Kau Barbecue: Authentic Texas BBQ in Portugal
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Discover what it’s like to eat Texas barbecue at Kau Barbecue in Malveira, Portugal. Open since July 2026, the restaurant is quickly becoming a European barbecue destination.
Could Rui Matias be making the best Texas barbecue in Europe? After eating his slowly smoked meat, especially his beef rib, at Kau Barbecue in Malveira, our answer to that question is yes. We know it sounds crazy considering that Malveira is located 35 kilometers (i.e., 22 miles) north of Lisbon. Until recently, the sleepy Lisbon exurb was best known for its Thursday market. Now, meat-loving crowds fill Rui’s 500-square-meter space four days a week.
What do they come for? For many, it’s all about the brontosaurus-sized beef rib. Loaded with luscious, fatty, smoky beef and surrounded by a terrific, crisp, black, peppery bark, the rib is Kau’s meat to remember. One rib easily feeds one to two hungry people and then some. Ordered à la carte, the rib comes in 700-gram (one rib) and 1.5 kilo (two to three rib) portions respectively. Rui has really achieved something world-class here. His smoked meat stands up to the best pitmasters in America.
Kau’s product is a labor of love that Rui, in partnership with his wife Vera, has refined over the last five years. We first tasted his brisket in 2024 and were floored by his product back then. Experiencing that smoked meat justifies a trip to Malveira if you’re a carnivore who lives in Lisbon. It’s also worth it if you’re a meat-loving tourist looking for something beyond Portuguese bacalhau and chouriço.
🔓 Key Takeaways
- Kau Barbecue serves Texas-style smoked meats including brisket, beef ribs and pork ribs. The beef rib is a must-order.
- The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner on Thursday through Sunday only.
- Reservations are recommended and can be made online. You can book a table up to 30 days in advance of your meal. (Note that the restaurant holds 30% of its seats for phone reservations and walk-ins.)
- Malveira is located 35 kilometers (i.e., 22 miles) from Lisbon. It’s an easy drive, but you can alternatively take a bus or car service.
- We recommend saving room for desserts like carrot cake and pecan pie cheesecake.
The Matias duo opened their spacious, light-filled restaurant on July 28, 2026 after three years of pop-ups, festivals and delayed construction. Reservations for the first 30 days filled within three hours. The restaurant still fills up, with a mostly-Portuguese crowd, every day that Kau is open. About 15% of the clientele is foreign, with international visitors arriving from as far away as Dubai.
When you arrive at Kau, the first thing you’ll notice is the massive Godzilla smoker where Rui and the team smoke meat for up to 12 hours. If you’re curious, the cooks will let you peek inside Godzilla to see the army of briskets lined up for their half-day cook. Kau’s A-frame, barn-like dining room adorned with Budweiser and Corona signs looks utterly American by design. Its aisles are ample, and large windows expose a bucolic view that feels like it could be in Kentucky.
However, you’ll feel the ‘Portugueseness’ of the place when olive oil is poured at the table as part of the restaurant’s couvert (i.e., bread service). And you’ll know you’re not in Kentucky when you peruse Kau’s drink menu that offers not just cocktails and beer but also a range of affordable Portuguese wines and sangria.
Rui Matias, the Pitmaster Behind Kau Barbecue
Although Rui didn’t grow up eating Texas barbecue, his culinary background was integral to Kau’s barbecue success. The Portuguese chef trained at Escola Profissional da Pontinha and worked in hotel and restaurant kitchens. He also operated the Bolo do Caco bakery with his wife Vera for a decade. Everything changed in 2021 when Rui first tasted Texas-style brisket while on vacation in Paris. That taste became an obsession that he was determined to recreate.
Unable to nail the brisket recipe back home in Portugal, the curious culinarian traveled to Texas where he spent two months learning from pitmasters at Franklin BBQ and Terry Black’s BBQ, both in Austin, as well as at Snow’s BBQ in Lexington. With that knowledge, he was ready to build a proper smoker and create his own barbecue recipes in Portugal.
We first encountered Rui at various popup festivals around Lisbon. His singular passion for Texas barbecue was impossible to miss, as were the crowds that showed up wherever he set up his large, portable smoker.
The passion was still there in January 2026 when we visited the newly-opened Kau Pastrami House in Lisbon’s Saldanha neighborhood. People consistently queue for Rui’s meat, whether it’s pastrami, brisket or ribs, everywhere he goes. We suspect they’ll show up for Philly cheesesteaks when and if he starts selling his brisket version on a regular basis.
Rui’s goal was to create a true Texas barbecue product, and that’s what you get at Kau Barbecue. His brisket is juicy and bouncy with the essence of smoke, and the fatty meat practically melts on the tongue. We love watching that brisket being sliced. With each slice, a pool of fatty juice flows from the rich cut of beef.
The kind of well marbled, fatty beef used in Texas barbecue can’t be found in Lisbon or in most of Europe. That’s why Rui imports his beef from American states like Arkansas and Colorado. The results justify the extra effort and expense. Rui is obsessed, and his desire shows up on every plate.
