Portugalia’s history can’t be told without the history of beer in Portugal, and, to tell it, we need to go back to the first years of the XX century.
Then, and under the leadership of Dr. Barral Filipe, the “Leão” beer factory and “Companhia Portuguesa de Cervejas” joined forces and created the “Germânia” beer factory, born to produce one of the best beers worldwide. For that purpose, in 1912 they bought a huge piece of land in Almirante Reis Avenue (Lisbon), built a factory with 15.000 m2, imported the most modern equipment and invited the best foreign technical workers as consultants.
With World War I, when Portugal aligned with the Allied forces, the anti-german feeling led to a clever marketing strategy, and in 1916 the factory was re-named to “Portugália”.
In 1921, new investments were made and the products, under the guidance of the german beer master Richard Eisen, reached a revolutionary quality at that time. And the name was again changed to “Companhia Produtora de Malte e Cerveja Portugália, S.A”.
The creation, on the 10th of June 1925, of the beerhouse just beside the factory, has a special reason: once the beer was distributed in horse cars, it was usual for customers to go directly to the factory and fill their own barrels.
The idea of having an area for beer tasting while the customers waited for their barrels to be filed was an immediate success. And this gave place for a new way to consume beer in Portugal. Afterwards came the famous steaks and seafood specialties that quickly became the house’s special features.
In the decades of 30, 40 and 50, Portugália beerhouse became one of the main spots for artists, sportsman and politicians to meet and socialize. Artists like Amália Rodrigues (fado singer), Vasco Santana or Raúl Solnado (actors) were seen quite often. The prestige was so big that the terrace was chosen as the set for the last scene of the movie “A Canção de Lisboa”.
In the 50s, the factory and beerhouse went through major renovation works, the restaurant room became bigger, on the first floor pool tables were installed and on the third floor, in the terrace, an outdoor movie theater.
In the 70s, with the revolution on the 25th April 1974, Portugália, as many companies in Portugal, had its troubled moments. But in June 1977, the Carvalho Martins and Vinhas families came back to manage the company. They started a new cycle in the company’s life, and in 1997 an expansion began. Today there’s a chain of restaurants all faithful to the flavors, ambience and service that build the name of the most portuguese of beerhouses: Portugália, the Portuguese Beerhouse.
