Nightlife

Fortaleza is well known for its nightlife, with something happening almost every night of the week. The two most happening areas are Praia de Iracema and the Casario, the historic buildings around the Centro Cultural do Dragão, located at Rua Dragão do Mar and Rua Alm. Tamandaré.

(Note: The four bars at the intersection of Rua dos Tabajaras and Tr. Iracema [Cafe del Mar, Europa, Bikini, and Kapital] are patronized exclusively by working girls and their customers. Bars in the rest of Iracema beach, and elsewhere in Fortaleza, try to prevent prostitutes from entering.)

On Monday night, everybody heads down to Pirata, Rua dos Tabajaras 325, Praia de Iracema (tel. 085/4011-6161; www.pirata.com.br). Doors open at 8pm, the band comes on at 1am, and the party continues until the wee hours. The house band plays forró, axé, and reggae.

Tuesdays, the crowds leave the beach and head out to Varjota, to Arre Égua (Rua Delmiro Gouveia 420; tel. 085/3267-2325) where things catch fire with the nordeste musical style known as forró.

Lupus Bier, Rua dos Tabajaras 340 (tel. 085/3219-2829), is Fortaleza's biggest and most popular microbrewery. Tables come equipped with a tap-your-own beer installation; for R$50 (US$25/£14) you get 10 liters of ice-cold lager whenever you want it. Though busy almost every night, on Wednesdays, Lupus Bier hosts an excellent and accessible regional folklore show by the group Txai. Tickets are R$20 (US$10/£5.50), and the performance starts at 8pm.

On Thursday night, locals head out to Praia do Futuro, southwest of Mucuripe, for a traditional evening of crab eating (caranguejada). Why Thursday? Nobody knows, though hanging out on a beach, eating freshly steamed crabs, drinking cold beer, and listening to a band play live forró (Brazilian country music) just seems to be a Thursday kind of thing. The place to be is Chico do Caranguejo, Av. Zéze Diogo 4930 (tel. 085/3262-0108; www.chicodocaranguejo.com.br). Things warm up after 7pm. The band starts around 8:30pm. Taxi recommended.

Friday through Sunday, the options abound. The historic downtown area around the Centro Cultural do Dragão do Mar, Rua Dragão do Mar 81 (tel. 985/3488-8600; www.dragaodomar.org.br) features at least a dozen bars and nightclubs side by side. Many have live music and almost all have wonderful patios. O Brasileirinho, Rua Dragão do Mar 441 (tel. 085/3219-3701), has live music Thursday through Sunday. The house band plays samba from Thursday through Saturday, and on Sunday nights it's forró. The bar opens at 4pm, and the music usually starts around 10pm. Just a few doors down is Caros Amigos, Rua Dragão do Mar 22 (tel. 085/3226-6567). The music here is more varied; Tuesday and Wednesday it's bossa nova and jazz; Thursday, Friday, and Saturday it's samba. In the same area, Órbita, Rua Almirante Jaceguai 93 (tel. 085/3453-1421), is particularly popular on Sunday night. Cover R$5 (US$2.50/£1.35).

Close to the waterfront on the edge of the old downtown is the new and vast Mucuripe Club, Travessa Maranguape 108, Centro (near the Marina Park Hotel) (tel. 085/3254-3020; www.mucuripe.com.br). With space for 5,000 people, this upscale disco features six different dance floors that play up to six different rhythms, usually some combination of hip-hop or house, MPB (Brazilian pop), forró, soul, and blues or jazz. Open Thursday through Saturday 9pm to 4am. Cover is about R$20 (US$10/£5.50).