8 Best Restaurants in Belém, Lisbon

This bakery specializes in pastéis de nata: delicious warm custard tarts sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar. Although these sweet treats are ubiquitous in Portugal, the version here is celebrated as the original, made here since 1837 using a secret recipe from the nearby Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. They're so good that lines snake out of the door of this traditional blue-and-white-tiled establishment. Luckily the lines move quickly, especially if you are just getting take-out.

Portugal’s oldest bakery has taken over an old pier next to the Torre de Belém. Here dozens of tables are perched over the Tagus River, with one side facing the famous tower and the other toward the city. While it lacks the opulent interiors of the original, it's location is the perfect pit stop for coffee, sweets, or a freshly squeezed orange juice.

Sit beneath fragrant orange blossoms enjoying a healthy lunch at this café with a mission. Hidden behind the Belém library, this glass-walled social enterprise café supports a project protecting and empowering vulnerable women and girls. Come for the delicious house-made cake and stay for the side helping of social justice.

There’s no English menu here—just the daily specials scrawled on a piece of paper out front. If you want to eat where the locals do, search these dishes on the Web then step inside Frazão. Say bom dia ("good day") to the grill chef and pass through the tiny front room where workers watch TV while eating. Find a more comfortable table in the back room and tuck into your own €10 lunch menu, which includes a dish, soup, drink, and coffee.

This peachy pink all-day café serves breakfast and brunch plates nonstop along with coffee and cocktails. Find plenty of vegetarian and vegan-friendly options in the extensive menu that mixes brunch culture and Portuguese cuisine with a healthy homemade twist.

Portugal produces fantastic oysters, and this solar-powered food truck located next to the Discoveries Monument is a top spot to try them. “Oysters on Wheels” brings fresh bivalves from the Sado River, an hour south of Lisbon, to the capital. Pair a couple or a dozen with a glass of Portuguese sparkling wine and enjoy the million-dollar waterfront views.

Although the name translates as "Bread Bread Cheese Cheese," this bustling place serves much more than these two staples. Expect lines out the door as hungry sightseers and locals line up to take their pick from a huge variety of sandwiches, salads, falafel, and wraps.

Many a Lisboeta would argue that Careca, which has been cooking up pastries since 1954, serves the best sweet croissants in town. Try them for yourself at this simple-but-smart café—best enjoyed outside on the terrace with a coffee or fresh orange juice.