The Best Local Restaurants in Lisbon

Amazing carvejaria!I have visited Ramiro twice and it is one of my favourite restaurants in Lisbon. The ingredients are excellent. Must visit when in Lisbon!

I had the absolute pleasure of visiting 1 star restaurant, Feitoria, in Bélem, where beautiful and locally sourced products meets the talent and skills of the team. The meal was absolutely faultless, with an excellent selection of Portuguese wine. This deserved a better Michelin rating - it should have been at least 2 stars!

Old school is the best!Great restaurant. Old school Portuguese restaurant serving traditional fish and meat. Would recommend sitting at the bar, if space. Table side service is professional and seems like the waiters have worked here for 100 years.

A nice and simple taberna, by Chef André Magalhães, super casual, with really incredible food.One of my favourite places in Lisbon. Taberna da Rua das Flores is a nice and simple taberna, owned by Chef André Magalhães. It’s super casual, with really incredible food and offers a nice, typical Lisboan experience. They do lunch too but I would go at night. No bookings - you just sign up at the door and go for a walk or a drink while waiting. The area is cool as well so worth walking down the street and see some other places and bars.

This place is entirely dedicated to the pig and all - and I mean all - of its pieces.This place is entirely dedicated to the pig and all - and I mean all - of its pieces. Ultra tasty pig steak sandwich (or “Bifanas”, as we call it) and other seasonal specials that can go from pork chops to offal very quickly. Great mostly natural wine list, too.

A (great) local restaurant disguised as a TabernaTalented Chef Leopoldo Calhau, from Alentejo, recreated the feeling of a genuine taberna in the Mouraria neighbourhood. A menu hand-written on a chalkboard on the floor welcomes guests with a dozen original dishes reflecting his extroverted personality, preferences and family origins (from Southern Alentejo region). A trained architect turned chef, who enjoys bringing back many traditional recipes from his childhood with an occasional twist of his own. The plating is always down to earth and unpretentious.The menu changes regularly but “Hake, egg and coriander” is one of my favorites, but there’s so much more, like the “Hare and beans", “Cod and chickpeas”, “Asparagus ‘migas’ (traditional bread dish from Alentejo)” and the “Joana’s walnut pudding”.I love the bustling, lively ambiance, the ingenious but straightforward dishes and the magnetic personality of the chef Leopoldo Calhau with his flair for hospitality.

Mix of Spanish and Portuguese tapas restaurant at the heart of Bairro Alto. All the tapas were amazing, incredible service and good wine!For dessert I recommend the chocolate mousse with olive oil caviar.

The perfect Portuguese restaurantIt’s small, packed, and affordable. Get the daily special, what ever it is, and take your time and enjoy a long lunch over lots of wine, which is almost as inexpensive as water. Make a reservation, or show up a few minutes before they open to ensure a table.

An “asador” style restaurant in Lisbon. All food served is cooked on the fire, including the coffee and the cocktails.If you love fire, wood and charcoal this is your place!

O Frade is a tiny, intimate restaurant with a U-shaped counter bar serving traditional comfort food from the Alentejo region with a modern twist. The restaurant opened just before the pandemic broke out by two cousins, and they achieved Bib Gourmand status shortly thereafter. The food is simple and hearty, and the passion shines through in each plate. A perfect spot for a meal with friends, or a solo dinner.

