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Newcomers to Lisbon often hit the bars around 9 pm and head home at midnight thinking that the bar scene is rather quiet. In fact, Lisbon bars don't get going until after midnight, clubs even later. On weekends, lively groups spill out of bars and stand shoulder to shoulder in the streets, especially in the lively Bairro Alto and the revamped Cais do Sodré. Many places are rather quiet from Sunday through Wednesday although, in the summer high season, bars fill every night of the week with holidaymakers who don't need to rise early the next day.
Some dance clubs charge a cover of €15 (more on weekends), which includes one drink; if you come early you may get in free. Clubs are open from about 10 or 11 pm (but only start filling up well after midnight) until 4 or 5 am; a few stay open until 8 am. Be aware that some unscrupulous door staff will try to overcharge out-of-towners; if the price seems way over the odds, walk away.
For a less boisterous evening out, visit a café-bar or a casa de fado, where professional or amateur performers sing the city’s world-renowned, beautifully mournful style of music.
Lisbon has a well-established gay and lesbian scene, concentrated primarily in and around the Bairro Alto and the neighboring Príncipe Real area, on the way to Rato.
You may come for a glass of wine (sourced from small producers), but it’s the music and the food that will make you stay. Dishes feature everything from fresh oysters to slow-cooked pork cheek and even some vegetarian alternatives (the roasted butternut squash is to die for).
There's nothing between you and the view where this vintage wine tricycle has a pitch in the gardens of the Torre de Belém. It peddles Portuguese wines of every style and hue, which can be sipped from reusable plastic wine glasses while sightseeing.
Stepping into this bar is like entering a wine cellar; hundreds of bottles cover the stone-arch interior. It's owned by Portugal's largest producer, Sogrape, and serves as a showcase for its wines from across the country (and from its estates in New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, and Spain). To accompany your wine, order some ham from acorn-fed Iberian black pigs, salmon ceviche, or beef carpaccio or something more substantial such as slow-cooked veal cheeks.
As the name implies, this is a pretty straightforward wine bar—a wide array of Portuguese vintages are complemented with local cheese, charcuterie, and even main dishes. But you don't come here for the cod; you come for a glass of a unique varietal you've never tried in a cozy room whose walls are covered with shelves of wine bottles.
There are just a handful of barstools and tables at this quaint colorful wine bar, where bottles and jugs line the walls of what used to be a traditional drugstore. The menu includes a number of notable Portuguese wines, many of which are available by the glass, plus cheese and charcuterie boards.
Both the indoor, heavily pink sitting area and the terrace outside at O Pif offer guests the chance to sip natural wines from small Portuguese producers. It also offers simple Portuguese snacks like black pork chorizo and fresh cheese.
This barely marked hole-in-the-wall looks more like a Portuguese grandma's kitchen than a typical restaurant, with copper pots hanging on the walls and tableware stored in a vintage china cabinet. There's a good selection of Portuguese wine and craft beers, and the tapas-style snacks are just as traditional: shrimp with garlic, sardines, and cod with chickpeas.
The name says it all: this space used to be a pharmacy, and you’d just need to take a peek inside to know that. The medicine cabinets are still there, although they now display strikingly backlit bottles of wine. All the wines on offer are from Portugal and can be poured by the glass, to be accompanied by cheese and meat platters. Other choices change daily, to be enjoyed at the barrel tables.
Peru's national drink is the star at one of the area's less touristy bars, hidden round the side of Rossio train station. Drinkers can choose cocktails from a range that doesn't begin and end with the pisco sour. Snacks are available and, Thursday through Sunday, ceviche and other dishes, plus well-priced set menus.
Unlike most other wine bars in town, this one is open from midday. It has inviting outdoor seating and a tastefully designed interior that tells the story of Sandeman, one of the best-known port wine labels. Naturally, it was founded in the city of Porto in 1790; it opened this outlet in the capital in 2016. Since then it has been offering all of its different types of wine—plus port wine cocktails—along with desserts and a couple of food options.
