Guarany (coffeeshop / restaurant) February 27
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Founded in 1933, Guarany (gua-RA-nee) was part of the boom in downtown coffeeshops Porto experienced in the 1930s. These featured a modernist decor, contrasting with the art-deco style of the previous decade’s coffeeshops, of which Majestic is the flagship. To put it simply, Guarany is the prettiest coffeeshop on the prettiest square in town — the Avenida dos Aliados, Porto’sliving room , where the City Hall is.
Guarany is the name of the largest Indian tribe in seventeenth-century Brazil and the coffeeshop has since its opening featured a marble high-relief of an Indian by sculptor Rogerio de Azevedo. Brazil was the producer of most of the coffee that reaches Portugal, so the name was aptly chosen.
Guarany attracted artists, business people, and active oppositionist politicians during the dictatorship years (1928-1974), and was for a long time known as “the musicians’ coffeeshop.” Just like the Russians developed kitchen politics during the Soviet era, discussing all things political around the kitchen table, the Portuguese developed coffeeshop politics during the Salazar era, spending lots of time discussing the state of the nation at coffeeshops such as Guarany. After the 1974 revolution, Guarany went through a period of decay until it was bought by the owner of the preciously-maintained Majestic and completely restored. The finest craftsmen available were hired to restore the ceiling and wall-lamps, tables with marble tops and and wooden chairs, as well as iron and copper ornaments. Since its reopening in 2003, Guarany has again become one of the hubs of Porto’s coffeeshop life.
Its corner location helps make Guarany one of the most pleasant coffeeshops in downtown Porto in terms of enjoying the view and doing some people-watching. The decor was restored to the original 1930s look, plus two large colorful canvases titles “The Lords of Amazonia” by Portuguese painter Graca Morais were added to the walls. Porto residents have enthusiastically backed the re-opened Guarany, and the place is usually packed. The ambiance is lively with a noisy crowd, especially in the evenings. Live piano music is often playing.
Besides all sorts of coffee- and tea-based drinks (nothing fancy, this is no Starbucks; they serve good old-fashioned cafe au lait instead), the drink menu includes several good wines. The food menu includes several international cuisine dishes, such as grilled bass Baron Brise, shrimp Stroganoff, duck magret with port wine, and a good Guarany steak. But the highlights are the Portuguese cuisine specimens — such as veal steak a Mirandesa (a village in inner Northern Portugal) and above all platters with codfish fritters or presunto (Portuguese for prosciutto), served with olives and broa de Avintes (a very thick rye bread typical from the near-by village of Avintes). We know of no better place to sample these jewels of Portuguese food while taking the pulse of Porto.
Service is professional and courteous.
Price point: coffee and other drinks 1.5 euros and up; lunch and other light meals between 12 and 20 euros.
Address: Avenida dos Aliados 85-89, Porto.
Website: http://www.cafeguarany.com/
Opening hours: open daily from 9:00am till 12:00am.
Reservations: not needed; call (+351) 22.332.1272.
Getting there: Guarany is in the heart of downtown Porto. If you are at the bottom of Praca da Liberdade / Avenida dos Aliados (the two together form the large square in front of City Hall) facing City Hall, Guarany is on your left, mid-way through to the top of the square, on the corner with Rua the Ceuta.