23 Great Restaurants in Lisbon (Selected by Locals)

After living in Portugal since 2019 and eating at hundreds of Lisbon restaurants, we’re sharing our current favorites. From cheap eats to fine dining, these are our picks for the best restaurants in Lisbon right now.

We’ve lived in Lisbon for seven years. From a food perspective, it’s been an exciting ride with more curves than the 28 tram line.

When we arrived in 2019, Lisbon was filled with casual restaurants called tascas that served the same traditional food all over town. Prices were cheap and locals ate out a lot. Back then, we often complained about the dearth of mid-priced, modern restaurants with intimate dining rooms.

Times have changed and the city is now bursting at the seams with new restaurants. This is especially the case in dense neighborhoods like Chiado and Príncipe Real where each walk reveals newly opened restaurants around every corner. And, unlike the past, they’re not all cookie-cutter tascas.

Lisbon’s dining scene is more exciting than ever.

While many of the city’s restaurants are still cheap and cheerful, more than a few skew cool and trendy. Some are family-friendly while others are upscale dining destinations. And, for better and worse, many serve ramen, smash burgers and pizza to the masses.

We’re most excited by new casual-yet-modern restaurants that pair Portuguese culinary tradition with world-class chef skills, especially those with young chefs who use local ingredients to create new spins on classic Portuguese dishes. Based on the crowds that fill this new breed of Lisbon restaurants, we’re not alone.

Top Lisbon Restaurants Right Now

After seven-plus years of on-the-ground and in-the-mouth restaurant research in Lisbon, these are our picks for the city’s top restaurants:

1. Canalha – Chef-Driven Restaurant in Belem

Located on the edge of Belém and helmed by acclaimed Chef João Rodrigues, Canalha appears to be an old-school neighborhood eatery at first glance. A closer look reveals a modern chef-driven restaurant that excels at serving new interpretations of classic Portuguese dishes.

Open since 2023, Canalha does many things well at the same time. It’s a petiscaria that serves a compact menu of small plates and enchidos, a tasca with two pratos do dia (daily specials) on weekday afternoons, a marisqueira with an interesting range of Portuguese seafood and a steakhouse with a small but premium selection of cooked meats.

Our favorite dishes include arroz de pato (duck rice), beef carpaccio and presa de porco (Iberian black pork). However, you can’t go wrong by ordering a tortilha aberta de camarão e cebola (open-faced tortilla with shrimp and crispy onion) or polvo com molho XO (octopus with XO sauce). Better yet, go with friends and order them all.

Since advance reservations are absolutely necessary and come with a time limit, you’ll want to plan your visit wisely. Consider yourself warned.

Dig deeper with our Canalha review.

Canalha is located at Rua da Junqueira 207, 1300-338 Lisboa, Portugal. It currently has Bib Gourmand status in the Michelin Guide.

On most days, when you walk up the hill that leads to Mouraria, you’ll likely see O Velho Eurico’s entrance overflowing with both diners and those hoping for a table. The casual restaurant, which helped kick off Lisbon’s modern tasca craze when it opened in 2019, is one of Lisbon’s toughest reservations.

The neo-tasca’s rustic atmosphere screams Portugal to both locals and savvy tourists. The same goes for its menu filled with elevated Portuguese dishes plus wine and beer. Written on a blackboard, that menu provides a great introduction to Portuguese food. Dishes typically include classics like Bacalhau à Brás and arroz de pato plus regional dishes like migas d’alheira. They’re all great. However, if you only order one dish (which we don’t recommend), octopus lagareiro is the dish to order. It’s the best version of the octopus dish in the city.

Dig deeper with our O Velho Eurico review.

O Velho Eurico is located at Largo São Cristóvão Nº3, 1100-179 Lisbon, Portugal.

Contrary to popular belief, you can find cozy places to dine in the center of Lisbon if you look in the right places. Hiding in plain sight, some exist in the crook of an arch while others lurk in dark graffitied corners.

