About
Who’s behind the two houses
Jorge Couto owns both, and tells how that came about.
How it started
My mother sang Fado, and I grew up knowing the big names of Fado in Porto and beyond. I like to sing too, but never in public.
It got serious almost twenty years ago, when I had the chance to take over Casa da Mariquinhas. I’ve enjoyed running it ever since.
Casa da Mariquinhas
Casa da Mariquinhas opened in 1968 in the Sé quarter, across from the Arco de Santana. It’s the oldest Fado house in the city, and the only one the council has listed as an Establishment of Historical and Cultural Interest.
People have dinner there in a granite room with 36 seats, and the Fado comes between courses.
Why I opened Fado Maior
I wanted a place in Porto just for the music, with no meal. I also wanted Fado from Coimbra, which has a strong tradition in this city even though the Fado houses had half forgotten it.
So I opened Fado Maior do Porto, in a tavern over a hundred years old in Miragaia, down by the Douro. In about an hour you hear Fado from Coimbra and then Fado from Lisbon, each sung by its own group.
Going to both
The two are a ten-minute walk apart, and some people see the concert at Fado Maior, then walk over to Mariquinhas for dinner.
This site belongs to both houses, but you book on each house’s own website.