ALMA,Our turn to enter the world of chef Henrique Sá Pessoa in his two star Michelin restaurant Alma!What I loved about this place is that – despite its star status – the warm and traditional Portuguese feel has not been lost! Warm wooden tones, walls filled with bottles of wine and a fantastic team that created the best of hospitality…A series of snacks and amuses led the way of what would be an extraordinary evening starting with a tempura strip of red bell pepper coated in burnt leek powder and a red bell pepper dip, inspired by the traditional tempura green bean dish, peixinhos da horta! A beautiful dashi broth with cured fish and a fresh acidic ‘gazpacho’ rounded off these fine starters.One of the best dishes was soft and sweet glazed baby carrots served with sharp goat cheese, apricot, dried fruit, bulgar rice and cumin oil. The fact they serve a ‘simple’ dish in a star-studded restaurant like this explains the feeling I had with this restaurant! Elevating classic dishes to a true masterpiece of taste…Another example was the foie gras course which was an incredibly generous portion with apple, granola, coffee and beetroot. This was another unique mix of flavors and unlike any foie gras dish, I’ve been served before. A classic reinvented and one of the best foie dishes I have ever tasted… A perfect creation of Cod and lamb followed before another signature dish arrived, the suckling pig…. The way this suckling pig was created, really soft with an intense black pepper jus and the crispy crust was a showcase of artisanship in its purest form. A new dessert of sea flavors and citrus 2.0 was one of the best desserts I have ever had. A dessert that tastes of fresh nuances of the sea paired with the acidity of citrus was very atypical but totally amazing. All this showcases that Henrique Sá Pessoa is a man of great culinary talent. I love the way he takes traditional dishes and invents something really unique around them! The team conducts a close and personal approach which enhances the experience at Alma.

Tradicional Portuguese food with good quality products. A little hidden gem, not central and with locals only. Caras de bacalhau ( head of cod) poached in olive oil are a must here.Iscas ( porc liver)Rabo de boi ( ox tail) And some other classics are very good, super friendly and cozy hospitality, this a restaurant that is not in the touristic guides, only for locals. Not a central location so it’s kind of a destinationSometimes we can also find some African dishes ( Angola). Full flavours and true Portuguese cooking

A friendly, very simple place where you’re always welcomed with a smile, music and a frosty beer.Tucked away behind a small door in one of Lisbon’s oldest neighborhoods, Alfama, lives Taberna do Sal Grosso. It was probably one of the first spots in the city to present affordable, more contemporary takes on Portuguese traditional recipes and ingredients. It’s a joyful spot, great for gatherings, with an always changing menu that can feature some dishes like crispy and smoky pork belly with watercress, oranges and almonds; a delicious tuna“pica-Pau”, which is basically a mix of seared cubes of fresh tuna with garlic, pickled onions and an umami bomb of a sauce. It’s a great window into what contemporary Lisbon is: a friendly, very simple place where you’re always welcomed with a smile, music and a frosty beer.

Traditional tasca with a young kitchen team. Book early or queue. I love the little tabernas and tascas in Lisbon. O Velho Eurico is a very cool place with this typical Lisbon feel. When Zé Paulo Rocha and his young team took over this old tasca it got a youthful feel. The food is still relating to the past and and they play loud Portuguese music. I've been there a couple of times and I’ve taken friends there too.

Great food and wines, in a creative contemporary Portuguese cooking. Chef João Sá has is very own approach Tasting menu and pairing or let yourself in the chef's handsReally good local wine selection focused on Lisbon’s reagion.

Unique concept in a unique settingThe restaurant Ceia is situated in the magnificent, six-room Santa Clara 1728 Hotel in Lisbon. Chef Diogo Cateano's menu is inspired by the sea and the Portuguese landscape, and it is served at one large table where all fourteen diners sit together. The ingredients are of the highest quality and the cooking is creative, delicate, and delicious. The wine pairings were also great. It was a lot of fun as well as a unique concept in a unique setting.

Marlene Vieira is the only Portuguese woman chef competing for the podium at fine dining experiences in Portugal. It can be troublesome to be a strong woman in a conservative industry like the food one, especially in an old-fashioned and misogynist country such as Portugal. However, as the Portuguese say, "a woman from the north" is born with extra strength and the ability to fight. Marlene Vieira has that muscle, and earlier this year opened a gastronomic restaurant aiming for a Michelin Star. Marlene, – the restaurant's name is exactly like this, with a coma – is an elegant stage for this chef's work. At the centre of the restaurant, the ethereal kitchen illuminates like a holy altar, leaving the rest of the space in half-light. One can choose from two different tasting menus representing the story of her life and her experiences, but above all, challenging the status quo that other fine dining restaurants have been following. She does not approach produce and recipes with the well-behaved vibe most haute cuisine restaurants in Portugal do. Crawling between dishes, one can see she is knowledgeable, down-to-earth, ballsy, and above all things, connected to her roots. At the beginning of her path in this new project, I tasted a Goose Barnacles Tart with Codium and Planetree, a very polished snack. A comforting Spring dish made with Broad Beans, Morilles, and Sheep Butter, and a disruptive meat dish: Fatty Milky Lamb cooked on Live Coal and served with its Sweetbreads, Roasted Onions Purée, and Pickled Chard. Marlene Vieira is a pillar and an example for young women cooks out there, but one can not ignore she is not only standing next to the big boys but has overcome most of them.

