,” he said. “A place where you can spend anywhere between $5 to $20 and still have the Brazilian experience, eat Brazilian food, without needing to overspend your budget.”

A place to connect to Brazil

Charles Spies never saw cooking as his career — that was his sister’s thing.

When the siblings were growing up in Itapiranga, their mom made sure the kids were comfortable in the kitchen, Spies said. But while his sister ultimately graduated from a culinary school in Brazil, Charles became a civil engineer and also helped his parents run their hardware store. As she began to develop recipes professionally, he stuck to home cooking.

But food took on new meaning for him when he and his wife, Addeli, moved to Minnesota in 2017, he said. They moved here so Addeli — Spies’ college sweetheart — could do doctoral research at the University of Minnesota. And two years ago, their first son was born here.

“I wanted (my son) to have a place where he can connect to Brazil, too,” he said. “I always want to have this environment where he can be close to Brazilians and Americans at the same time.”

Now, since they are the only members of their family living outside Brazil, he said, food has become an especially important way to connect to their culture. This is true for other Brazilians in the Twin Cities, too, he said. That’s why it’s time for him to go pro.

Little Brazil will be Spies’ highest-profile public cooking project, so he called in some help: His mom contributed family recipes, and chef friends back in Brazil, including his sister, helped workshop the menu, too.

Brazilian street food for everyone

At Little Brazil, the menu will focus primarily on Brazilian street food from around the country.

For breakfast, Spies plans to serve Brazilian coffee, which he said has a more hazelnutty flavor than much of the coffee we might be used to. The breakfast menu will have a variety of sweet and savory pastries. He’ll also have lunch: pasteles, which are similar to deep-fried empanadas; chicken pies; and a variety of sandwiches that highlight different regions, he said.

These sandwiches include a panini-pressed hamburger that’s classic in the south, a roasted pork sandwich that’s a favorite in the southeast, and an Italian-influenced mortadella sandwich that pays homage to the country’s central regions. Other central Brazilian dishes have clearer Japanese roots, Spies said, and ones from eastern regions are spicier thanks to African influences.

Brazil, like the U.S., is something of a culinary melting pot, Spies said — a history that’s reflected in its food.

Indigenous groups had lived in what’s now Brazil for millennia before Portuguese colonists arrived with enslaved people from Africa starting in the 1500s. The country’s modern food culture was shaped by significant immigration during the late 1800s and early 1900s, mostly from European countries like Portugal, Italy and Germany, plus from Japan. But immigration dropped off considerably in the 1930s, and over the past century or so, many of these cultures’ food traditions have congealed into highly varied dishes that use a variety of native and European ingredients.

Speaking of ingredients: The market side of the shop is also an important part of Spies’ plans to bring more Brazilian flavors to the Twin Cities.

He’s working with importers to stock specific varieties of rice, yucca flour, sausages and other groceries that Brazilians would recognize. He’ll have some fresh options, too, including local meat if you want to re-create the churrascaria experience at home.

But whatever your level of familiarity with Brazilian food, Spies hopes you’ll wander into Little Brazil and spark your curiosity.

“I don’t view this business model as just for Brazilians,” he said. “I view this as for the whole community. I was searching for a place where I could easily have good foot traffic from locals, and at the same time, serve well the Brazilian community. That was the goal.”

Little Brazil: 230 Spring St.; 612-709-9190; littlebrazilmn.com.

Quick Facts

What: Little Brazil, a cafe and market that aims to offer affordable Brazilian street food.

Where: 230 Spring St.

Hours: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Closed Sundays.

Seating: 22 seats inside, plus 24 more on a seasonal outdoor patio.

Contact: 612-709-9190; littlebrazilmn.com.

Fun fact: The shop’s logo contains the Brazilian flag colors — green, blue, yellow — but the specific shade of blue on the walls was also chosen to honor owner Charles Spies’ favorite soccer team, Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense.