Our Take on Casa do Livro
Casa do Livro keeps the floor to ceiling shelves of the bookstore it replaced in 2007, and the room still reads like a library that learned to pour. You drink under green and gold upholstery at Rua das Galerias de Paris 85, the busiest bar street in Baixa.
Time Out Porto calls it one of the city’s bars with the best vibes, and Fodor’s files it under speakeasy feel, tracing the music from jazz piano to fado to DJ sets. Come for the piano, stay for the dance floor in back.
Reading the Room
The front room runs a long bar past banquette seating, with a baby grand piano as the focal point and a Botticelli Venus watching from above, a detail Portugal Confidential singles out. The back room belongs to the DJs.
Claim the front banquettes before midnight if conversation is the plan. After that, the room votes with its feet.
What to Order First
Who Shows Up, and When
Live piano, jazz, and fado colored sets carry the early hours; Fodor’s traces the arc from tinkling jazz piano to high energy DJ sets after midnight, when the Galerias street crowd pours in.
Friday and Saturday peak hardest. Go Wednesday or Thursday if you want the music without the crush.
The Pattern in the Reviews
- Reviewers consistently praise the music programming, from live piano early to DJs late, a pattern Portugal Confidential and Fodor’s both document.
- Time Out Porto keeps it on its list of bars with the best atmosphere in the Galerias zone.
- The repeated caution across review platforms: weekend nights get packed and drinks cost more than the Porto average.
Go If, Skip If
- 01A first date that wants a piano and bookshelves instead of small talk.
- 02Anyone starting a Galerias de Paris crawl with one proper cocktail.
- 03Skip it if you want a quiet nightcap after 1am on a Saturday; the dance floor wins.
Inside the Room
The bars worth going to, weekly.
One email every week. The bars our editors are recommending right now, across 168 cities worldwide.
Reach bar-goers in every major city.
Sponsored listings, newsletter placements, and city guide partnerships across 168 cities.