You’ll find Discreto in the low fringes of Alfama, adjacent to the river, just a few steps from the Lisbon Cruise Terminal. It’s located directly under an arch, just past a row of restaurants filled with hawkers trying to hook in the blend of German, French, British and American tourists who are just off the nearby cruise ships. The key is to walk past those restaurants through the arch to Discreto, a restaurant just inside the Arco Portas do Mar (Sea Gate Arch).

Discreto’s menu features gussied-up Portuguese dishes like hearty arroz de coelho (rabbit rice) and a fine version of Bacalhau à Brás. It also has fun shareable dishes like grilled leeks with goat cheese. This fare may sound tasca-esque. It is. But Discreto’s intimate space, which belies that humble description, is a great place to enjoy a romantic meal.

Pro Tip
Discreto is a great option if you want to eat like a local near the cruise terminal.

Discreto is located at Arco Portas do Mar 9, 1100-035 Lisboa, Portugal.

Eating at tascas during your visit to Lisbon is a must – they’re essentially working-class restaurants that serve simple food for relatively low prices. Walk along many Lisbon street blocks and you’ll find at least one tasca and sometimes two or three. This is even the case in centrally located, tourist-dominated neighborhoods like Baixa, which is where you’ll find one of our favorites – A Merendinha do Arco Bandeira.

Despite its location or perhaps because of it, A Merendinha do Arco Bandeira doesn’t feel touristic. It has a compact dining room with a dozen or so tables topped with checkered tablecloths, a bar filled with Portuguese pastries and a wall decorated with Luso memorabilia. The kitchen buzzes with action upstairs behind a glass window while a dumbwaiter transports finished dishes down to the dining room.

We refer to A Merendinha do Arco Bandeira endearingly and simply as The Arch. Our go-to dishes include pataniscas de bacalhau (cod fish cakes), porco à alentejana (slow-cooked chunks of pork served over migas), arroz de polvo (octopus rice) and grilled fresh fish like robalo (sea bass), carapaus (mackerel) and linguado (sole). And, as is usually the case at traditional Lisbon tascas, a carafe of wine is cheaper than a mug of beer costs in America.

Pro Tip
Since A Merendinha do Arco Bandeira doesn’t take reservations, arrive a few minutes before the tasca opens to secure a table.

A Merendinha do Arco Bandeira is located at Rua dos Sapateiros 230, 1100-581 Lisboa, Portugal.

We still don’t understand why Belcanto hasn’t won a third Michelin star. Are the Portuguese inspectors that picky? Or is there some technical reason like not enough bathrooms? We’re really not sure since Belcanto is the finest luxury restaurant we’ve eaten at in Lisbon and one of the best we’ve encountered in the world.

What we do know is that José Avillez’s Chiado dining temple offers Portugal’s best products prepared with imagination and precision. From blue lobster to carabineiros (giant red prawns), it’s all on the menu as well as incredible fresh fish and creative versions of traditional dishes like cozido à portuguesa.

Reservations are an absolute must for those who want to dine at Belcanto. A significant bank account is also a must.

Dig deeper with our Belcanto review.

Belcanto is located at Rua Serpa Pinto 10A, 1200-026 Lisboa, Portugal. It currently has two stars in the Michelin Guide.

While this restaurant guide is focused on savory food, we’d be remiss if we didn’t include our favorite Lisbon pastel de nata shop. After all, we’ve yet to meet any travelers who don’t want to eat at least one Portuguese egg tart during their visits. And by one, we mean one per day.

Let’s cut to the chase and confirm that our favorite pastel de nata shop is the world-famous Pastéis de Belém. Not only were Portugal’s most iconic pastries allegedly invented by monks at this pastelaria located next to the Jerónimos Monastery, but Portugal’s signature pastry also tastes just a little bit better here.

We take pleasure in riding the tram to Belém, watching the baking process through a glass window and biting into the crispy shelled, creamy pastries. We’d be lying if we said that we enjoy waiting in Pastéis de Belém’s inevitable queue. However, these sweet gems are worth their weight (pun intended) in gold. Fortunately, the wait (no pun here) never seems to take that long.

Discover more Pastel de Nata shops in Lisbon.

Pastéis de Belém is located at Rua de Belém 84-92, 1300-085 Lisboa, Portugal.

