3) 7 p.m. Peacocks and chickens

Pavão Azul (blue peacock) is an excellent spot to kick off an evening. Packed with an after-work crowd vying for seats or standing around small tables, this place is famous for its pataniscas: fried balls with chunks of cod and slivers of onion, and served with extra-cold beer. If you’re feeling brave, try the vodka-coconut mix poured out of a Smirnoff bottle — it’s made in-house and is equal parts delicious and potent. Then stroll north to Galeto Sat’s, a casual spot with just a dozen tables and, behind the bar, rows of spring chickens roasting on giant skewers over the flames. Start with a basket of the famous garlic bread, buttery and liberally doused with garlic bits, add a plate of juicy, bite-sized chicken hearts, then round off the meal with the roast chicken. Dinner for two, around 120 reais.

4) 10 p.m. Samba time

Bip-bip is coming up on 60 years in spite of the fact that it’s the kind of local bar that seems to be actively discouraging new customers. The only seats are occupied by the musicians and regulars, and the beer — a selection of mediocre Brazilian brands and cans of Heineken — is in a refrigerator in the back from which you have to help yourself. The music, though, is worth twice as much hassle: Expect to find a group of eight or so playing and singing samba and bossa nova with passion. That passion is shared by the onlookers, who dance, sing along (quietly) and snap their fingers in applause. The longtime owner, known to all as Alfredinho, passed away a few weeks ago, but the music plays on.