Peter Café Sport is located in the historic city center of Horta, on the island of Faial, in the Azores. It constitutes a historical and cultural landmark of the archipelago and, particularly, of the island. An expression, consecrated among the yachtsmen, sums up this highlight: “If you sail to Horta and do not visit the ‘Peter Café Sport’, you have not seen Horta in reality.”

In 1986, Newsweek magazine ranked Peter Café Sport among the best Cafés in the world.

The History

Ernesto Lourenço S. Azevedo, a merchant that was already settled in Faial, owned a handicrafts store on the Infante Square (the “Bazar of Fayal manufactures & products”) that traded in local products. He sold embroidery, lace, straw hats and baskets, feather flowers, cutwork and many other items made by local craftsmen. He participated in the 1888 Lisbon Industrial Exhibition with these products, receiving the event’s gold medal and diploma for the quality and diversity of his products.

The turn of the century led Ernesto Azevedo to the Tenente Valadim Street, acquiring one of the buildings which today is part of the space known as Peter’s. Calling it “Azorean House” and continuing to sell handicrafts but also drinks, this new establishment provided the owner with the enormous advantage of being closer to the port and, therefore, to all the activity it generated as the only place through which people and goods could leave and enter the island.

There he sold embroidery, lace, straw hats and baskets, feather flowers, sieve work and many other items of local crafts.”
in “ÀS LAPAS: Contos e Narrativas Faialenses”, Horta, 1988

In 1918, Henrique Azevedo transfered the Azorean House to the next-door building located to the north, keeping the same business but changing its name to “Café Sport”, thus naming the coffee house after his passion for sports, as he usually practiced soccer, rowing and billiards.

Henrique Azevedo pioneered some of the great features that are still typical of Peter’s today: the choice of furniture (the same type of furniture is still used), an eagle as the symbol and gin and tonic as the much appreciated beverage.

At the end of the 1930s, José Azevedo, Henrique’s son, started helping in Café Sport while also working on the English ship HMS Lusitania II of the British Royal Navy. This ship had been anchored in Horta since 1939 after being hit by a depth bomb.

During his period working for HMS Lusitania II, José developed strong ties with the crew of the ship, to a point that one of the officers, due to the similarities between his son and José, missing his son and as a way to mitigate his homesickness, asked him if he wouldn’t mind being called “Peter”. The name stuck. Even the local Azorean started calling him by his new nickname and, for the rest of his life, José Azevedo became “Peter”.

In 1944, with the beginning of the war, “Peter” ended up abandoning his post at Lusitania II, starting to work full time at Café Sport to help his father, Henrique Azevedo, due to the large influx of ships that were arriving at Horta during this period. Castaways, wounded and sick, people looking for shelter, others in need to refuel and repair their vessels, others simply to rest for a few days.

It was within this context that “Café Sport” became a point of reference for all who passed by Horta, providing friendly help for all those who required it, independently of the matter, technical or humane, for all nationalities, creeds and races.

Few years passed, the war was over and most people brought by it to Faial were already gone. In the late 50s, a new type of visitors began to arrive in Faial: recreational sailing boats… and so it begins, the bonds created with these adventurers, who left everything chasing a dream, became the reason behind Café Sport’s – current worldwide recognition among travelers and yachtsmen.

With time, “Peter” became not only the name by which the owner of “Café Sport” was known, but also the designation of the institution that has been providing help to the international sailing community for the last few decades.

Credits of the text above: Peter Café Sports