2 Best Restaurants in São Miguel, The Azores

This charming all-day café-restaurant-cocktail bar dates from 1904, when it sold products imported from Paris; today its glass cases are piled high with Azorean creations from tea sets to hats to jewelry, most available for purchase. Stop by for a healthy breakfast, small plates of local cuisine with a contemporary twist for lunch or dinner, or just to take a break with some local tea or an inventive cocktail or two—and don’t bother trying to resist the house-made desserts calling your name from the countertop.

An authentic yet welcoming locals' favorite—and Ponta Delgada’s oldest restaurant—serves up a handful of simple and well-prepared dishes along with rotating daily specials in a bare-bones space. The communal tables at this old-school eatery encourage friendly chats with your neighbors as you dine on fried dishes like sardines, horse mackerel, and moray eel, all washed down with house-made Concord grape wine or moonshine.