10 Best Restaurants in Chiado and Bairro Alto, Lisbon

This pastry shop opened in 1957 in the city of Alcobaça, and six decades later it expanded to the capital. You can now try the tarts together with “monastic pastries” that follow age-old recipes by Cistercian monks, all in this small shop on Chiado’s busiest street. Its rise to fame in Lisbon happened in 2014, when it took the top prize for best custard tart in an annual contest. 

The Michelin-recommended restaurant atop the Bairro Alto Hotel draws a well-dressed crowd for pre-dinner cocktails on its rooftop terrace—arrive early, as it's first come, first served and highly sought after at sunset. Inside, the elegant dining room centers around an open kitchen where you can watch chefs artfully plate seasonal dishes, with fresh seafood often playing a starring role. The sommelier provides excellent pairing advice, frequently highlighting selections from small, independent Portuguese producers. 

Dating from 1905, Lisbon’s most famous café maintains its dazzling Art Deco interior, though you'll probably prefer to take a quick peek and then settle in at one of the tables outside to watch the lively street scenes unfold. The coffee no longer comes exclusively from the former colony that gave the place its name, but it's some of the best in town (it even features in the sauce on the house steak) alongside tasty cakes, pastries, and artfully presented seafood dishes. A few doors down, Pastelaria Bénard is an even longer-established example of Chiado's old-world cafés.

The 18th-century Quintela Palace—once taken over by one of Napoléon's generals—now welcomes diners to a gastronomic experience in a space like no other in the city. Climb the grand staircase to dine in one of four airy elegant rooms, where you can enjoy Portuguese and international cuisine (and where there are well-priced lunch menus). Or stop for drinks and snacks from 6 pm onwards at the buzzy downstairs bar, where a DJ gets the crowd dancing as the night wears on.

In the charmingly old-fashioned dining room at one of Lisbon's oldest restaurants, bottles are displayed like works of art, and courteous staffers serve up Portuguese classics paired with one of the wine list's 600 choices.

This long-established Austrian-style café is popular with most locals and tourists, with its combination of bottled and draft beers (including their very own brand) and hearty central European dishes such as Wiener schnitzel, homemade sausages, and spätzle, along with vegan and vegetarian options. The dessert menu includes apple strudel and Sacher torte. They do excellent brunches, too.

Ever since the New York Times described it as “devilishly good,” Landeau’s chocolate cake has been reason enough to head to Chiado (or one of their three other Lisbon shops). Here you can buy an entire cake to enjoy at home or sit for a slice with some tea.

The custard tarts at this tiny shop rival those of the famous shop in Belém for the title of the best pastéis de nata in town. A bell is rung every time a batch emerges warm from the oven. Eat at the counter and watch the tarts being made, or take away a box of half a dozen to enjoy later.

You don't need to be a guest at snazzy The Ivens Hotel to snag a table in its glamorous downstairs bar, but it's best to book in advance. Perch on one of the high seats for communal dining, and watch the talented mixologists create the perfect cocktail to accompany light sharing dishes like tuna tartare with wasabi pearls and avocado or heartier Portuguese or Italian-style main dishes. Negroni lovers are in for a treat: there's an entire menu dedicated to the drink, and the Negroni de Cacau is dangerously delicious. For a quieter dining experience, the attached Rocco restaurant offers a more formal setting for Italian food made with flair.

For some of the best ice cream and sorbets in town, drop into this branch of a family-run chain founded in 1949. New flavors are introduced regularly, but all stick to the tradition of using only fresh fruit and all-natural ingredients.