Where to Eat and Drink in Porto According to a Local
Bem-vindos a Porto! Welcome to Porto, where you will eat like kings and queens!
Porto, my home, is Portugal’s second city and, until recently, was seriously overlooked by most tourists. It’s only in the last two decades that visitors have started to flock here. But it’s not just tourists coming - as Lisbon has become increasingly expensive to live in, many Portuguese people have started looking for alternatives.
Porto, with her lovely historic core, good climate, easy access to nature, and comparatively reasonable prices, has become a very attractive option. And while the city’s food has always been excellent, this recent boom has also rubbed off on the food scene here, making it even better and more creative.
In this guide to eating in Porto, I’ve tried to share a mix of my favorite local spots serving typical and traditional food along with some great places serving inventive international food. To help with organizing, I’ve broken it down by neighborhood.
For those wondering what to eat while here and unsure of meal times and tipping at restaurants, at the bottom of the article I’ve included a little how-to guide that covers everything you need to know for dining in Porto!
Read on to discover where, and what, to eat in fabulous Porto. Bom apetite!
More Portugal travel info:
For more info on Porto, check out our Porto city guide and this comprehensive guide on where to stay in Porto.
If you want to eat your way through Porto, join me on a city center food tour.
Table of Contents
Porto’s best local restaurants
Restaurants and bars in Clérigos
Restaurants and bars in the Cathedral/Sé area
Restaurants and bars in Aliados & Bolhão
Restaurants and bars in Ribeira
Introduction to dining in Porto
Typical dishes of Porto
Meal times in Porto and Portugal
Tipping at restaurants
Local help with your planning
If you could use some help coming up with a great plan for your visit to Porto (and Portugal more broadly), schedule a Portugal travel consultation one of our Local Experts!
These are one-hour Zoom calls where you’ll get to chat with a Portugal-based travel pro about the trip you’re planning and they’ll share their tips and advice, answer your travel questions, and help you perfect your itinerary.
Great local restaurants in Porto
Let’s take a look at some of my favorite restaurants and bars in Porto!
To make it easier to build these establishments into your sightseeing plan, I’ve grouped my recommendations by neighborhood. All of these are central neighborhoods that you’ll certainly end up in during your time in Porto, so you won’t need to go out of your way to visit any of these great eateries and watering holes.
Enjoy!
If you want to try some of Porto’s best treats while also seeing the city and learning lots about its history, join me on my private City Center Walking Food Tour!
Restaurants and Bars in Clerigos
1. Casa Expresso
I am a local and my first choice is always Casa Expresso whenever I think about eating in this area. They continue to serve local traditional foods that almost all other restaurants have forgotten about. Not everything will be to your liking, but this is guaranteed to be an authentic experience. Only for the brave!
2. Caçula
On a day when I want to go for a safe treat (less adventurous), right nearby to Casa Expresso is the excellent and very well-priced Caçula. They have very fresh food, nice salads, and an interesting adaptation of our traditional foods with a modern twist.
3. Papagaio
Going all the way back to my student times, the simple, half-hidden restaurant Papagaio is always a nice choice. While the food is not especially unique, it is always good and almost all the clients are Portuguese. This is somewhere that we love to keep coming back to throughout the years for group dinners with friends and family.
4. HD, Vermuteria, Galeria de Paris
If you’re looking for somewhere to have a drink (or two or three!), HD is a great Rock music bar, Galeria de Paris is a more low-key speakeasy-style joint, and the Vermuteria is a great gastrobar.
5. Aduela
On a nice evening, Aduela and its breezy outdoor bar is another great choice. Just to the side of a local theater, the atmosphere is casual and the conversation is always free-flowing. This is a great place to meet new people.
There are tons more options in this area, so just pick a place to start and then follow the crowds from there!
For a detailed guide to the Clerigos neighborhood, read more in my Porto neighborhood guide.
Restaurants and Bars in the Cathedral area
6. Casa Detinha
If you want to contribute to the hyperlocal community, stop at Casa Detinha. This is a small “hole in the wall” café that still has the “money boxes” for the neighbors in the area. What’s a money box you ask? Here’s how it works: you go for a coffee and rather than leaving a tip or keeping your change, you randomly choose one of these boxes and toss your coins in it.