Henrique Sá Pessoa’s Tapisco is unique. Located in Príncipe Real, the upscale restaurant serves elevated dishes from both Portugal and Spain – a combination that’s less common than most visitors expect.

Pessoa, who helms a self-named two Michelin-starred restaurant and has a stall at the Time Out Market, isn’t afraid to serve dishes with ties to Portugal’s neighbor to the east. Case in point – Tapisco’s menu features la bomba de Lisboa – a twist on Barcelona’s famous croquettes stuffed with alheira, a Portuguese filling instead of the expected ground meat and potato filling. In a nod to Spain, these croquettes are topped with aioli and bravas sauce.

Tapisco’s Portuguese dishes are equally special. While you can order Bacalhau à Brás at tascas all over town, Tapisco’s yolky cylinder of codfish and potatoes feels more worthy of a special occasion than a casual meal. Add excellent renditions of Portuguese açorda or Spanish paella negra to your order and you have the makings of a great meal.

Pro Tip
Take a break from wine and sip vermouth during your meal at Tapisco.

Tapisco is located at Rua Dom Pedro V 81, 1250-096 Lisboa, Portugal.

The plates at Solar dos Presuntos (which loosely translates to House of Hams) are simple – no foams, gels or spherifications are to be found here. However, who needs gastronomy when you can order blue lobsters and eat like a Portuguese government minister?

Solar dos Presuntos has brightly lit dining rooms and its walls are covered with photos of Portuguese dignitaries. And, yet, the centrally located restaurant remains super popular with locals. Like us, they love both the restaurant’s old-school vibe as much as they enjoy eating elevated Portuguese dishes influenced by Portugal’s Minho region in the North.

We recommend starting your meal at Solar dos Presuntos with polvo à galega, slices of tender and flavorful octopus and continuing with medallions of porco preto – thin, juicy Portuguese black pork steaks. Those without budget restrictions can and should splurge on marisqueira classics like sapateira (crab), lagosta nacional (spiny lobster), lavagante vivo (live blue lobsters), grilled tiger prawns and oysters.

Pro Tip
Take a stroll down Avenida da Liberdade before or after your meal at Solar do Presuntos.

Solar dos Presuntos is located at Rua das Portas de Santo Antão 150, 1150-269 Lisboa, Portugal.

The excitement of eating at As Bifanas do Afonso begins when you glance through the shop’s window at the top of the hill on Rua da Madalena and see a bubbling cauldron filled with pork. That bubbling pot is a sign – if a bifana stand doesn’t have one, then you probably should go elsewhere for the iconic Lisbon sandwich.

Don’t be surprised when you also see a long queue. Hordes of people line up every day (except Sunday when the bifana stand is closed) to order Lisbon’s signature stewed pork sandwich, or two. The queue leads to a small window where orders are placed. Expect to stand while you quickly eat your bifana since the nearby tables are for an adjacent restaurant.

We typically add both bright yellow mustard and spicy piri piri sauce to our bifanas and eat them on Afonso’s small outside ledge. We like to pair each with an Imperial (small glass of beer) and recommend that you do the same.

Pro Tip
Bring cash since As Bifanas do Afonso doesn’t take credit card payments.

As Bifanas do Afonso is located at Rua da Madalena 146, 1100-340 Lisboa, Portugal.

Is there a restaurant where we don’t order tartare? Probably not. Either way, it’s a good thing we ordered the veal and marrow tartare at Ofício – it’s easily one of the best versions we’ve eaten outside of Paris. Ofício’s tartare is novel and wonderfully executed – marinated in a zippy dressing and topped with thick, pretty crinkle-cut half-moons of marrow. It’s one of many innovative shareable plates on Ofício’s menu.

Beyond that tartare, winning small plates include oysters sourced locally from Setubal, juicy leeks fried tempura-style and flavorful tuna-chipotle mayo lettuce wraps. Sorry Ofício – it insults our American instincts to call them tacos.

