Bar Urca

Bar Urca is a family-run bar in Urca, the district where the Sugarloaf cable car begins. It was founded in 1939 by Armando Gomes, a Portuguese immigrant who was a regular at the artists' haunt of the Cassino da Urca, and it is now run by the third generation of his family. Gomes moved his original Ipanema bar to this corner in the 1970s, when the upper floor was used only as a storeroom.

The bar was recognised as part of Rio's cultural heritage in 2013, and its fame comes from a simple ritual. The mureta, the sea wall in front of the bar, is according to Riotur a very popular spot with cariocas, especially at weekends, and drinking there is part of the experience. From the wall the views take in Sugarloaf and Corcovado.

The bar is known for its fried sardines and for beer served ice-cold. Upstairs, on the second floor, the restaurant serves generous, well-prepared dishes drawn from Portuguese and Brazilian cooking, and a menu is available for tourists in other languages.

According to Riotur, the bar opens daily from 09:00 to 23:00, and the restaurant from 11:30 to 22:00, with a note that hours may change. The phone number is +55 21 2542-8395, there is a WhatsApp line on +55 21 97162-3424, and the email address is [email protected].

Bar Urca suits everyone: couples, families and groups who want a relaxed drink with a view, and travellers combining it with a trip up Sugarloaf. It is less a nightclub than a place to watch the day end with a cold beer, and the sea wall makes it one of the most memorable informal settings for a drink in the city.

Urca is the small neighbourhood at the foot of Sugarloaf, with the cable car station on Avenida Pasteur at Praia Vermelha. Combine a late-afternoon cable car ride with a drink on the mureta afterwards; the last boarding for the cable car is at 19:30, according to its official website.

For dinner, Oteque in Botafogo is one of the city's top restaurants, while the restaurant upstairs at Bar Urca offers a more casual meal with a view.