The boxes are then opened twice a year, on June 23rd and December 24th (Saint John’s Day & Christmas eve), and the neighbors to whom each box belongs collect their money. This is a unique experience and one where you get to walk away having done a good thing!
7. Cathedral Café
Another nice option is the Cathedral Café. This is a small place that offers a good selection of drinks, sandwiches, and yogurt parfaits with fresh fruit and granola. The couple running the place are locals, their English is pretty good, and they top it off with a lovely warm smile when attending clients.
Don’t buy a takeaway coffee when you come here. Instead, sit down, take your time and enjoy the ambiance!
8. Porto À Noite
For a full meal I recommend Porto À Noite. You’ll pass this great spot on the way down to Ribeira, and you’ll know you’re there when you see the old-style photos of food. This is nothing stylish or fancy, but it’s good honest Portuguese food at great prices.
9. Wine Box
And if you’re looking for a drink with your meal (because why not?!), the Wine Box is a great little place that you’ll pass by once you reach the riverside after walking down from the cathedral. They have more than 500 different wines and their food pairs excellently with them.
The food here is more “international” and less local, but it’s good quality and it’s a nice relaxed place to eat. The Wine Box is pretty well known both to locals and tourists, so you’ll likely see many other international visitors here.
With this addition, I’m adding to the long list of “touristy” places that you could find on your own on Trip Advisor, but the Wine Box is known for one reason: because it’s good. Sometimes places become touristy because they’re worth going to!
Spend a half-day wandering Porto's maze of twisting alleys while also trying all the city's best local treats with our favorite guide, Leonor!
Restaurants and Bars in Aliados & Bolhão
10. Guarany
Having tea and sweets at Guarany, one of the few remaining old-style cafés, can be a real treat. The food is good and the service is old-world and refined.
11. Restaurante Costume Bistrô
Hiding down one of the neighborhood’s unremarkable alley is this true gem: Restaurante Costume Bistrô restaurant at Rua dos Congregados. The interior of the restaurant is stunning and you will surely expect crazy high prices when you see it.
However, the prices are actually extremely reasonable, and this is where I go when I want to pamper myself without having to sell a kidney. The food is excellent, the ambiance is wonderful, and the staff are very pleasant.
12. Bella Roma
The Bella Roma café is my go-to place for a quick meal. It’s also paradise if you have a sweet tooth. This is a distinctly local spot, so it’s a great place for people watching and seeing what locals eat.
13. Tapabento
For a restaurant that you’ll go to once and then want to go to for every meal for the rest of your trip, check out Tapabento. This is a really popular spot and it’s quite difficult to get a reservation. Isabel, the manager, treats the restaurant like it’s her baby, and her extreme level of care is evident from the dining experience.
The food is to die for and the staff are excellent. The only downside to eating here is that you’ll eventually have to leave! This will be an expensive meal, but if you can afford it, it’s worth it.
Restaurants and Bars in Ribeira
The Ribeira has the most dining options of anywhere in Porto. There are some very good choices as well as many total tourist traps. Here are some of my favorites:
14. Terra Nova
Terra Nova, takes local products and recipes and mixes them with foreign flavors to create an international presentation and evolution of local gastronomy.
15. Postigo do Carvão
No Ribeira restaurant list would be complete without this gem. Uninterested in new trends, the kitchen at Postigo do Carvão stays loyal to traditional Portuguese cuisine. Traditional does not mean boring though, as the food here is excellent.
They have the best Arroz de Marisco, seafood rice, in the area, and their meat dishes are delicious and sourced from local suppliers. The best part, in my opinion, is that it is still the owners’ mother who makes most of the desserts (I love sweets and these are to die for!).
A true family business, this is one of very few places in the city where so much is kept in-house and in-family. If you’re in Porto, go here if you can.
15. Taberna dos Mercadores
I also enjoy going for a light meal at Taberna dos Mercadores. Here, you can have some excellent drinks with Portuguese-style tapas. And if you’re in a group, they have a “hidden” room on the first floor, which is great for small groups of friends or families.
16. Café do Cais
For drinks, the best place to go is Café do Cais. They’ve got a great deck which is the perfect place to sit and have a drink on a nice day/evening. Their food is also very good, but in general, the prices here a bit higher than you’ll find elsewhere. It’s worth it considering the quality and the location, so just be prepared to pay a little more.