A modern tavern that highlights Portuguese traditional recipes with good taste and exquisite décor.In the past few years, Lisbon saw several new modern taverns revolutionising how customers look at traditional Portuguese food. Most places keep a rustic vibe, using subtle techniques to enhance flavours on typical dishes, young staff, the music is fun, and smart communication.Cacué is one of those children of the revolution, opened by José Saudade e Silva, a young cook. Saudade's last name is a non-intentional statement, with "saudade" being the Portuguese word for missing something or someone that does not translate in any language in the world. Cacué is located in a local and busy area, away from evident and touristic neighbourhoods. Here you will find executive people having a quick lunch, friends meeting, and offspring taking their parents for dinner. Cacué kept the typical Lisbon basalt sidewalks, and painted the tables in bright vynil red, adding some 70's lightning. On the walls, an old black and white picture shows Ricardo Chibanga, the first black bullfighter from Mozambique – a former Portuguese colony –, that took the world by storm. José Saudade does not print any twists on typical recipes, just some good presentation. Local favourites are Bacalhau à Brás (a comforting codfish dish, with scrambled eggs, onions and fries, Cabidela (chicken blood rice with vinegar), Filetes de Peixe Galo com Açorda (John Dory deep fried fillets with bread porridge). Make sure not to miss a few savoury pastries, such as the Cockles Rissole or Pastel de Massa Tenra (yummy meat deep-fried pastry).

The Taberna is a very nice place to find local delicious food Traditional Portuguese cuisine with various proposals (fish, snacks, salads, grilled dishes) presented in the form of small dishes to share, all very tasty, delicious and satisfying.

This tiny hole-in-a-wall serves some of the most delicious “bifanas” in the city.There are many restaurants that have bigger walk-in refrigerators than As Bifanas do Afonso’s spot in downtown Lisbon. This tiny hole-in-a-wall serves some of the most delicious “bifanas” in the city. For those that might not be familiar with it, a “bifana” is a pork steak sandwich where the meat is thinly sliced and submerged in a special secret sauce (each house has their own mix) filled with garlic, paprika, white wine and bay leaves. This indulgent slab of meat is then wrapped in a light and crispy roll - and don’t forget to add some cheap mustard and chili oil. It’s the perfect hangover food and Afonso really knows how making them. If you want a more substantial meal, besides just the “bifana”, ask for a homemade soup (they change basically everyday) or samosa.

The best seafood restaurant for the moneyOur friends who have eaten here told us to be sure and book a table here because they had the best seafood. Of course we tourists all want to go to Ramiro because it’s nicer and also recommended highly by the Somebody Feed Phil show in Netflix. They’re both great but this one, although is less fancy, but is half the cost and is just as delicious if not better. And the 8 of us could be as loud as we wanted and they were super friendly. That was the last meal for our trip before heading back home, so we took a bite on which one was our fave restaurant and this one won the most votes. Enough said!

Grilled piri-piri chicken & fries. A secret comfort food destination with classic artworks & old aprons.There’s something about grilled piri-piri chicken and fries, with “esparregado” (a dense purée of turnip greens) on the side, that allures many of us. This simple place, despite its white tablecloths, reproductions of classic artworks hanging from its wooden walls and waiters in old aprons and ties, is one of my secret comfort food destinations. The piri piri is optional, but I don’t dismiss it. And there’s more than chicken but chicken is the thing.