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Lisbon's dining scene has evolved dramatically in recent years to include any number of high-end dining opportunities, but amid the international fare, Michelin-starred restaurants, and molecular gastronomy, the city's simplest and most traditional restaurants still do a roaring trade. Meals generally include three courses, a drink, and coffee. Many restaurants have an ementa turistica (tourist menu), a set-price meal, most often served at lunchtime. Note that you'll be charged a couple of euros if you eat any of the couvert items—typically appetizers such as bread and butter, olives, and the like—that are brought to your table without being ordered.
Lisbon's restaurants usually serve lunch from noon or 12:30 until 3 and dinner from 7:30 until 11; many establishments are closed Sunday or Monday. Inexpensive restaurants typically don't accept reservations. In the traditional cervejarias (beer-hall restaurants), which frequently have huge dining rooms, you'll probably have to wait for a table, but usually not more than 10 minutes. In the Bairro Alto, many of the reasonably priced tascas (taverns) are on the small side: if you can't grab a table, you're probably better off moving on to the next place. Throughout Lisbon, dress for meals is usually casual, but exceptions are noted below.
With tables and chairs set out on a narrow jetty jutting out into the waters of the Tagus, Ponto Final makes a visually dramatic spot to enjoy tasty fish and seafood. It's located on the waterfront a short walk from the ferry terminal, and tables are in high demand. Book well in advance, or just show up early for lunch or dinner and sip a glass of something chilled as you wait. In case no tables become available, neighboring bar-restaurant Atira-te ao Rio is a pleasant alternative.
This restaurant's name translates to "There's Fish Here," and indeed it's one of the top places in town to savor the catch of the day, served fried, grilled, or roasted. Dinner attracts a youngish crowd, who enjoy options like cuttlefish with black rice and saffron mayonnaise. For diehard carnivores, there's Brazilian picanha. The dining room is also a classic, set beneath wide arches.
Renowned chef José Avillez has created his own foodie "neighborhood" incorporating two restaurants, a pizzeria, and a bar that serves snacks. The airy, more formal Páteo serves classic Portuguese dishes, while the more casual Taberna offers a wide range of fine local cheeses as well as intensely flavored small plates presented with flair. Then there's Pizzaria Lisboa for great thin-crust pies, and Mini Bar, a hidden and dimly lit night spot in an atmospheric former chapel, for fancy drinks and snacks, with live music and DJs Wednesdays through Saturdays.
This cool, colorful restaurant is as cheeky and irreverent as its name suggests. The menu takes Portugal's culinary traditions on fantastic flights of fancy using the freshest of local seafood.
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.
Fresh produce is the hero at this modern neighborhood bistro. Portuguese chef João Rodrigues swapped his Michelin-star kitchen for this modest diner where top-quality seafood and seasonal ingredients shine. There are no fancy foams, just fuss-free dining and an ever-changing menu with Portuguese roots and daily specials. Bookings recommended.
Enthusiastic approval from the late Anthony Bourdain helped boost Ramiro's profile, and this traditional cervejaria (which literally translates to "beer house" but practically speaking means seafood hall) is now one of the most famous places in Lisbon to eat fresh seafood. The atmosphere is casual, frenetic, and buzzy. The restaurant's popularity means there's almost always a wait for tables, so it's go at off hours or if you book ahead—they've finally relented on their infamous no-reservations policy.
Although the name suggests it’s only open to the press, this restaurant welcomes everyone. The menu features innovative dishes like eggplant drizzled with miso caramel or white fish ceviche topped with spicy popcorn. It has a cozy dining room lined with azulejo tiles, but in the summer everyone heads straight to the pleasant garden and plops down at one of the umbrella-shaded tables.
Portugal is a nation obsessed with seafood, but more often than not, fish is simply grilled over charcoal with salt. Guelra is changing the game with a fish-focused eatery where you can sit down for creative seafood snacks and wine at the bar, or venture upstairs for a chic meal with Portuguese-influenced dishes. Be sure to try the amphora wines.
Seasonal, locally sourced ingredients are the stars of the show at this chic but relaxed fine-dining restaurant, where plants hang from the ceiling, and contemporary furnishings keep things feeling serene. The presentation is as sophisticated as the flavors, making this one of the city's most acclaimed and awarded restaurants, with top honors from the influential local publication Mesa Marcada and a recommendation in the Michelin guide.
Calm and cool Princesa is one of Caparica's most picturesque beachfront spots. A vast outdoor terrace is filled with sun loungers and comfy chairs where you can relax with a jug of sangria while watching the waves roll in. Browse the menu for a selection of simple-yet-tasty salads, fresh seafood, and grilled fish.
This restaurant facing the courtyard of the Hotel Valverde focuses on contemporary Portuguese cuisine reinterpreted by the chef. Its weekly lunch menu is popular among locals who work nearby and those looking for a more intimate spot.
