There for a while, the fine-dining scene in Santa Bárbara de Nexe looked bleak. For years, the village in the hills overlooking Faro Airport had two or three nice to very nice restaurants within the town limits. Then a couple of years ago, there were no places to go for a nice dinner out. None. Nada. So what happened?
To make a long story short, it was the combination of the aftermath of the pandemic (that caused a number of places to eventually fail), retirements, unexpected departures and rent rises. It really doesn’t matter. After years of having plenty of choice on our doorstep in town, that made the village a well-kept secret, treasured by the expat community and local residents alike, we all had to get into our cars and drive into Faro or Loulé for an evening out.
Then, just over a year ago, Mahalo Restaurant and Lounge opened at the site that had been known as Canga since 1989. It was quite a change and mostly for the better. Canga had been popular with the local population ever since Pedro Silva ran the place with lunch for the working class and traditional Portuguese fare in the evening. When he retired, the operation was taken over by an enthusiastic young Frenchman named Victor de Villars, who made it into a very casual, fun spot that wasn’t always efficiently run. When my lovely wife and I heard it was opening, we decided to give it a try. Turns out, we drove up on opening night. As we got out of the car in the parking lot, we were greeted by Victor himself, who escorted us in.
That night we had an excellent dinner prepared by a chef we never saw again. It was the best meal we were to ever get at Canga. After that, things were quite uneven. Sometimes, we had suckling pig that was quite tasty; other times they had run out of most items on the menu, and it was only 7.30pm.
Victor did introduce live music some evenings and most Saturday afternoons. He hosted some fun birthday and retirement parties and even a Christmas fair. Victor also hired some Ukrainian waitresses who he helped support, but, at other times, the service was painfully slow. The last time he visited family in France, Victor did not return.
Not long after that, two charming 31-year-olds Kelly Salgado and João Fernandes took over the location and transformed it into an attractive, quality establishment that they renamed Mahalo.
It is not a Hawaiian restaurant and, to be honest, many of the old timers still call it Canga, but it is named Mahalo because Kelly likes the thought and feels very “grateful” to have the opportunity that she and João are now pursuing.
So, when my lovely wife and I first met “Kelly”, we wondered where someone with such an American (or maybe Irish) sounding name was from. Her English was flawless. Well, she’s fourth generation Santa Bárbara de Nexe, born and raised in this very same small village. She attended university in Faro where she earned a degree in hospitality, with a specialty in customer service (and it shows).
In fact, this couple couldn’t be more Algarvian. João was born and raised in Fuzeta in a family that had been fishermen for many generations and that explains who is in charge of buying the fresh seafood that is a feature of the restaurant.
João spent some time in Manchester, England, where he improved his English and got involved in hospitality as a bar back, eventually a bartender (his passion fruit martini is outstanding and the only cocktail that a beer-and-wine guy like me will drink).
Kelly worked for Crown Plaza, a leading hotel chain, for a while, where she perfected her language skills, until six years ago when these two met in Faro. A really cute couple, they decided that this small village with a growing reputation, and more and more villas in the hills, was an ideal place to live and when Canga became available they took their chance.
Closed on Mondays, Mahalo is both a fish and seafood establishment and a steak house that features live music every Wednesday evening. André Filipe, who’s rather well known, is a regular and one of our favorites. There’s also an executive menu offered at lunch except on weekends and bank holidays.
It’s a good idea to get on their Facebook and/or Instagram pages so you can find out about special events like Halloween or Valentine’s Day, which my lovely wife and I attended this past February and are now proud owners of a Polaroid picture of us in a Mahalo frame with a palm tree just like the one out front.
We both enjoy the oysters that are always sweet and very fresh, and we often have our favorite spareribs and recently a very tasty ribeye, all cooked to order the way we like it. Recently, Mahalo has received a few awards and is on track to receive many more.
+351 968 284 956 | mahalorestaurantandbar@gmail.com
I want to state up front that I am not a food critic, and I don’t pretend to be. Right now, the internet, particularly Facebook and YouTube are crawling with self-declared “experts” who are anything but. Portugal, in particular, seems to be a current breeding ground for would-be “influencers” who profess to love Portugal and know enough to recommend places and activities on their podcasts even though they themselves have only been in the country for months. Don’t subscribe to these pretenders. Instead, ask a friend or go out exploring on your own.
