Beach Bars in Salvador

Saturday morning was the first sunny day in many weeks in Salvador, so we took my visiting friend Sergei to the beach. We drove north to Itapuã, and stopped by Rua "K". At the end of this street, there is a beach and a few bars that serve drinks and food.

These beach bars, called "barracas" in Portuguese, are characteristic of the beach experience in Salvador (they are not found in beaches in Rio de Janeiro.) They offer beach umbrellas, and plastic chairs and tables. You basically sit there and wait for the waiter to bring you drinks and food.

Rua "K" is a nice place to bring a visitor to the city because of the idyllic atmosphere, the boats bringing fish to sell, and the view of the city. We took some photos and drank coconuts before moving on.

We then drove farther north to the bar called Lôro de Patamares at Aleluia beach. This "barraca" was voted best in category in the annual "Melhor de Salvador" edition of Veja magazine. Our unfortunate first impression was of aggressive waiters competing for customers. Each waiter has a territory, and they are uncomfortably pushy in trying to convince you to sit at one of their tables.

We drank cold beer, and ate typical beach "barraca" seafood: "caranguejos" and "lambretas". "Caranguejo" is a local crab with a very hard shell that you have to crack with a wooden mallet, and "lambreta" is a local type of clam. The food and service at Lôro de Patamares was good, but not outstanding.