Not all plates are small at this pleasant, bright, modern restaurant helmed by talented chef Hugo Candeias. A highlight is the quail vinegar rice. Cooked with chicken blood and topped with petite segments of quail cooked medium-rare, this dish delivers with melty, fatty bites of luscious quail balanced by punchy acidic forkfuls of the vinegary rice.

Pro Tip
Ofício is located on a Lisbon block filled with multiple restaurants including Bairro do Avillez, Gunpowder and Trindade (see below). These three are solid options if you can’t get a table at Ofício.

Ofício is located at Rua Nova da Trindade 11k, 1200-301 Lisboa, Portugal. It currently has Bib Gourmand status in the Michelin Guide.

Prado’s name, which translates to meadow, belies the restaurant’s location in a former fish cannery. Trellised plants in the rear add a lush verdancy to the space while massive windows allow the sun to wash the dining room with natural light during the day. However, nighttime is a great time to experience António Galapito’s take on Portuguese cuisine. This is when couples, as well as groups of friends, convene at the restaurant and order plates that are both creative and shareable.

Some of Prado’s plates live up to the restaurant’s name. They’re composed of farm-to-table ingredients like acorn-fed pork, oyster mushrooms and seasonal fruits. Others feature fruits de mer like cockles, squid, razor clams, octopus and lobster.

Beyond savory food, Prado serves organic wine and desserts that practically demand to be tasted. We dare you to skip mushroom ice cream if it’s on the menu. If you’re culinarily curious, doing so is practically impossible.

Dig deeper with our Prado review.

Prado is located at Travessa Pedras Negras 2, 1100-404 Lisboa, Portugal. It is a selected restaurant in the current Michelin Guide.

Boubou’s is a worthy splurge if you’re looking to celebrate a special occasion or if you want to experience some of Lisbon’s most elegant cuisine. It’s a restaurant with a talented chef who didn’t grow up in Portugal. Louise Bourrat, a Top Chef France winner, spent her early years in Lyon and traveled extensively before landing in Portugal’s capital city. However, unlike most recent arrivals, her mother is Portuguese.

The food at Boubou’s is utterly beautiful – adorned with flowers, artful foams and balanced yet innovative sauce work. Each course, or moment as they’re so often called these days, is visually striking. This is the case whether you order an omnivore or vegetarian tasting menu. Either way, you’ll likely get Bourrat’s signature dish which places small gnocchi-like mounds of sweet potato atop leche de tigre and kaffir as one of your moments.

Bourrat doesn’t accomplish this gastronomy alone. Her brother and sister-in-law, Alexis and Agnes Bourrat, opened Boubou’s in 2018 and Anastasiia Kornilova, an accomplished sommelier, sources exquisite wines from Portugal and beyond. It all adds up to a wonderful dining experience whether you sit at the chef’s counter or eat in the plant-filled dining room. We recommend sitting at the counter if you’re a party of one or two.

Dig deeper with our Boubou’s review.

Boubou’s is located at Rua Monte Olivete 32A, 1200-280 Lisboa, Portugal. The restaurant is a selected restaurant in the currrent Michelin Guide.

You’ll need to take a ferry to the other side of the Tejo if you want to eat at Ponto Final. Doing so is part of the restaurant’s dining experience as well an extra motivation to make the necessary advance reservation. However, for most people, the view is the primary motivation.

“The view is great but how’s the food?” We’ve heard that query from smart travelers who are debating if they want to take a ferry to eat at Ponto Final. Our answer is positive. Is the food cheffy? No. But if you want to enjoy a great view while eating homestyle Portuguese dishes like arroz de tamboril (monkfish rice), then this is the place to go.

Dig deeper with our Ponto Final review.

Ponto Final is located at Rua do Ginjal 72, 2800-285 Almada, Portugal.

Waiting for a table is part of the Cervejaria Ramiro experience – a constant flow of tourists flock to the Intendente marisqueira six nights of the week like clockwork. When you arrive, grab cheap beer in the waiting area and expect to chill for 30 to 90 minutes. It’s worth the wait to eat some of the best seafood in Lisbon.