Meanwhile, just a couple of weeks ago, another new restaurant has opened, this time in the center of town. This one is called Piazza. “Hey, wait a minute,” you might say, “wasn’t there a popular Italian restaurant called La Piazza, right on main street?”
The entrance way to the new Piazza
Indeed there was – for the past 20 years, run by the extremely popular chef Angelo Bucciero, but he retired last year. His sons, Fabio, the maître d’ and Luigi, a talented chef, have moved the menu to Amancil and their new restaurant Cin Cin. Which means you can still get their almond-crusted tuna, or their veal steak or some of the best pizzas in the area but not in little ol’ Santa Bárbara de Nexe.
I know, I know, you can get a pizza delivered to almost anywhere, but I still liked doing take-away from La Piazza, and if I had to wait, I usually had a beer with Fabio.
So anyway, Piazza is named so that you might recall the previous establishment at the same location. They also have a take-away menu with 10 pizzas listed. So, there is hope.
The new owner is William Leterrier (38), a married Frenchman with three kids from Foix in Ariège, near Toulouse.
When his mother retired to Portugal, she discovered Santa Bárbara de Nexe and told her son about a possible restaurant location. Since William had been in catering for 20 years with three restaurants open, as he said “7 for 7, 11 to 11”, he was seeking a slower-paced life with beautiful weather and a cozy little restaurant.
“To be honest,” he remarked, “I don’t understand why the sons didn’t continue here. It’s a beautiful place and the growing village has plenty of room for growth.” Indeed, these points were discussed by many of the residents at the time, with rent being mentioned as one motivation.
William is confident that he can make a go with a relatively limited menu of 10 pizzas, a steak, a tuna dish and some pastas and a few starters including a Greek-style hummus.
The old La Piazza was my go-to place. We took all our friends there and everybody, family and friends who ever visited us. The main attraction is the outside seating area, which is three levels cuddled under a large pergola of glycine vines, sparkle lights and a tall Norfolk pine sticking out the top and part of the village skyline.
With a charming arched gateway, a cobbled walkway leading to a plaque stating the building dated back to 1895, this spot oozes old-world charm. The inside is a bit barn-like and possibly hard to heat, so that’s a challenge for the new owner, who is renovating the interior.
After a somewhat clumsy opening with the menu in French with some English, William tells me he is open to suggestions and willing to adapt. My suggestions include expanding the menu with more Italian specialties and possibly having some live music maybe on Thursdays or Fridays.
+351 289 007 874 | piazzasantabarbara@gmail.com
There are other places you can get food in Santa Bárbara:
Marisqueira Arranca – a seafood restaurant with excellent oysters
O Bar Bara – get it? A small tapas restaurant that used to be a popular pub. This place has the coldest beer in the village but serves it in little clay cups.
Sooner or Later – a rock ‘n’ roll pub with the best hamburger deal in the Algarve.
Central – a popular café with good coffee and bifanas.
Still not open and being taken over by bougainvillea
O Alagoas Restaurante Marisqueira was our favorite restaurant in Santa Bárbara de Nexe, and we went there four or five times a month. It was never the best, but we liked it fine and there was a special reason. Over six years ago, when we first moved into the village, we decided to go out for dinner one night in February, but we had our dog with us – the legendary Lola.
It wasn’t that cold and we had jackets on, so we went to the door of O Alagoas and asked them if we could eat outside even though they didn’t have a table set up. The manager, José, told us that we could come in with the dog, as long as it didn’t bark and we could sit at a table by the door. There even was an ashtray, so I was pleased then even though I don’t smoke any more.
A law was passed nearly a year later that gave restaurant owners the option of allowing dogs if they saw fit, but we were already ensconced at “Lola’s table”. I usually had the lamb chops – little, homemade and good, and my lovely wife usually had the best clams she had ever had.
Lola often greeted customers as they came in, especially little kids, while a really sweet waitress named Nídia brought a bowl of water.
The restaurant closed during the pandemic, but the family business faltered and when the father died, the mother no longer had her heart in cooking. The place was closed for good and now is looking a bit worse out of neglect. Rumors that it was going to become a Chinese restaurant seem to have been misinformed.
By Pat the Expat
|| features@algarveresident.com
For the previous 10 years, Pat lived in Panama which used to be rated above Portugal as a top retirement destination (but not any more), where he wrote a column for a tourist publication.
