It couldn't possibly get any better than our Saturday afternoon spent at Porto Madalena. Perfectly located on a busy Vila Madalena street, this boteco offered great ambiance, amazing live music, awesome food, and cold beer. Frankly, this is as good as a Saturday afternoon can get.
We walked here from Pinheiros and took Rua Fradique Coutinho all the way up (a well-trafficked street with lots pedestrian and automobile action). The intersection of Fradique and Rua Aspicuelta seems to be the premier crossroads to find the heartbeat of Vila Madalena (retail boutiques and restaurants/bars line R Aspicuelta and R Fradique). We decided to go with Porto Madalena because of the feijoada sign out front - Saturday is feijoada day in Brazil, after all.
We were seated right away and took in the ambiance. A beautiful Brazilian singer on guitar cooed bossa nova classics, nearby tables clinked beer cups and chatted away, and the intoxicating smell of feijoada piqued our hunger. Service was sweet and cordial and the meal was fantastic (but bad feijoada doesn't really seem to exist in Brazil). We ordered a beer (a large bottle of Original) and the waiter arrived with a ice bucket filled with 3 bottles. You're likely to have another bottle after your first and I LOVE the tradition of pouring your beer in little glass cups (this is so the beer never gets warm!)
This is the kind of spot I'd bring visiting friends to. It offers a great laid-back vibe and excellent energy. read more