17. Hotel Pestana
The bar at Hotel Pestana does great cocktails and they have a nice intimate terrace right on the main square.
18. Ponte Pensil
For music and a relaxed and fun atmosphere, check out the Ponte Pensil bar. True to its name, the bar is right at the foot of the bridge, and it can be difficult to find because it’s tucked away out of sight. It’s always a good choice for a fun time though.
Beyond those options, the Ribeira is full of great places to get a beer, so just walk down any street that strikes your fancy, pick a spot that looks good, and go grab a drink.
19. Port wine cellars
And while this is not technically in the Ribeira neighborhood, if you cross the river, you’ll find tons of Port wine cellars. Everyone should try Port while they’re here, and many of the cellars have a visitors center and are happy to take tourists around, explain Port wine, and finish the visit with a sampling of a few glasses!
To learn more about what to do in the gorgeous Ribeira area, have a look at my Porto neighborhood guide.
Introduction to dining in Porto
If you’re not quite sure what to expect from Portuguese food, start by knowing that our cuisine is a rich blend of local flavors mixed with global ingredients.
As a seafaring nation, the bounty of the sea is predominant in our food, so you’ll always see lots of fish, shellfish, and all manner of seafood, especially in soups and stews; sopas and cozidos. And as a former colonial power, we’ve adopted many ingredients from the cuisines of ex colonies and nations with which we traded.
When compared with neighboring Spain or other southern European countries whose cuisine you may be more familiar with, Portuguese food typically has a more robust flavor profile, with a heavier use of spices and herbs.
Some of the most common herbs and spices that you’ll find here are Piri-piri (a type of chili pepper), bay leaves (for flavoring stews and dishes such as cozido), coriander, paprika, cumin, thyme, and sage. We’re definitely not afraid of seasonings, so expect some strong flavors!
In addition to the above spices, some of the most essential ingredients found in almost every Portuguese dish are olive oil, garlic, and onions - all used in abundance. We also emphasize local and seasonal ingredients, a few staples of which are potatoes, beans, and other vegetables.
Foods to try in Porto
Francesinha
No list of Porto food would be complete without mentioning the mighty Francesinha. This sandwich is food for champions; created to feed men with a hard workday ahead of them. Ready for it?
Two slices of bread are loaded up with quality beef steak, smoked ham, chorizo, fresh sausage, and sliced ham. It is all then topped with cheese and drizzled with a wonderful, slightly spicy sauce. Did I mention a fried egg on top? And french fries on the side? It is a boost!
Tripas à moda do Porto
A stew made with tripe, other entrails, beans, and a variety of spices, you’ll also often see it on menus as dobrada à moda do Porto. Served with good bread and rice, this is a traditional dish of Porto and considered a symbol of the city's working-class heritage. It’s a perfect meal for a Sunday family gathering with everyone serving themselves from the panelão - a big communal pot.
Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá
When you think of food in Portugal, the mighty codfish is probably the first thing that comes to mind! Bacalhau - whether dried and salted or fresh - is a staple ingredient in all Portuguese cuisine and it’s of course a popular dish in Porto.
This specific dish, named after one of Porto’s native sons, José Luís Gomes de Sá, takes thinly sliced cod, softens it up in milk, and then pops it in the oven to bake with garlic and olive oil. It’s then garnished with olives, boiled egg, and sometimes potatoes.
Rojões
To be really specific, rojões are a typical dish of Minho, a province a bit north of Porto. But they’re also very common to the city. The dish is composed of pork chunks, blood sausage (chouriças de sangue - like Spanish morcilla), and lightly breaded intestine. Unusual? Yes. But also delicious! It’s usually served with rice and potatoes.
Alheira
Sausages, particularly smoked ones, are very common in the North of Portugal, Porto included. This smoked sausage is made of various ground meats, typically with chicken predominant, bread, olive oil, paprika, and other spices. A traditional serving would be with white rice, a fried egg, and maybe french fries. A healthy meal it is not, but hey - you’re on vacation!
Molette
The iconic bread of Porto. While the story behind the Francophone name is debatable, what’s not is that this famous loaf is beloved by Portuenses of every class. However you take it; straight, toasted, with butter, or with geleia (jam), you’ll find this bread at just about any padaria (bakery) in the city.
