published on 2026-10-27 · by Fábio
Tasca do Chico — fado vadio in Bairro Alto (and in Alfama)
Lisbon's best-known fado vadio tavern: grilled chouriço, jug wine, and whoever wants to sings. No entry fee, around €10 per person. Get there early. Plus the sister house in Alfama, Thursday to Sunday.
Short answer
Tasca do Chico is the best-known fado vadio tavern in Lisbon: a small room on Rua do Diário de Notícias, in Bairro Alto, with grilled chouriço, jug wine and fado sung by whoever is there. There's no entry fee; budget around €10 per person in drinks and petiscos. It opens every night and fills up early. There's a second house in Alfama, Thursday to Sunday.
Francisco Gonçalves — Chico — has lived in Bairro Alto since 1972 and opened the tavern in the 1990s (sources say 1993, 1994 or 1996) in an old olive-oil and sausage warehouse. The walls are covered in photographs and football scarves — including Chico with Mariza and Ana Moura. Fadistas like Raquel Tavares, Carminho and Ana Moura have sung here, and some professionals drop in after their own shows.
Tasca do Chico (Bairro Alto) at a glance
- Neighbourhood
- Bairro Alto
- Address
- Rua do Diário de Notícias, 39
- Format
- Fado vadio
- Price
- Cheapest way in: about €10No entry fee; you pay for what you drink and nibble — about €10.2026 prices
- Days
- Every day
- Booking
- No booking
What the night is like
Cramped, informal and loud between fados — and silent during them. There's no stage: people sing in the middle of the room, with Portuguese guitar and viola. Whoever sings might be a regular, a brave amateur or a well-known name. You stand, or squeeze onto a bench. Often you don't get in at all: the doorway fills up before the room does.
How much it costs
There's no ticket and no entry fee. You pay for what you drink and nibble — grilled chouriço, cured ham, cheese — and a 2026 guide puts it at about €10 per person. It's probably the cheapest way to hear fado in Bairro Alto.
The Alfama house
Since 2009 there's been a second Tasca do Chico at Rua dos Remédios, 83, in Alfama. It's more restaurant than tavern: it has a dinner menu and only a few tables. It opens Thursday to Sunday.
Tasca do Chico (Alfama) at a glance
- Neighbourhood
- Alfama
- Address
- Rua dos Remédios, 83
- Format
- Fado vadio
- Price
- 2026 prices
- Days
- Closed: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
- Booking
- Booking advised
Who it's for — and who it isn't
It's for those who want to see fado the way the neighbourhood lives it, on little money and with the patience to wait.
It isn't for those who need a seat, a fixed time or a first night with guaranteed quality. For that, in and around Bairro Alto, Fado with petiscos ends in a fado house with a reserved seat, and Fado no Chiado is an hour-long concert for €23.
How to go
Get there when it opens — at 19:00, according to Time Out in 2026. Bring cash.
PDF guide · 30 pages
Your fado night in Lisbon
Everything to choose and enjoy your fado night: map, houses, prices, videos and ready-made plans. Reads well on a phone.
- Do you have to pay to get into Tasca do Chico?
No. There's no entry fee or ticket: you pay for the drinks and petiscos you order — around €10 per person.
- Does Tasca do Chico have fado every night?
The Bairro Alto house opens every night and there's fado, but the nights of fado vadio proper (whoever wants to, sings) vary — check before you go. The Alfama house opens Thursday to Sunday.
- What time should I get to Tasca do Chico?
When it opens, around 19:00. The room is small and fills fast; later on, it's common to end up stuck at the door.
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See also
More fado nights I recommend.
Fado with petiscos — a food tour in four stops
from€119Three and a half hours, four stops: a tavern, a petiscos restaurant, a century-old bar and a fado house. A group of ten at most — the night for those who eat with curiosity.
Fado no Chiado — 50 minutes in central Lisbon
from€23A short show, no dinner, in the centre of Chiado. 17 years on stage. For those with little time who want to hear fado without heavy production.
Tasca da Bela — dinner and fado in an Alfama tavern
from€60A small room on Rua dos Remédios, petiscos arriving at the table and fado between the courses, until midnight. €60 with everything included — and I make the booking for you.