Bar Brahma

Av. São João, 677, center

11-3333-3030

• 

Brazilian singer and MPB hero Caetano Veloso put into history the corner where Bar Brahma sits in his song "Sampa," a stunning, mid-20th-century locale whose chandeliers and architecture have been thankfully kept intact. This classic bar is where bohemians like intellectuals, artists, musicians, poets, and politicians once came to discuss important topics over cold beer and it now hosts some of the best samba and MPB shows in the city by living legends of the trade to a party-ready older crowd whose energy far outlasts the younger patrons in the house. A bar with its own entrance on the side—the original location of Bar Brahma—features live piano music in a more intimate atmosphere. An expanded outdoor terrace accommodates the hundreds who can't be packed inside. Order the black-bean stew feijoada and pastéis de carne seca (dried meat in pockets of fried dough) to share. Cover charges apply at night.