
Photo by Ériver Hijano
Photo by Ériver Hijano
To truly experience this bustling Brazilian city, you need to stop at one place: the pé-sujo.
“Amigo!” Antonio calls out to a harried waiter trotting by us outside Pavão Azul, a tiny bar two blocks from Copacabana Beach. The waiter, carting plates heaped with Brazilian bar snacks, doesn’t stop. Antonio, my carioca (Rio local) drinking guide, and I are just two of many revelers vying for his attention.
One of the first things you learn about a pé-sujo, the Brazilian equivalent of a dive bar, is that catching the attention of a waiter is a sport unto itself. When “amigo” doesn’t work, you can shift gears to moço (young man), upgrade to chefe (chief), flatter with capitão (captain), or crank it up all the way to faraó (pharaoh) until one of the men jots down your order. Persistence pays off. Our waiter finally stops, scribbles chopp and frango à passarinho, and soon returns with two ice-cold draft beers and a platter of chicken morsels that have been marinated in lime, then fried and topped with slivers of garlic. They’re salty, oily, and zesty—just what you want on a languid afternoon.
I first fell in love with Pavão Azul seven years ago when I met Antonio, an acquaintance of an acquaintance who introduced me to the pé-sujo. By the end of the night, he was a true friend and Pavão Azul was on my all-time favorite list—despite the absence of the expected accoutrements. The bar, like most pé-sujos, has no real facade. Once the servers roll up the doors, the white-tiled space simply becomes part of the sidewalk, and its size requires you to get friendly with your neighbors—fast. The few tables are plastic, and the food and drink are classic: salt cod fritters, the rustic black bean stew feijoada (Brazil’s national dish), beer, and caipirinhas (the national drink). But that’s the charm of the pé-sujo. More than the $1,000-plus box seats at the glitzy Sambadrome or the overburdened bleachers of the Maracanã soccer stadium, a sidewalk table gives you front-row access to Rio’s ever-changing spectacles: the sudden combustion of a marching band, a drag queen strolling by, or a parade of Ipanema girls who are, as the song goes, tall and tan.Sign up for the Daily Wander newsletter for expert travel inspiration and tips
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