4 Best Restaurants in Alcântara, Cais do Sodré, and Santos, Lisbon

Virtually everyone in the kitchen at this new-ish restaurant in Santos is from Mexico, making Boca Linda a more authentic alternative to some of the trendier taco joints sprouting up around town. The guacamole comes with chapulines (grasshoppers), the green aguachile is properly spicy, and the tacos come with fillings like cochinita pibil (suckling pig) and barbacoa (slow-cooked meat).

While the main street linking Cais de Sodré and Santos seems to be one natural wine bar after another, Cav 86 stands out from the crowd for the quality of its wine selection and for the sophistication of its food menu. There's not a perfunctory snack in sight; rather, the long menu of sharable plates includes dishes like duck rillettes, pumpkin arancini, and beef tartare with mussels escabeche.

The name means "in the convent" in Portuguese, because this new date-night spot occupies a 17th-century convent tucked away on a side street in Santos. The food combines Portuguese ingredients with French traditions. The low lighting and seductive soundtrack attract the city's creative set, both in pairs and in larger groups celebrating special events.

This glitzy restaurant is a high-end alternative to the bustling food hall in the Time Out Market downstairs. The menu leans toward fancified versions of Portuguese classics—olive-oil-soaked roasted octopus, grilled cod, and the namesake açorda, Portugal's famous bread-based stew rich in seafood (the luxury version contains lobster) and flavored with garlic and cilantro.