<p>The view from Bar Urca , looking out over Guanabara Bay with Christ the Redeemer poised on Corcovado’s peak, is undeniably one of Rio’s finest, but it's the bar's steadfast, unpretentious soul that makes it an institution. Originally opened by German immigrants in 1939, it passed into the hands of the Gomes family in 1972. Armando Gomes Sr. saw the tightly-zoned, residential Urca neighborhood – a world away from the encroaching developers of Ipanema – as a place to lay down lasting roots. Today, his grandson, Armando Gomes Neto, presides over a scene that feels little changed by the decades. Below the small, family-style upstairs restaurant (known for its generous seafood platters and moquecas), the ground-floor bar dispenses ice-cold beers, caipirinhas, and classic salgados. Every afternoon, especially as the sun begins to dip, the mureta – the low seawall across the quiet street – becomes an open-air annex, crowded with Urca locals, off-duty military personnel, and those who’ve made the pilgrimage for a crisp pastel, a hefty empada, or a cup of their rich caldo de frutos do mar, all enjoyed with that killer backdrop. "You come here, eat well, and watch the sun set,” Neto says.</p>
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