The Central Pub was originally built in 1945 by Francisco Martins, after whom the Ponta Delgada-based travel agency is named. According to the current owner, the Micaelense man who built the pub exported oranges to England, which inspired the English pub style echoed in New York, which the Central Pub retains to this day.
“The pub opened in 1945 and remained until 1947, when Francisco Martins was asked to close the establishment to manage the Terra Nostra Hotel at the airport in Santa Maria. Before 1947, the hotel was an American army barracks,” he added.
In 1965, José Batista’s father bought the Central Pub, and, as he recalls, “I often passed the building on my way to school, and I never thought my father would buy it. We already had a boarding house on this street, and this acquisition was beneficial for meals because we ended up with more rooms to rent in addition to the kitchen and the pub.”

A reference point in the great wave of emigration in the 1960s

Next to the Pensão Batista, the Central Pub was a landmark in the history of the great wave of emigration in the 1960s: “People would come to Santa Maria a few days beforehand, so as to gather between 40 and 60 passengers to go to America and Canada. The airline paid us a daily rate for meals and accommodation and on the day of departure we also had a cab to service the house,” says José Batista. He adds: “Hundreds of emigrants who left the Azores for the first time passed through the Central Pub. Until they built the airport in Ponta Delgada, there was always a lot of traffic in Santa Maria.”
“My father died in the 1970s and at that time I emigrated to the United States, where I stayed for about 20 years. My brother even managed the pub, but it ended up being closed for about 18 years. I returned to Santa Maria 35 years ago and reopened the Central Pub. Since then, I’ve always been working here,” he explains.
For 35 years, José Batista has owned this business, which has been in his family since 1965. Still, he confesses that he wouldn’t be able to keep it going without the help of his daughter, Linda Batista, his son-in-law, Sérgio Bairros, and his wife, Maria Helena. “My daughter has been helping me to develop this business for almost 20 years, and she has made it possible. I’ve worked a lot, I’m still doing a lot, and my well-being depends on being here, but now I just help out. My wife has also always helped a lot in the kitchen; I wouldn’t have gotten this far without her. A good, successful man has someone like her by his side.”

The “Pizzas do Central” are the house specialty.

The cuisine of this bar, restaurant, and pub has various influences, ranging from American-style fried chicken to the family recipe they’ve been serving for over 50 years: “Our bacalhau à Brás is a dish with a lot of fame and has been served since my father’s time,” says José Batista.
Having emigrated for 20 years, the Mariense says he does “certain things the US way,” such as pizza and Kentucky Fried Chicken, the house specialties: “I learned how to make pizza in Boston from Italians. The ‘Pizzas do Central’ have been here for 35 years and have been very famous ever since,” he adds.
In addition to the American-style menu—with T-bone, pizza, hamburgers, fried onion rings, and waffles—fried squid, filet mignon, and ‘Francesinha à Vila do Porto’ are also among the most popular dishes at the Central Pub.

From the scientist Jacques Cousteau to the President of the Republic…

In addition to the many emigrants who return to Santa Maria every year, the Central Pub has been and continues to be a stopping point for public figures from various fields. But when they pass through Santa Maria, they have something in common: the hospitality of José Batista, who invites them to come in for the photographs that make up the walls of the emblematic bar.
The Mariense has befriended many personalities, such as former President of the Republic Jorge Sampaio, António Guterres, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and Canadian actor Raymond Burr, among many others. Oceanographer Jacques Cousteau also passed through this bar on one of his many voyages aboard the famous Calypso ship.
About the protagonist of the American television series ‘Ironside,’ José Batista says: “I even traveled with Raymond Burr to Boston. He bought a building near the airport and sought someone to work on a rose farm. As there were direct planes to Boston daily, he intended to expand the flower business to Santa Maria. In the end, he couldn’t find a helper, and after that, I never heard from him again.”

A bar museum in Vila do Porto.

The room and the bar “remain exactly as they were at the beginning. It’s an all-wood building, an authentic American bar. When you enter the Central Pub, you don’t know if you’re in Santa Maria or New York,” says José Batista.
The big challenge for the owner of this bar is to try to keep his customers and staff coming “because the ones I have are very good,” he explains. And he continues: “To satisfy the clientele, you have to do it. Sometimes the hardest part is not having a big enough team to work with. This place seats more than 150 people on the terrace and in the two rooms. We also have a children’s playground at the back of the bar. We’re always busy, I just need people to work; in the summer we manage to hire some young people who are on vacation from school, but when it comes to cooks, for example, it’s very difficult…. It may happen that I have to reduce the space because I can no longer work as I used to. I like helping out, but at some point I have to go home. I live near Praia Formosa and every day I go for a swim to keep my mind active”.
As for plans for the future of the Central Pub, José Batista reveals that he dreams of creating a bar museum: “I own an old tile factory, and I have a lot of relics there. I have a dream of turning the Central Pub into a bar museum. I want to leave this to my grandchildren, to Nina, who is 10, and to Rio, who, although he’s only 8, already wants to help out in the bar and, it seems, already knows something about it,” he concludes.

Daniela Canha os a journalist for Correio dos Açores-Natalino Viveiros, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.