Lapa drinks upward as much as outward, and Choperia Brazooka stacks four floors of beer and football over Avenida Mem de Sá, holding the carioca boemia together under one skylight.
Published June 11, 2026 · By Daniel Okafor
Choperia Brazooka stands at Avenida Mem de Sá 70, in the heart of Lapa where the arches and the samba crowds meet. The Rio guide Guia da Semana describes four floors of mezzanines aired by three balconies and a central skylight, with three bars that share ten Brahma taps between them. It counts as one of the larger choperias in the district.
The room rewards a climb. Each mezzanine looks down into the same warm core, so the music and the match carry through the whole building rather than trapping you on one level. Two knockout snooker tables round out a layout built for a long night rather than a quick round.
Drink the chopp, of course. Ten Brahma taps keep the draught cold and moving across the three bars, and the boteco snacks arrive in sharing portions made for a table that plans to stay. The beer is the headline here, poured fast for a crowd that measures a night in jugs rather than glasses.
The football habit is built into the week. Guia da Semana notes a Wednesday game tied to the Brazilian league fixture shown on the house big screen, where anyone who calls the correct score wins a drink. That ritual is why Brazooka earns its place among the Rio de Janeiro sports bars rather than only the samba rooms.
Lapa supplies the rest of the energy. The bar sits a short stroll from the Arcos da Lapa and the Escadaria Selarón, in the district that runs latest and loudest in the whole city. A session at Brazooka folds naturally into a night that drifts between samba circles and street parties.
Go on a Wednesday for the score-prediction game and an early pick of the mezzanine rails, or come on a weekend night when the samba programming pulls the boemia crowd in deep. The upper floors give the best view of both the screen and the room below. For the wider city, our roundup of the best bars in Rio de Janeiro sets the scene beyond Lapa.
Brazooka pairs naturally with the central drinking circuit. Across Lapa The Shamrock keeps an Irish corner on the late-night route, in Ipanema The London Pub screens the English game, and in Copacabana BORA Sports Bar keeps every sport on the wall.
The crowd climbs and mixes. Samba regulars, students and visitors share the mezzanines, and the football crowd folds into the same warm core on a match night. The building carries a single roar from the ground bar to the top rail.
The beer does the heavy lifting. Ten Brahma taps keep the chopp cold and fast across the three bars, and the snooker tables give a group a reason to stay between rounds. Lapa runs late, and Brazooka runs later, holding the crowd well into the small hours. Few addresses in the district pack this much night under one roof.
Cash and a head for stairs both help. Pick a mezzanine rail early, keep a tab running at the nearest of the three bars, and the night looks after itself.
What makes Brazooka worth the climb is its scale and its soul. A four-floor Lapa choperia pouring ten taps, running a midweek football game and carrying live samba into the small hours is the carioca night condensed into a single address. Judged on Lapa's own terms, it is the boemia's vertical clubhouse.
Sources: Guia da Semana, Choperia Brazooka Rio de Janeiro (2026); Apontador, Choperia Brazooka Lapa; Choperia Brazooka Instagram (@choperiabrazooka).