We challenge you to find better gambas à guilho. The cooks just do it better at Ramiro. In fact, Ramiro’s garlic shrimp is so good that, if you’re on a budget, you could satisfy yourself with an order of shrimp, some clams and the restaurant’s butter-slathered bolo de caco, a style of bread more typically served in Madeira.

If you want to spend a little more, Ramiro’s big-clawed sapateira (crabs) are a party for the table. Those who really want to blow it out can order lobster, percebes (goose barnacles) and canilhas (small conches). Ramiro’s enormous tiger shrimp are big, beautiful and unforgettable while their pricey carabineiro (red prawns) are unique to the Iberian peninsula. On the right day, if you’re lucky, lingueirão (razor clams) may be on the menu too.

Dig deeper with our Cervejaria Ramiro review. This review includes hacks for getting a great table.

Cervejaria Ramiro is located at Avenida Almirante Reis 1 H, 1150-007 Lisboa, Portugal.

Lisbon has more than its fair share of steakhouses. Perhaps their prevalence is related to the city’s large Brazilian population or maybe Portuguese people just like eating grilled hunks of meat. One of the best Lisbon steakhouses is Café de São Bento, a uniquely Portuguese spot located right near the Palácio de São Bento where Portugal’s parliament assembles.

A meal at the original Café de São Bento is one of the city’s quirkier dining experiences. The legendary ‘cafe’ has no outdoor seating and guests have to ring a bell to enter. Designed as a tribute to artist cafes/restaurants that existed at the turn of the 19th-century, Café de São Bento’s clubby decor looks like it’s been around for at least a century even though the restaurant opened in 1982.

The steaks are excellent here. And, for those who order wisely, they’re served on horseback with fried eggs on top.

Dig deeper with our Café de São Bento review.

The original Café De São Bento is located Rua de São Bento 212, 1200-821 Lisboa, Portugal. The restaurant has additional locations in Baixa and Cascais as well as at the Time Out Market.

Ultra-casual, modern dining rooms have sprouted in the Lisbon food scene like weeds. These restaurants offer a chef-driven twist on local cuisine and often serve natural wine to boot. A prime example is Tasca Baldracca, a Mouraria spot notable both for its street art decor and for its trio of young restaurateurs with a shared passion for food.

That food-focused trio serves shareable dishes that might include xerém de pato (duck with grits), a spin on the classic arroz de pato, or bochechas de vitela (veal cheek) with roasted chestnuts. They even pump up the typical Portuguese couvert with excellent sourdough bread and spreadable goat cheese.

Beyond food, Tasca Baldracca serves unique wines sourced from Portuguese producers. Check the restaurant’s Instagram account for details about hours and reservations. Also, prepare yourself for a noisy dining experience – this restaurant goes from loud to louder as the evening progresses.

Dig deeper with our Tasca Baldracca review.

Tasca Baldracca is located at Rua das Farinhas 1, 1100-177 Lisboa, Portugal.

Omakase Ri is a tough reservation to score. The restaurant, located in a subterranean Estrela space decorated with twisting neon lights and funky, fish-inspired street art, seats just 10 people. And while its communal dining experience is fun, eating here is all about the 15-course sushi menu which changes daily.

Each course showcases flavorful pieces of fish, from silky yellowtail to popping salmon eggs to multiple cuts of exquisite tuna, that Chef Will Vargas places on the counter. Vargas, a Brazilian-born chef, specializes in Edomae sushi. Using an ancient process that traces its roots to 19th century Tokyo, he ages fish, sometimes in soy sauce and sometimes in special vinegars, to create distinct flavors. He also uses premium ingredients like the totally toothsome rice that he sources from Japan.

While Omakase Ri’s fixed price is expensive by Portuguese standards, it’s an international bargain compared to comparable meals in other global cities. Also worth noting – the sake program, curated by Gabriela Hatano, is strong.

Pro Tip
You can order a glass or two of sake during your dinner if you don’t feel like splurging on a sake pairing.

Omakase Ri is located at Rua Garcia de Orta 71c, 1200-678 Lisboa, Portugal. It is a selected restaurant in the currrent Michelin Guide.