Run by visual artist Luis Carballo (whose studio is in nearby Marvila), this modern version of the traditional Portuguese tasca is an informal space where everyone seems to start off with a gin and tonic—there's a dedicated gin bar. The kitchen turns out delicious plates like black rice with cuttlefish or braised tuna that are the perfect size to share.
One of the hippest tables in town, Tricky's is a collaborative project between natural wine sommeliers and creative next-gen chefs. Cooks in the open kitchen—the best seats are at the counter right in front of it—create a menu of sharable small plates with Portuguese, Italian, and Asian influences, and they're matched with low-intervention wines from across Europe.
Chef Marlene Vieira is one of the few female chefs at the forefront of Lisbon’s fine dining scene. At Zunzum she has a more relaxed approach, but still with cutting-edge dishes like Portuguese stew gyozas or cockle fritters in bulhão pato, a garlicky white wine and coriander sauce.
This rustic restaurant was established in a former bakery and has kept the building's original large brick baking oven and stone arches. It serves well-presented classic Portuguese cuisine and a few original dishes from a menu evenly divided between meat and fish options.
Meco's most famous restaurant draws seafood fans from across the region. The freshly caught sea bass, swordfish, and huge variety of crustaceans are part of the appeal, but the setting in front of wild windswept Praia do Meco adds to the charm.
Mushrooms are the star of the show at this stylish, low-lit new eatery in Santos. While the menu includes a few fish and meat plates, most of the dishes are vegetarian or vegan, spotlighting enoki, lamb's foot, portobello, porcini, and the restaurant's namesake black truffle mushrooms. The combinations are varied and interesting, ranging from Japanese chawanmushi custard to Italian-style gnocchi and pasta.
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).
The distinctive 1930s facade and tables right on Rossio square make Nicola a memorable spot for a coffee or bite to eat while sightseeing. Breakfasts and brunches here are good, with lots of eggs, meaty sausages, and strong Nicola-brand coffee (or fresh fruit and juices, should you prefer). They also serve simple traditional mains. Inside, the statue of 19th-century poet Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage and oil paintings by Fernando Santos depicting his rambunctious life, add to the atmosphere.
Just as the 90-seat dining room sits below a vaulted brick ceiling that dates from the 18th century, many of the dishes are based on archival recipes. As the name suggests, the emphasis is on bacalhau (salted codfish), which is served in 25 different ways, ranging from the typical à Brás (with eggs and potatoes) to curried cod with asparagus risotto. A few meat, octopus, and vegetarian options are included for those who aren't fans of the fish.
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.
Occupying a bright and breezy downstairs room at the LX Boutique Hotel (there's a branch in Cascais, too), this sophisticated spot is one of the best places in town to eat sushi. There are vegan and vegetarian options alongside the usual fish, seafood, and sashimi.
Contemporary Portuguese restaurant Em Alta na Baixa delivers genuinely high-quality food and service. The menu spans local classics and international fare such as duck magret and moqueca, a Brazilian fish stew made with coconut milk. Take a seat outdoors and sip a cocktail, or enjoy the elegant indoor space on chillier days.
Open since the 1700s, this café under the arches overlooking Praça do Comércio is thought to be the oldest in the city and was a favorite of archetypal Lisbon poet Fernando Pessoa. There's a formal dining space inside, with plenty of well-prepared traditional dishes on offer, but the real appeal is sipping a coffee on the flagstones and watching Lisbon life go by. For a quick bite, copy the locals and order a miniprato (a smaller serving of a main, from just €7.50), either at the counter or seated in the café section.
A dressy crowd gathers at this ultramodern dimly lit restaurant specializing in Japanese-Peruvian fusion food. At Nikkei you can sample many varieties of ceviche and sashimi, as well as tiraditos (a sashimi-shaped raw fish dish that blends Peruvian and Japanese culinary traditions).
In a building that was once part of a religious foundation and later a factory, this smart space mixes the traditional and the contemporary; the same can be said about the food, which comprises reinvented Portuguese snacks such as mussels escabeche and slow-stewed moelas (chicken gizzards). Among desserts, the most famous is the Dona cheese tart—ordered by the slice, or whole to take away—and there is a good wine list, too.
The passion project of a French theater director, Palacio do Grilo is an immersive theater experience that also happens to serve good food. The restaurant occupies an 18th-century palace in what was then the far outskirts of Lisbon, built as a palace of dreams for a noble family. In its current incarnation, it leans heavily on the surreal for decoration and for entertainment, with dancers and actors creating new works of performance art every evening. The international menu is well executed, though not the main draw.
Located in a former pizzeria of the same name, Tasca Baldracca serves contemporary takes on Portuguese classics with a heavy accent from the chef's native Brazil. The vibe is youthful and playful—the antithesis of fine dining—with chalkboard menus, heavily graffitied bathrooms, and rock music on the sound system. While the menu doesn't shy away from meats, there's always a fully realized vegetarian dish or two.
