A Brasileira do Chiado

Historical Background & The Birth of the Bica

Opened on November 19, 1905 by entrepreneur Adriano Telles, who had made a fortune in Brazil as a coffee planter, A Brasileira was established to import and popularize genuine Brazilian Minas Gerais coffee beans in the Portuguese capital. To entice locals who were unaccustomed to strong roasted coffee, Telles famously offered a complimentary demitasse of hot espresso with every bag of roasted beans purchased.

The famous acronym BICA is widely believed to originate here: "Beba Isto Com Açúcar" ("Drink this with sugar"). By the 1910s and 1920s, the café became the central meeting place of the Portuguese Modernist vanguard and the creators of the radical literary magazine Orpheu.

Poet Fernando Pessoa spent countless hours writing at its marble tables. In 1988, to mark the centenary of Pessoa's birth, sculptor Lagoa Henriques unveiled the beloved life-sized bronze statue of the poet seated at an outdoor terrace table, inviting patrons to sit beside him.

Architectural Character & Gilded Woodwork

Redesigned in 1922 in a lavish Art Deco style by architect Manuel Norte Júnior, the interior features carved dark timber walls, bevel-cut crystal mirrors, polished brass fixtures, and a series of painted panels by celebrated 20th-century Portuguese artists including Almada Negreiros and Eduardo Viana.

Culinary Traditions & Counter Service

Patrons enjoy either standing counter espresso service along the long wooden bar or seated terrace service looking onto Rua Garrett:

• A Bica Brasileira: A concentrated, aromatic shot of dark roasted Brazilian-Portuguese espresso with dense golden crema.
• Pastel de Nata Chiado: Crisp, multi-layered puff pastry crust holding warm egg custard, dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon.
• Galão & Torrada: Espresso with hot steamed milk in a tall glass, served with thick toasted Portuguese bread and salted Azores butter.