In Portugal, some restaurants serve traditional Portuguese food along with fado performances, a musical genre that can be traced back to the 1820s in Lisbon and is often characterized by melancholic tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the lives of the poor, while being filled with a sense of resignation, fate, and melancholy.

People spend their entire evenings in these restaurants, called Casa de Fado (“House of Fado”), eating and listening to the music, which speaks of the word “saudade”, a Portuguese word meaning “longing, nostalgia, desire, distancing from something or someone.” Usually, there is no table turnover. Once you enter the restaurant, you stay there until it closes.

In its traditional form, fado is played by a trio of musicians: a guitarist plays the "Guitarra Portuguesa" (twelve-string Portuguese guitar); a singer, that is, a “fadista”; and a guitarist who plays the "Viola de Fado" (classical guitar). The Portuguese guitar has a unique sound, and the chords are played in different measures from those of the classical guitar.

In the game House of Fado, players must manage their restaurant, attract customers, hire and promote fadistas and musicians, thus gaining prestige for their house of fado. Managers move their staff members to various positions to perform certain actions, using the same “bump” action as in the game The Gallerist.