Brasil's Nightclub — Restaurant in Philadelphia

Update: As of August 2023, things have overall improved at Brasil's. I noticed the shift in January of this year and there has consistently been a greater number of people, an increased number of women, and more regular appearance of people in the 20's age group. Some of this is attributable to the appearance of graduate students who are in the city during the academic year, but there has also been more regular, even if still basic, advertisement on social media. Even during the summer, numbers have been somewhat respectable albeit slightly unpredictable.

Brasil's is open three nights a week--Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. If it is the first Thursday of a particular month, then Brasil's will also be open. Wednesday is a $7 cover and attracts very experienced dancers. Friday is free and attracts a lot of new faces or people who only go out a few times during the year, so skews more toward beginners or less experienced dancers. Saturday is a $10 cover and usually only attracts people who have made it a point to go out. The first Thursday is a $8 cover and often quite busy, although consists mostly of regulars or people who have been in the scene for a while. If you've never been here or intend to bring a group of people, I would highly suggest going on Friday.

Original review (March 2022): Good place to dance salsa and bachata and they do beginner lessons on the weekends before the dance floor actually opens up. No cover on Fridays and $10 cover on Saturdays. Canned drinks are decently priced although mixed drinks and shots get expensive.

That said, this place would be much better if there weren't so many guys and so few gals. As a guy, there isn't a good dynamic when every male in the establishment is literally chasing after a limited number of female dance partners, and it especially screws over beginners who need the partner dancing experience.

Also, the diversity of the crowd isn't the greatest as it tends to have mostly older people (30's-50's) and couples with some of the same people showing up every weekend. If the marketing and advertising were better (i.e. an active Instagram account), I'm positive this place would get more people, including better representation from the 20's age group. There's no reason this place shouldn't be more popular when Lucha Cartel and Cuba Libre do similar things and get better turnout due to strong advertising on social...

I really wanted to like this place, but sadly yesterday I left the venue way earlier than I had planned to, deciding to not go back there again. At least, not so soon. The good: Mike Andino is a phenomenal instructor. He has a style where he tells a story with gaps then revisits the gaps and fills them and it all makes sense for you and it connects. Very nice music; one of the best DJ's in town. Very friendly staff. Great and well kept dancefloor. The venue is clean and tidy. The bad: Very small dance space. It gets crowded so quickly, but of course this is typical in central areas of town and not something about this place in particular. This won't affect you if you're hanging out there with your friends or significant other, but the crowd is not exactly a welcoming one. It even kind of surprised me that the dancers who seem to be more experienced and more serious dancers can be the least welcoming and approachable of the crowd, very much unlike the dance scene I'm used to in where I come from. If you're a social dancer looking for a culture that fosters a sense of community and makes for a welcoming place for social dancers, this is likely not your best bet. In summary, it is a great partying spot in town. Maybe one of the best even in the area. But if you're a social dancer, it lacks the sense of community you might be looking for. The crowd tends to be cliquey and...

Brasil's is such a fun place to go out dancing. Under new management, I noticed there are more opportunities to go out dancing from Wepa Wednesdays, First Thursdays, and of course the weekends.

Parking is available on the street and I have never searched for more than 5 minutes for parking.

The free lessons before social dancing begins are always really enjoyable. I've only experienced the lessons taught by Mike or Omi but enjoyed them all. I've been dancing at one of the local salsa studios so the lessons at Brasil's are more basic than the level I'm at currently, but the instructors still have a way of making them really fun. I've also really enjoyed watching people with no background knowledge taking these hour long lessons and gaining such a great deal of confidence through them.

I always feel safe in this club as it really attracts great people who just want to dance. The bartenders are such sweet people, even when being bombarded with drink orders. They move very quickly and keep the drinks strong. There is a minimum bar tab of $20 if you're using a credit card, so just be mindful of that, or bring cash. This is definitely a place more focused on dancing than drinking so you never really see anybody who is drunk, which is always comforting.

I'm excited to see where else Mike and Emily...