Barreirinha Bar Café — Restaurant in Funchal

"Barreirinha" little barreir, means just that!

Situated on the corner of Rua do Asp.Mota Freitas/Calçada do Socorro, a mere 100m uphill & east from the stately historic fort of 'São Tiago' - circa 1614 followed by the beautiful 'Igreja Matriz de Santa Maria Maior' or 'Socorro' right next door. It was here my parents got married in 1961 and because of my 1st visit with my mother & cousin(s), we discovered Barreirinha Bar café or BBC. We have since returned many, many times, because its that kind of place that feeds your soul!

BBC, literally is a small cornered establishment, with a long inside family table, extensive draught line, bar rack & counter and side extension for busy bartenders cocktails. It spills over the pavement with 3 tables outside,next to each door.Highly in demand on the pavement edge to one way trafic!

THE MAGIC, a mere 10m across the road, is where everything happens. As it is well positioned on the edge of the waterline next to a long low lined cement wall, above molten larva rock, with access stairs for swimmers delight below on the shoreline.

It's open panoramic view of the horizon, sea, the 'Pontinha' port with cruise ships and the colourful old town of 'cidade velha', brings absolutely joy. Quite uniquely situated amongst graceful old veteran big Oak trees.And to top that, the sun goes down West just behind the 'Pontinha' wall, as the moon rises from the East in full glory.Very spectacular to see this motion in full dance!The amazing sunsets has attracted a fan club of 'ra' sun worshippers, with myself included.

It has created quite a stir amongst locals & visitors. So much so, that, finding an empty chair & table is rare during these peak moments.All about timing, but as usual, ask the friendly staff to reserve you one while you wait standing, upon availabilty.Or you can always sit on the bordering low wall & use it as a table for your drinks and complimentary snacks as the smooth DJ BOX plays.

■The outside tables have umbrellas for most, although I love to soak up the sun.Smoking is allowed for & in these opened area's (discretion) & the toilets are inside, not user friendly for the disabled due to steps!

■ BAR - menu is quite extensive with a horde of delicious 'yummy' local cocktails - freshly squeezed, stiffed, slammered, shaken, stirred or blended to the tune of "fruit of the loom".Their cocktails are freshly made & well balance in taste, portion & quality brands.I was very impressed! There are other choices too - like a bucket of 'bubbles' champagne, juices, wines and yes draughts.Try the unique local craft 'Madeira Lab beer' nicely chilled for these, 'pôr do sol' (sunsets) moments! ■FOOD - menu is standard and well portion to price.Here everyrhing is made from scratch.So it will take time and patience is highly honoured as you sip on a chilling cold beverage watching cruise ships, motor yachts or the local 'Lobo Marinho' (seal) ferry to Porto Santo, enter/depart! ■THE BOX or 'groovey dj' - plays music in the later part of the day under the shade of the veteran big Oak trees.Very talented dj's that know their grooves & moves. Great added value to this chillaxing space! ■Parking - right next to the tables, however normally full but continue uphill & take a left and there is a covered pay-parking with 2 floors on the right. Walk down the narrow road of Rua Asp. De Mota Freitas and you back here to BBC world of bliss.

Overall this bar has superb sea, sun & harbour views, Food is great and the quality of beverages is absolutely freshly balanced, chilled and hits the spot. CC & cash accepted.15% tip - not included but at your discretion.They do their best to accommodate you as quickest, especially during peak hours. As you unwind within the old & charm of new, you will think of definately returning as I have, keeping the tradition of 'grooveyness' alive!

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This is a great little bar. Good location with fine sea views from tables across road from bar itself. Wandered in on sunny mid afternoon, midweek, late May 2022. Place pretty full, but couple just upping to leave so lucky to nab a couple of seats at table directly overlooking sea. Initially only wanted a drink, but one, became two, became three, became food. Couple of Corals for me before trying a Ponchos, and white wines for wife. There was a good vibe in the place and great if you are a people watcher. The serving staff in particular were diligent and efficient...a troupe of bright young things, always on the go. Decided to eat on seeing various dishes and portions being served to other customers. They looked and smelled good with heathy portions and good service. A glance at the menu confirmed reasonable prices around a decent selection (not haute cuisine, but good bar fare). Went for cheese burger with fries and a caesar salad. The taste confirmed the look and smell as delicious and portions basically did us for the rest of the day. The lot came to around to 25 euros so bargain. Even though this bar was well across town from where we were staying (Pestana Carlton, see my review on that) we returned and would again. As well as location, not on tourist beat, but not too far off it...and along with the good food / drinks and prices...a clincher for me was the service. There was both enough staff and those there seemed to be a well oiled machine. Not sure whether we caught them on a good day but well done guys...keep it up and your punters will keep...

This place is great for a drink but not for food. It has a wonderful atmosphere with lots of locals it has lovely sea view and gets the sun in the early evening so is great to sit out in. We had a long wait for the table but no problem as we could get a takeaway drink. They operate a deposit scheme where you get money back for returning the cups afterwards. Great scheme but did mean we waited a while in the bar queue to return cups would be better if they had a separate counter for this. I had a chicken cheese burrito which was ice cold had never been heated up as the cheese had never been melted but as I'd waited an hour for the food I didn't want to send it back. The chips were also soggy and I ended up leaving food which I hate doing but I couldn't eat it. We went back for drinks again later in the holiday as it has good vibes with a live vinyl dj on...