230 Best Restaurants in Lisbon, Portugal

The oldest cervejaria (relaxed dining and drinking spot) in the region has been serving cold beer, rich seafood stews, and delicious shellfish since 1890. The local crowd is a testament to the excellent seafood, and the sunset views over the river to Lisbon are magical.

One of the most fun vegetarian restaurants in town, O Gambuzino lists its ever-changing daily specials on a chalkboard menu but always highlights fresh vegetables and other products from a place called the Fruta Feia ("Ugly Fruit") co-op. You get the sustainability angle, but the pleasure is also there, with a menu full of global influences. Sample dishes include kimchi rice balls, gazpacho served in crunchy puri wheat puffs, and lettuce tacos filled with giant mushrooms that were locally grown in recycled coffee grounds.

A good selection of pastries, a decent brunch menu, great coffee, and friendly service make this French-style café a good choice at the start of your day, whatever time that may be. Brunch is served until 3 pm, and light lunch options are also available.

Chef Kiko has several restaurants in Lisbon, each with its own specialty, but this was his first. O Talho means "The Butcher Shop," and this elegant meat-centric restaurant does double-duty as a working butcher shop.

One of the city's best tascas (traditional no-frills restaurants), O Zé da Mouraria features hearty traditional fare every lunchtime. It's a simple place but the servings are large enough to share, the wine list is decent, and the food is an excellent value.

A highlight among the food trucks in the hipster venue 8 Marvila, Oficina Craft Snackery specializes in "decadent," artisanal smashed-patty burgers. The menu is brief but hits all the bases, ranging from a double beef burger with bacon and cheddar to a portobello burger with red coleslaw and lime sauce. There are chicken and fish options too.

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 south of the river is more than just seafood. If you’re craving Italian, Valdo Gatti serves artisanal wood-fired pizza crafted with Italian and Portuguese ingredients. The dough is left to rise slowly for two days before it reaches your plate.  

Delicious vegan dishes (think mango-and-tofu curry or seitan steak) ensure that there's always a line for a table in this restaurant's extremely colorful dining room or on the pleasant patio next to the botanical gardens. It’s part of a Buddhist center where a small shop stocks books, incense, homeopathic medicines, and other products, and yoga and meditation classes take place upstairs.

This tiny welcoming Italian restaurant serves small plates designed to be shared among friends. There are excellent imported cheeses, sausages, and wines alongside mains and desserts typical of the Sardinia region.

Portugal produces fantastic oysters, and this solar-powered food truck located next to the Discoveries Monument is a top spot to try them. “Oysters on Wheels” brings fresh bivalves from the Sado River, an hour south of Lisbon, to the capital. Pair a couple or a dozen with a glass of Portuguese sparkling wine and enjoy the million-dollar waterfront views.

One of the most eye-catching buildings in Alfama also houses one of its best refined hideaways. The tearoom in this lavish palace-turned-hotel is open to the public, and it's a great place for a spot of tea—the real deal, from Gorreana in Portugal's Azores—or a brunch fit for royalty with cheeses, fruits, eggs, cakes, and house-made marmalades.

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.

Although the name translates as "Bread Bread Cheese Cheese," this bustling place serves much more than these two staples. Expect lines out the door as hungry sightseers and locals line up to take their pick from a huge variety of sandwiches, salads, falafel, and wraps.

This glitzy restaurant is a high-end alternative to the bustling food hall in the Time Out Market downstairs. The menu leans toward fancified versions of Portuguese classics—olive-oil-soaked roasted octopus, grilled cod, and the namesake açorda, Portugal's famous bread-based stew rich in seafood (the luxury version contains lobster) and flavored with garlic and cilantro.

The food at this wood-paneled restaurant is expertly prepared and comes in portions big enough to share. It’s a popular choice in the neighborhood, especially in the summer when they bring out the grilled fish.

Many a Lisboeta would argue that Careca, which has been cooking up pastries since 1954, serves the best sweet croissants in town. Try them for yourself at this simple-but-smart café—best enjoyed outside on the terrace with a coffee or fresh orange juice.

The cakes and pastries in this shop, from the classic pastéis de nata to croissants and Christmas miniatures, are high quality and made fresh daily.

You’ll likely walk past this pastry shop on your way to the castle; step inside to see bakers whipping up a fresh batch of pastéis de nata.

Sharing the building of the Pharmacy Museum, this smart restaurant with a large terrace faces one of the city’s most popular viewpoints and is open throughout the day for meals and drinks—including medicinal-themed cocktails. Chef Susana Felicidade, known as a judge on the Portuguese edition of the MasterChef television show, gives a twist to traditional Portuguese cuisine, featuring dishes from her native Algarve such as gazpacho and carob cake.

Chef Vitor Adão made his name across town at the fine-dining Plano, but at this casual all-day spin-off, you can find the same quality without the commitment of a tasting menu. The plates here are simple Portuguese classics—tempura green beans, octopus rice, and Alentejo black pork—but with top-notch ingredients and technique. Barman Kostiantyn Hutnyk won first place in a bartending competition in his native Ukraine.

This new combination gourmet market and food hall also serves as a laptop-friendly all-day café. Different stalls sell coffee, snacks, cheese, sausages, and various light bites. Across the courtyard, an even newer space, called Refeitório da Praça, serves more elaborate lunches and dinners.

The namesake tarts, queijadas, are super sweet little cheese cakes, but this casual spot can also satisfy a more substantial hunger. For lunch, don't miss the giant grilled tiger prawns, or the grilled sardines when they're in season.