We’ve eaten a number of burgers across town and, by our highfalutin American standards, we consider Dallas Burger Joint to be the best. In fact, when we first ate at Dallas’ original Cais do Sodre location near Pink Street, we were almost shocked at how good our burgers tasted. To be clear, this is NOT yet another smash-patty burger joint. Dallas’ burgers are thick and juicy – made by people who understand the pure fatty joy of burger eating. 

Dallas touts that their burgers are grass-fed, which may or may not be a plus, but we’re more impressed with the care and execution that they take with every order. Every burger we’ve eaten has been consistently good – which is not something we commonly find in the Lisbon restaurant scene. Another plus – Dallas’ pricing is appropriate for Portugal. Judging by the mostly Portuguese crowd we encountered during our most recent visit, this is not a restaurant built to exploit American tourists.

Burger options include a classic with cheese, onions and special sauce and one with gorgonzola and onion chutney – we like both. Dallas also offers a mushroom burger and cheese veggie burger for vegetarians and a chick’n cajun burger for vegans. We also like Dallas’ golden, medium-thick French fries. And, while we’re often tempted to order an ice cream cookie, we never seem to have room for dessert.

Pro Tip
Whet your whistle with a locally brewed Dois Corvos beer.

Dallas Burger Joint has multiple Lisbon joints. The original joint is located at Travessa Remolares 41, 1200-019 Lisboa, Portugal.

Lupita stands out in a city with an inordinate number of pizzerias. Sparsely decorated with an industrial vibe, Lupita is popular for good reason – its Brazilian owners understand the importance of good dough. Proving their dough prowess, the Lupita team ferments two local flours (ancient grain and double zero) for 48 hours to achieve the desired texture.

This is a pizzeria that eschews Neapolitan traditions in favor of fusing elements from Portugal, Italy and the United States. To accomplish this mission, Lupita sources many of its ingredients from local producers in Portugal.

Pies range from traditional (margherita and marinara) to more creative pies topped with ingredients like chimichurri, pineapple and raisins. Not your average mushroom pizza, Lupita’s cogumelos pizza boldly adds three cheeses and lemon-garlic cream to the mix. We’re especially fond of Lupita’s seasonal street corn pizza topped with toasted corn, mozzarella, crema, spicy salsa, fresh cilantro and a touch of pecorino.

Discover more great pizzerias in Lisbon.

The original Lupita Pizzaria is located at Rua de S. Paulo 79, 1200-427 Lisbon, Portugal. The pizzeria has opened a second location in Alvalade.

Originally a convent in the 13th century, Trindade’s building has a long history of renewal and yet the restaurant has only been open since 2022. It was rebuilt multiple times due to fires as well as the devastating 1755 earthquake. In 1836, the building transitioned from a convent to a brewery called Cervejaria Trindade ,which operated for more than a century. We visited the brewery during our 2007 honeymoon and wondered why it was no longer open after we moved to Lisbon twelve years later.

Now simply called Trindade and owned by Sagres, one of Portugal’s mega-brewers, Trindade has a new life that transcends beer. While Trindade still brews beer, food now plays an equally important role. Alexandre Silva, the chef behind Fogo and Loco, has designed a menu that features both meat and seafood as well as wine and desserts. Standout dishes include presunto de porco preto (Iberian ham from acorn-fed black pork), seafood soup and a ‘convento’ seafood platter topped with sapateira (crab), large shrimp and percebes (goose barnacles).

Trindade’s historic building was and still is the star of the show. Its Sala dos Azulejos (Painted Tiles Hall) and Sala Maria Keil (Maria Keil Room) are gorgeous spaces that practically demand a visit. And, while you can certainly drink beer during your visit, you shouldn’t hesitate to order food and even wine too.

Pro Tip
Take a moment to appreciate the colorful azulejos inside this historic building. They’re stunning.

Cervejaria Trindade is located at Rua Nova da Trindade 20 C, 1200-303 Lisboa, Portugal.

Located in the touristic Bairro Alto neighborhood and helmed by classically trained Chef André Lança Cordeiro, Essencial isn’t big or fancy. It doesn’t have a Michelin star and its food skews more French than Portuguese. Somehow, though, this upscale bistro offers a range of meticulously prepared dishes that are true to place.

