Dublin Town meets Real Brazil Foods on Capel Street

Dublin Town is filled with great businesses who love the city just as much as we do. We met with Caroline Costa, manager at Real Brazil Capel Street to talk about the business and the city it chose to set up in.

What inspired you to open?

The owners opened the first shop about 12 years ago in Gort, Galway. They noticed there was a lot of Brazilian people there who were missing the native food and feeling a little homesick. So they just thought, why don’t we bring the Brazilian food to them? So they opened a small store there but because Dublin is where students come to study and work, they thought a second store would work here. They opened in Dublin 10 years ago, so their inspiration to open was seeing Brazilian people homesick and wanting to make them feel a little better by bringing a bit of home to them.

Why did you choose this location?

We were looking for a while to find a location on Capel Street and then this space was available, we were very lucky. It was the best location for us to open the store. It’s so close to everything.

What do you like about this neighbourhood?

It’s great. The locals are so great and since we moved here we have met a lot of new people. When we first opened up everyone dropped in to wish us luck. They welcomed us to the neighbourhood and said if we need anything they are here to support us. It’s a great location.

Where would you go for socailising, shopping etc?

When we go out around here we go to Pantibar. It’s a great bar and we always have so much fun. There are so many new and different kinds of restaurants to try. I really like Brother Hubbards, Camerinos and I still have to go to Klaw Poke, so that will be the next place to try for me!

What is your perfect day in DublinTown?

I love Fridays in Dublin. I finish my shift here and I love just walking around. It is always so busy and you see so many people. They are always so happy, maybe because its a Friday! Capel Street is always busy so there is a great feeling in the area.

Do you have a funny story or memory you can share with us about working here?

The first week I was working here, there was a really nice old lady who came in. She was asking what we sold. I told her about all the different Brazilian products we have. She then asked me about a specific product that we don’t have here – Pequi fruit. She was asking how you cook it, what it tastes like and I was trying to explain that it’s kind of a savoury thing. In the end she just said, I think I’m going to try it and walked out. But she walked out before I could warn her that you have to be careful when you eat it because if you bite too far in to the flesh you could bite into its thin thorns on the inside and really hurt your tongue! So to this day, I still don’t know what happened, did she bite in to it and get it stuck in her tongue? I just always think about her!

There is a big Brazilian community in Dublin, what do you think people love about the city?

80% of our customers are students, so they are coming here to study and work. It is a very young city in a way, its so fun. There are so many young people here and you can be yourself. Dublin and Ireland give us an opportunity to be ourselves. To be free and don’t think about what other people are thinking about you. Irish people are so kind and have patience to try and understand us. Brazilians are coming here to learn English and sometimes you are afraid to speak, in case you are wrong, but Irish people are patient and give you time to speak.

Real Brazil Foods Ltd specialise in leading brands of Brazilian style foods, beverages & equipment sourced directly from the manufacturers with brands like Yoki, Guarana Antarctica, Vale, Cisne, Hikari, Maguary, Predilecta, Cepera and many more top brands. Their store on Capel Street is bringing a little bit of Brazil to the Irish market.