Sardinhas grelhadas
Grilled sardines, always popular in Porto during the summer months, are usually accompanied by boiled potatoes, rice, and salad. Wash them down with a cold beer!
Favas com coentro
Generally available as a side dish or appetizer, this simple dish, just broad beans with coriander (cilantro), is better than it sounds.
Arroz de tamboril
Monkifsh, vegetables, and rice seasoned with a wonderful blend of spices and then stewed together in a fish broth. In terms of consistency, it’s usually somewhere between a stew and a risotto. Available throughout Portugal, but particularly delicious in Porto!
Cozido
Cozido means stew and you’ll find countless types all across the country. Each region has their own style and some prefer slow cooked meats, potatoes, and vegetables while others favor seafood. One thing to know is that cozidos in Portugal are not as soupy as North American stews.
Port wine
A fortified wine produced in the Douro region and one of Porto's most famous exports.
Hit the must-see sights while also getting way off the beaten path on a walking tour with lifelong resident and local guide Leonor!
Meal times in Portugal
In Porto, as in the rest of Portugal, meal times are a bit different than in North America. While breakfast and lunch are at fairly similar times, dinner is considerably later. Lunch also doesn’t really start until about 1:00 pm.
The difference is not as stark as with Spain though, where you could sit down for dinner at 11:00 pm and no one would even bat an eye! Also bear in mind that lunch is the main meal here and dinners are comparatively light.
Breakfast (pequeno-almoço)
Breakfast in Portugal is usually eaten between 7:00 am and 9:00 am, and is a light meal consisting of coffee or tea along with some breads or pastries. Hotels may have more robust and interesting offerings for you, but breakfast is simply not a big meal in Portugal.
Lunch (almoço)
Come to lunch hungry because this is the main meal of the day in Portugal. On weekends and holidays in particular, families and friends come together for a large and leisurely lunch that can last hours. On these days, lunch is a social occasion in addition to a meal.
In Portugal, lunch is eaten between 12:00 pm and 3:00 pm, and a traditional lunch will often have a soup to start, followed by a main dish of meat or fish served with vegetables, and a dessert to round out the meal.
Of course, everyone doesn’t always have time to sit down for a long meal, so there are also plenty of restaurants serving sandwiches, quick bites, and take-away dishes.
Dinner (jantar)
Dinner in Portugal is a bit later than most North Americans are used to, but not excessively so: we typically sit down for our final meal of the day between 7:00 and 10:00 pm. If eating out, be prepared for restaurants not to open until 7:00 pm.
The food at dinner is similar to what you’ll find at lunch time, but usually lighter and in smaller portions. It’s common to have a salad or soup, a main dish (again, fish or meat), and a nice dessert.
Tipping at Restaurants in Portugal
While tipping at restaurants is not mandatory in Portugal, it is common even among Portuguese to leave a tip when you’ve received good service. There’s no set percentage that’s expected, but around 10% is usually appropriate. Restaurant staff are among the lowest paid workers in Portugal, so tips are always very much appreciated.
At very informal, quick-service restaurants, as well as bars and cafes, a tip is not necessary - although it’s certainly still welcome and appreciated. If you order a coffee, for example, you can leave your change or a few coins if you’d like to.
At more upscale restaurants, a 10% tip is appropriate (and somewhat expected), but be sure to check whether the restaurant has already added the serviço - service charge (automatic gratuity) - to your bill. If it has, there’s no need to add an additional tip.
Food tours in Porto
For two great culinary experiences in the city, go on a private food tour or cooking class with local guide Leonor.
The food tour is a hybrid foodie-walking tour of the city center where you’ll get to see many of the city’s highlight locations and prettiest neighborhoods while also stopping all along the way at local food institutions where you’ll get to try some of Porto’s most typical treats. Your guide, Leonor, is a lifelong Porto resident so you’ll get an authentic introduction to the city’s cuisine and gastronomic traditions.
The cooking class is a totally different experience where you’ll start off at a local market learning about typical Portuguese food products and recipes (and shop for them!) before heading over to a local restaurant where you’ll get to prepare a couple of dishes while chatting with a local chef, trying lots of snacks, and having a few drinks as well.
Private guided tours with Leonor
