dE RIO JANEIRO - After a long day trying to set world records, win a medal or just complete an intense event, even the best athletes in the world want to relax
But with night life options lack the futuristic towers of the Olympic Village, many competitors opt for the short walk to a water hole with a curious name: .. the Bar do bin Laden
Yes, it is named after Osama bin Laden, founder of Al Qaeda, but not because of a fervor extremist. Instead, it is a nod to the appearance of a bearded owner of the bar, which bears a resemblance to the brain devastating 2001 attacks on US soil.
"After September 11, everyone from bin Laden calling me for obvious reasons," said the owner, José Felipe de Araújo. "The nickname stuck, so I decided to use it to my advantage."
M .. Araújo, 60, a former laborer who opened his business there for over a decade, receives the thirsty customers from all over the world with a warm, faux-plates grilled fillet, pizza and large bottles of beer Antarctic served "stupidly cold," as is the custom in Rio de Janeiro, the first city in South America to host the Olympic Games.
Curiously, the decidedly unkempt bar to bin Laden here in the outer suburbs of Rio, where dozens of bosses meet until after midnight during the Games, is not the only show in Brazil named for the Saudi who was hunted down and killed in Pakistan in 2011.
another Bar do bin Laden attracts a clientele heavily drilled in the center of São Paulo. Bin Laden Espetinhos Bar serves kebabs in Belo Horizonte. Deep in the backlands of Pernambuco State in the northeast, in the city of Salgueiro, a Bin Laden bar serves specialties like torresmo freshly fried pork crackling.
Although reviled in much of the West, the name of bin Laden in general does not carry the same stigma in Brazil, a country which has been spared the large-scale terrorist attacks that horrified many other parts of the world. A feeling of revolt and challenge could also play in the proliferation of the bin Laden phenomenon
One of the most popular funk singers of Brazil is named -. You guess it -. MC bin Laden
For his part, Mr. Araújo, dressed informally in denim shorts and sandals, said proudly that his customers came from all over the world, reflecting a wide range of nationalities and political and religious beliefs. Officially, its business is called Pizzeria Specialle but ask for directions using the name arouses blank stares in the neighborhood where he lives with his wife and five children.
"This is the Bar do bin Laden," he proclaimed as blown, steaks for his signature dish, a mountain of food on a plate that includes rice, beans, pasta and meat . It goes for about $ 4.40, a fraction of the cost of eating at one of the more upscale restaurants near Olympic venues. One night this week, South Africa, Slovenian, Korean and Ukrainian visitors nursed beers near the pool tables, the construction workers of binge food sides of Mr. Araújo.
"The Olympic Village is boring and the food is a little, well, monotonous," said Carlos Vizcaino Sanchez, 48, a Cuban emigre who coaches follow and field athletes in the Seychelles, the country of 115 islands in the Indian ocean.
"I never thought I'd find bin Laden in Rio, but it's there," Mr. Sanchez said, sipping a beer. "I'm glad to have met this piece of the real Brazil. "
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