By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
EAST VILLAGE — Brazilian soccer fans have found a home away from home on Avenue C.
Since the World Cup began earlier this month, die-hard supporters of the tournament favorite have been gathering en masse at Esperanto on the corner of East Ninth Street to watch the games and add some Brazilian zest to the East Village.
“For me, it’s one of the few places in New York that’s a little piece of Brazil,” said Adriana A., who lives on the Lower East Side and watched the team play to a 0-0 draw with Portugal on Friday.
The 38-year-old, who's originally from Sao Paulo, said she’s run into old friends from back in Brazil at the restaurant watching the games.
“This bar could be at Ipanema Beach [in Rio de Janeiro],” she said. “It’s a special feeling that not many places have.”
Outside, Renata Klajman Malament was selling pencas, Brazilian charm pendants that supposedly bring good luck.
“It’s a place of style here,” said the Sao Paulo native, who works at the boutique clothing shop just down the street from Esperanto.
She explained that many Brazilians living in the neighborhood convene at the restaurant for “the best caipirinhas in the city," referencing the South American country's national cocktail.
Following each match, the crowd gathers in front of the restaurant to dance to drum beats and celebrate the team's success.
"We're all here for the same reason, and that's for football — we never lose," said Pablo Mejia, 29, who spent part of his youth in Sao Paulo before moving to New York.
"It's even better when you see people not Brazilian coming here and getting into it," he said, adding that though he could have gone to a friend's restaurant to watch the games and gotten free drinks, he preferred Esperantos.
"It's not the same. ... You want to feel the people's energy — yelling, screaming."
With so many Brazilian expats in one place, Esperanto has become as much a social club as a sports bar.
"There's music and also sexy, beautiful people," Adriana A. added. "It's a good flirting place."
