Casa Independente — Restaurant in Lisbon

EN // Absolutely miserable staff, to say the least. They've treated me and my friends with utter disrespect, possibly considering us to be drunk (unfortunately not the case, as it would have been easier to forget), with one of the bar attenders breaking a beer glass on top of one of us, laughing as he did it, and adding a shy "I'm sorry", while turning it's back and proceding with his affairs. As a Lisbon resident my whole life, and used to attend restaurants and bars with a certain high degree and standards service wise, it was shocking to see how the event unfolded. We've tried not to overestimate the beer incident and moved on with our evening. One hour latter we went to the same bar attender to order another beer (since from what I could understand it was the only one open and serving beer), to which he replied they weren't serving anymore (even though it were 1:55 am and the bar only closed at 2:00 am). We reminded him of this fact and also of the previous episode of the shattered glass. He then ignored us and turned his back once again, apparently showing that it's his "MO" to solve and deal with problems. In response, we called the bar's manager. The latter (or so called) turned to us as his colleague wearing an ear to ear smile, as if this was something of no concern to them, and that the main value of the estabilshment was to defend their employees and not their customer's satisfaction. While I was trying to explain the rudeness of the previous incident he would face other people around, smiling, and ignoring my appeal. At a point he interrupted me and started yeling at my girlfriend who was by my side, telling her that he simply didn't care about what I was saying, since it was "he's last day here, and that he had to finish in a high note", he sarcastically told us. No apologize, no compensation, and 20 minutes of an ill favored talk was the conclusion of this disgusting conversation, prior to writing on the complaints book. One thing is for sure, if you want to go to a Lisbon Bar and to be well served, with respect, attencion, concern and education, then this is the last place I...

So a first trip to Casa Independente last night and I'm certainly intrigued to find out more. The bar is entered through a grand entrance and up some wooden stairs. Rather than a traditional one room bar you are basically entering a grande old flat with all sorts of rooms large and small to explore. We passed a small opening dining room with 10 people having a dinner, there was a large drawing room which had been converted into a small concert space with a high stage and some good looking sound equipment in.

Turning another corner we found the bar and the wonderful terrace which on a warm night in Lisbon was just perfect. I would suggest the drinks were a little overpriced for Lisbon - €7 for a fairly generous measure of Havana Club 7 Anos and €6 for a gin and tonic but at least you can see where the money has gone here. The place is very well decorated and maintained, including the rather confusingly labelled toilets - what are you a cactus or a flamingo??!!

The crowd was pretty young and fairly trendy, definitely a place for bright young Lisbonites and twenty something foreign invaders but as a couple of older gents we didn't feel out of place and the atmosphere was friendly and laid back.

I'll be back there this weekend and I look forward to checking out the...

Ambiente muito legal, mas infelizmente, eu e meu namorado fomos tratados com hostilidade pela funcionária, que nos coagiu a colocar nossas vidas em risco. Meu namorado pegou um drink no bar para mim, mas o cartão dele não passou e ele foi pegar o meu cartão comigo na pista. A funcionária exigiu que ele deixasse o drink abandonado no balcão enquanto fosse pegar o dinheiro comigo na pista, colocando em RISCO as nossas VIDAS, pois sabemos o quanto é comum pessoas colocarem drogas nas bebidas dos outros em festas, com a finalidade de cometer crimes, sabemos o quanto este tipo de crime tem crescido muito na Europa e no mundo. Como eu mesma já fui vítima deste tipo de crime, me recuso a deixar um drink abandonado no balcão de qualquer evento. Após ser tratado com muita hostilidade por conta disso, meu namorado saiu com drink e foi pegar o dinheiro comigo. A funcionária veio correndo atrás dele na maior hostilidade, nos apressando. Eu mal sabia o que estava acontecendo e ela chegou com a máquina de cartão com a luz fortíssima na nossa cara, na frente do palco, e agiu com extrema hostilidade, nos deixando extremamente desconfortáveis no meio da pista É muito bizarro como normalizou-se que nós imigrantes/negr@s devemos colocar nossa VIDA em RISCO para que este tipo de funcionário se sinta confortável com nossa presença, para só assim, terem a certeza de que não temos a intenção de roubar um drink ou assaltar o estabelecimento! E digo mais, esta política de um funcionário exigir que abandonemos nossas bebidas no balcão para depois voltar e pegar, deveria ser proibida! Quem vai se responsabilizar pelas nossas vidas se alguém mal intencionado contaminar nossa bebida com "boa-noite-cinderela"? O estabelecimento se responsabilizaria? Ao exigir que nos coloquemos em tamanha vulnerabilidade? Sabendo que esta é uma prática comum por parte dos funcionários, caso alguém venha a ser vítima deste tipo de crime dentro do estabelecimento, será que o estabelecimento estará preparado e disposto a se responsabilizar? Mesmo estando ciente de que coloca em risco a vida dos seus frequentadores com esta prática? Tudo bem a funcionária não querer confiar em nós, mas neste caso, ela poderia ter jogado o drink fora e preparado um novo quando meu namorado voltasse com o dinheiro. Ela jamais poderia exigir que pagássemos por um drink largado no balcão, potencialmente adulterado, que colocarria nossa...