Meritíssimo · Our story
Since October 11, 1994
From a home kitchen in Nova Era, Minas Gerais, to five locations in two countries. Meet the people and follow the decisions that built Meritíssimo.
In 1994, Argemiro left the road to be near his children. With Salomé, he opened a kitchen inside their own home in Nova Era, Minas Gerais. The first plate lunch cost R$ 2.50.
Changing professions brought the work close to home. Ana and André were still young; Daniel would come later. The kitchen grew with the family.
Here are the places and decisions that took that home kitchen all the way to Fitchburg.
Eleven addresses since 1994. In sand, the six houses that have closed; in burgundy, the five that are open today.
11 · 10 · 1994 — Nova Era, Minas Gerais
It was there, in the kitchen of our own house, that we lit our first stove.
The plate cost R$ 2.50 (two reais and fifty cents). Rice, beans, steak, eggs and salad — all cooked to order, with a great deal of love.
We had no real equipment. We had a great will to work.
August 1996 — Contagem, Brazil
After two years in Nova Era, we moved to Greater Belo Horizonte looking for new opportunities — the Amazonas neighborhood, in Contagem.
Our children were still small, but they were already learning something school does not teach: that a family is also built by working side by side. It was with their help that we delivered our first big order in the city — two hundred lunchboxes.
1998 — Riacho
In 1998, we rented a house in Riacho. We prepared the food in its kitchen and turned the garage into a dining room for customers.
That is where we put out our first tables: self-service, a snack counter and churrasco. For the first time there were people sitting down and eating in front of us — and we learned to serve a great many people without losing the seasoning of a single plate.
2000 — Pampulha
In 2000, we opened Sem Rival in Pampulha, our first restaurant outside a house. Minas Gerais cooking on a wood-fired stove defined those years, until 2005.
November 5, 2005 — Barro Preto
Then came the opportunity that would change our history. Next to the Minas Gerais Court of Justice, we bought a small restaurant.
The location next to the courthouse gave Meritíssimo Café com Lei its name. That was the beginning of the Meritíssimo brand.
In 2005, the family kitchen gained a name: Meritíssimo.
May 6, 2011 — Cidade Administrativa
We started on the ninth floor of the Cidade Administrativa: a restaurant inside an office building, serving the people who worked on those floors.
It worked. In 2021 we opened a second house in the same complex, at the Centro de Convivência — and for four years we ran both at once. The ninth floor closed in 2025; the Centro de Convivência is our house there to this day.
That is when something changed for good: from then on, each new address became one more house. We stopped moving and started adding.
2015 · 2018 · 2024 — Belo Horizonte
Raja Gabaglia in 2015 — the first time we had two houses open at once. Serra in 2018. São Pedro, in the south of the city, in 2024.
2025 — Fitchburg, Massachusetts
In 2025, Meritíssimo opened in Fitchburg, Massachusetts: the family's first location outside Brazil. Its menu brought bakery items, Brazilian plates and pizza together in one place.
From a R$ 2.50 plate lunch in Nova Era to five open locations, including Fitchburg. The story continues at the table.
A tribute
For Argemiro, who left the road to be close to his children, and for Salomé, who prepared the first plate for R$ 2.50. For Ana, the daughter who would arrive saying, “I want to help.” She wanted to be close, be useful to her family, and be part of the dream growing in that kitchen. Today, she is my wife and lives this dream with me every day.
— Romulo · Meritíssimo Fitchburg
