2 Best Bars in Chiado and Bairro Alto, Lisbon

Bairro Alto is home to several of Lisbon's leading fado houses—venues where singers belt out soulful standards, accompanied by both the lute-like Portuguese guitarra and Spanish guitar—and Adega Machado is one of the best. Its artistic director is Marco Rodrigues, a leading member of the current generation of fadistas, who regularly performs here, along with Isabel Noronha, Bárbara Santos, and Pedro Moutinho. To attend the evening show at 9 pm, you must make a dinner reservation, so arrive in good time to choose from the range of traditional dishes (à la carte with mains at €30, or a €47 set menu, one of which is vegetarian). For just a taster, drop in for their daily 5 pm Fado Inside the Box 45-minute session (€17 including wine and snacks). Nearby Café Luso, at  Travessa da Queimada 10, is another famous old venue, part of the same group.

The fado-loving owner of this informal space—once used to store olives and sausages, now lined with photos of famous fadistas—opened this bar serving simple food almost three decades ago; it has established itself as the city's best-known venue for fado vadio, or "vagabond fado," with mainly amateur singers, on Monday and Wednesday. Performers put their heart and soul into it (some even have half-decent voices), and the very competent musicians hold things together. Later on, professionals often turn up to do a turn when nearby fancier fado houses close. Tasca do Chico has an offshoot in the Alfama neighborhood, at  Rua dos Remédios 83, where there's fado Thursday through Sunday.