Music Box
Gay
Forró do Pirata
On mondays in high season also on fridays in praia de iracema. a crowd of happy tourists many domestic dances to forrã³ and axã© music. overpriced at r$ 35. most large hotels have discounted tickets for their guest and occasionally others, -ask in the reception.
Café Santa Clara
Excellent coffee, some extremely sweet varieties, good bites, and extreme air-conditioning in a pleasant, old-worldly setting. slow service, though. tue-sun 3-10 pm.
Ãrbita
Brazilian and international rock and pop cover bands. Later electronica DJs. Thursdays and Sundayspacks from 9 PM good. Mostly well off students.
Dona Santa
Gay, transvestite and more.
Mucuripe
Travessa maranguape, 108. tel +55 85 3254 3020 (http://www.mucuripe.com.br). fanciest club in town, best on fridays. ticket normally r$ 25-30 everyone pays "half-price", donâ´t be fooled by vendors on the street that claim that its r$ 50 inside. be aware that foreigners with brazilian girlfriends often are turned back at the entrance. enter separately.
Bueno Amici's
Informal, variety of styles, most famous for its Samba!!
Arre Ãgua
Thoroughly decorated as a Ceará countryside joint, although the prices are nothing of the kind. Live classic forro. Good spot on Tuesdays. Mainly age 30+. Next door restaurant.
Biruta
Mostly electronica on fridays.
Chope do Bexiga
Famous for its Chope de Vinho Is it wine or beer after all?
The largest concentration of watering holes, very practical if you want to hit and miss and don't have a car, is at Dragão do Mar, Praia de Iracema. This area features refurbished colonial buildings, loads of open air seating, live music sometimes charged, and happy hour beer. Fridays and Saturdays the party is everywhere:
A smaller version of this can be found along Rua Norvinda Pires, and the neighbouring part of Rua Desembargador Leite Albuquerque, centering on the rock-bar Maria Bonita, pagode-neighbour Bebedouro and the more mixed style Fafi, plus a few more. Cobblestones calls for flat shoes! Thursday to Sunday.
Another area of interest is Varjota, inland from Mucuripe. Plenty of bars and restaurants. Take Rua Frei Mansueto from Beira Mar, 5-10 blocks.
Grab a chilled coconut from a stall at Beira Mar, starting at R$ 2,00!
Fortaleza is a forró-stronghold. Virtually any day of the week you can find a party with live music and this traditional dance, sometimes in quite modern variations often referred to as forró universitário. On weekends you can choose from literally dozens of places. For a more genuine, tourist-free happening, you must move towards the outskirts of the city, paying up to R$ 30 by cab.
Traditionally, Fortaleza nightspots have their dedicated day of the week, like Pirata below on Mondays. So, when asking around for a place to go, always be specific on when.
For daytime drinking, which can be quite a party, specially on weekends, see the Beaches-section.
The downtown Centro area is surprisingly scarce on waterholes, which would be more than welcome after a hot afternoon's walking. An even more surprising exception is found in the recently 2010 refurbished park Passeio Público officially Praça dos Mártires: A small kiosk with outdoor seating serving lunch and cold drinks. Daily until 5 PM.
Many of the shacks at Praia do Futuro host parties nightime Thursday - Sunday.
Armazem
The biggest party in town on Wednesdays, when it attracts mostly foreign men and a fair share of working girls. Also opens on Saturdays with a more mixed crowd. Live forro on a big stage and a separate eurotechno-lounge.
prostitution
Like it or not, Fortaleza has grown into the Brazilian gringo prostitution capital. At least by repuatation. Rio arguably wins in absolute figures. Many foreigners, especially Europeans, fly in on charters with this as the main attraction. Unfortunately, this affects other travelers, particularly single men. Many Brazilians, including otherwise sympathetic girls, will assume you are there for "business". The main concentration is at "Happy Street" Rua dos Tremembés, Praia de Iracema, where the clubs Forró Mambo R$ 20, Café del Mar R$ 15 and their immediate neighbors serve overpriced drinks. A small group of young females sitting alone at a table along Beira Mar are more than likely to be pros. Any drinking spot that attracts foreigners, is bound to attract working girls, therefore some of them try to filter the entries, meaning that a foreign man can have trouble getting in with his Brazilian girl.