Open since 2019, Essencial exclusively serves multi-course menus that change with the season. Expect to eat starters like a pâté en croûte that’s as good as any we’ve eaten in France. Main dishes like arroz de tamboril (monkfish rice) for two – a modern rendition of the traditional Portuguese dish with rice cooked until the top is caramelized and topped with tender white slices of monkfish – are solid too.

We’d be remiss not to mention Essencial’s standout desserts. The restaurant’s salted caramel mille-feuille and its unique Paris-Brest made with caramelized pistachio and yuzu will fuel you up for a post-dinner walk home through Bairro Alto’s noisy commotion.

Pro Tip
While Essencial doesn’t serve lunch, it’s open for dinner every day of the week.

Essencial is located at Rua da Rosa 176, 1200-390 Lisboa, Portugal. It is a selected restaurant in the currrent Michelin Guide.

Chef Olivier da Costa is a force. His Grupo Olivier currently has more than 30 restaurants in Brazil, France, Portugal, Spain, Thailand and the UK. Eight of those restaurants are in Lisbon plus there’s another in nearby Costa da Caparica. While all of Olivier’s restaurants are solid, XXL is the one that we recommend to visitors.

Located across from Portugal’s Assembleia da República, XXL has been popular with locals since it opened as XL in 1994. (Olivier changed the name and installed a ginormous elephant statue when his group acquired the restaurant in 2021.) Many go to eat steak and soufflé which have been signature dishes for decades. Others are attracted to the restaurant’s attentive service and extensive wine list.

We recommend ordering a steak and a soufflé, specifically the Black Angus picanha with truffle pasta and the doce de leite soufflé – both are big enough to share. We also recommend ordering the gambas à guilho (garlic shrimp) and ‘egg’ starters. The latter pairs an egg with truffled mashed potatoes and four different mushrooms. A bottle of wine will complete your modern yet traditional meal.

Pro Tip
Stay on budget by ordering the entrecôte special. The saucy steak meal includes a hot baguette, Azorean butter, salad and unlimited French fries. Desserts and drinks are extra.

The original XXL is located at Calçada da Estrela 57, 1200-661 Lisboa, Portugal. The restaurant has additional locations in Porto and the Algarve.

The neckties are impossible to miss at Adega das Gravatas. There must be over a thousand ties, in all styles and colors, hanging from the rafters at this off-the-beaten-track restaurant located near the Carnide metro station. Special ties are framed, many are autographed and there are even ties in the bathrooms. It all goes back to the restaurant’s tasca origins. Apparently, the ties were presented to the restaurant by students in lieu of payment. Instead of taking the proverbial clothes off the students’ backs, they took the ties off their necks.

Beyond the restaurant’s quirky cavalcade of neckwear, the traditional food at Adega das Gravatas justifies a trip away from the city center. While servers like to recommend large steaks like T-bone or picanha (which are worthy, especially the monstrous t-bone), we prefer naco de novilho na pedra – a monster-sized hunk of meat served on a hot cooking stone. It’s fun to cook the steak, once it’s sliced, over the stone and share the cooked meat with friends.

Adega das Gravatas also serves what could be one of the most picturesque versions of polvo à galega (Galician octopus) in Lisbon. The generously sized, whole octopus is cooked perfectly, and arrives beautifully seared in the center of a plate over potatoes with sides of cut string beans and cooked cabbage. If you look around the dining room, you’ll see that the popular polvo makes an appearance at practically every table.

Pro Tip
Save room for dessert. Adega das Gravatas’ roster of Portuguese desserts includes an outstanding version of bolo de bolacha.

Adega das Gravatas is located at Travessa Pregoeiro 15, 1600-588 Lisboa, Portugal.

💡 Frequently Asked Questions

🇵🇹 Lisbon Travel Checklist

Check out our guide to eating in Portugal as well as our picks for the best Portuguese foods and the best Portuguese desserts before your trip.

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Original Publication Date: April 4, 2025
Republication Date: January 30, 2025