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Graça · Cafés & Coffee Shops

Clara Clara is a café and coffee shop in Lisbon's Graça neighbourhood, run as an open-air kiosk with an esplanada. It sits inside Jardim Botto Machado, a leafy garden on the Campo de Santa Clara, and the postal address is Campo de Santa Clara, 1100-474 Lisboa. The place is described as a beloved fixture of the neighbourhood. The setting is a large part of what the sources emphasise. The garden lies directly opposite the National Pantheon, called the Panteão Nacional in Portuguese, and the kiosk is described as overlooking that monument. The spot also offers sweeping glimpses of the Tagus River. Another description places the café in the very heart of the Feira da Ladra flea market, on the same historic square, the Campo de Santa Clara, where the garden stands. The offer is casual and affordable. Clara Clara serves light bites, fresh drinks and comforting daytime treats, all in an outdoor setting among the leaves of the garden. Opening hours are the same every day: the kiosk is open Monday to Sunday, public holidays included, from 10:00 until 21:00. Clara Clara is described as a quiosque, the Portuguese word for kiosk, and this kind of venue has a long story in the city. An article on Portugal.com notes that you rarely go more than a few blocks in Lisbon without coming across another of the hexagonal quiosques. The first one opened in 1869 in Rossio Square. At the start they served wine and beer, and later they added traditional snacks such as fried fish, which drew a mix of people from dock workers to the Lisbon elite. Their designs show features of the Art Nouveau movement, while the domes on top, called muqarnas, reflect the influence of the Moorish invasion of Portugal in 711. These gathering places offered community and a place for everyone until the 1930s. When Salazar came to power, his regime, known as the Estado Novo, aimed to promote corporatism and discouraged socialising in public. Kiosks, as centres of social life, were neglected and eventually abandoned. The article's account of their revival begins in 2009 with Catarina Portas, a local. To find it, look for the Campo de Santa Clara in the Graça neighbourhood, postcode 1100-474 Lisboa, and the garden across from the National Pantheon. Because the kiosk opens at 10:00 and closes at 21:00 every day of the week, a visit is possible from morning through the evening, on public holidays too.