Rui’s obsession for barbecue goes beyond beef. His St. Louis ribs are a menu highlight. To achieve their cohesive, juicy chew, he sources pork from a farm in rural Sertã that meets his rigorous standards. Beyond sourcing, the ribs are magnificently butchered and easy to eat.
Our Meal at Kau Barbecue
Kau Barbecue offers both take-away and sit-down meal options. Wanting to taste as much as possible, we planted ourselves at a table and ordered the restaurant’s Pitmaster’s Choice Meat Platter, which came with a half beef rib, brisket, St. Louis ribs, pulled pork, Alabama chicken, corn ribs, potato salad, coleslaw and mac n’ cheese.
That platter sounds like a lot of food and it was. (Kau’s menu indicates that it’s designed for three to five people.) However, after doing the math, we decided it was our most cost-effective way to taste a variety of meats and three sides. Plus, we figured we could take any leftovers home.
Here’s a breakdown of everything we ate and drank during our meal:
Starters
We commenced our meal with a couvert and appetizer. The couvert, panuozzo served with whipped butter, salt and olive oil, was essentially wood-fire-baked pizza bread. While we liked it, we think something like a buttery Parker house roll would have kept more to the program.
A play on American poppers, the trio of Texas Twinkies starter was both fun and tasty. Wrapped in slow-smoked bacon and filled with cream cheese and brisket, they provided a preview of the meal to come. And while our American taste buds would have preferred hotter peppers, we get that the Portuguese aren’t big fans of capsaicin piquancy.
Meat
Feeling a sampling of the menu was warranted, we opted for the pitmaster’s platter, which featured the following proteins:
- Angus beef brisket smoked for 12 hours
- Angus beef rib smoked for nine hours
- Pulled Duroc pork, smoked and finished with BBQ sauce
- St. Louis pork ribs smoked with Kau’s spice blend
- Smoked chicken served with traditional Alabama white sauce
Everything on the tray was solid, but the pulled pork and smoked chicken were outshined by Kau’s extraordinary brisket, beef ribs and pork ribs. We appreciated the chicken’s unique peppery, smoky flavors. However, on the massive platter, the smoked chicken felt more like a good blues club guitarist playing next to Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Still, even for two people who live in Lisbon, the platter was a good way to go. We walked away with three days of leftovers. We reheated the barbecue by steaming it for 10 minutes. The chicken reheated nicely over rice in our rice cooker.
Vegetable
Served on the board next to our meat, a pile of smoked corn ribs provided a pop of color that we appreciated. However, we’re not going to pretend that those butter-coated corn ribs made us forget awesome sweet white corn on the cob we love eating in America.
Sides
Our platter included three sides: potato salad, coleslaw and mac n’ cheese. It also came with barbecue sauce, mustard sauce, two brioche slices, pickled red onion and pickle slices. It all complemented the meaty mélange.
The mac n’ cheese was our favorite side. If we order à la carte in the future, we’ll probably order it again plus corn bread and/or esquites.
Dessert
We shared a slice of pecan pie cheesecake. With its Texas-style pecan pie base, layer of creamy New York-style cheesecake and candied pecans, that decadent pie ended our meal on a super-sweet note. Kau uses a combination of crème fraîche and Philadelphia (cream cheese), which creates a wonderful thickness and a pleasingly sour tang.
Rui gifted us with a slice of carrot cake to take home with our leftover meat. While we appreciated the craftsmanship of the ten-layer cake, we’re glad that we ordered the pecan pie cheesecake during our meal. It was that special. Carrot cake lovers can disagree if they choose.
Drinks
Kau Barbecue has a full bar that serves cocktails, beer, wine and non-alcoholic drinks. Keeping to the Texas theme, beer choices are limited to Budweiser and Corona. Not in the mood for beer or wine and curious about Kau’s cocktail program, we ordered a Honey Buck cocktail crafted with Jim Beam Honey, ginger beer, lemon juice and simple syrup. It tasted like a honey-bourbon mule, which made us happy.
The Bill
Eating Texas barbecue in Portugal isn’t cheap. Our bill came to €158 (before tip) for one couvert, one starter, one Pitmaster’s Choice Meat Platter, one dessert, one bottle of sparkling water and one cocktail.
The bill was higher than we usually spend for lunch in Portugal. However, we left with a bag filled with enough leftover meat to feed us all weekend. We later paired the leftover beef rib with potatoes, served the leftover pork ribs with pasta, plated the leftover chicken over rice and scrambled the leftover pulled pork with eggs.
How to Score a Reservation at Kau Barbecue
Reservations are highly recommended due to Kau’s popularity, but they’re not mandatory. The restaurant holds 30% of its seats for walk-ins and phone reservations. That being said, walk-ins aren’t guaranteed a seat and could wait hours for a table. Plus, the restaurant is occasionally closed for private events.
Here are our tips for scoring a reservation for your day of choice:
- Book early. You can book a table up to 30 days in advance. We recommend booking online using CoverManager as soon as you have a day in mind.
- Go Thursday or Friday. Weekends book fastest. Kau is closed Monday through Wednesday.
- Check Instagram. Kau Barbecue posts updates at @kau_barbecue. You can also find out about pop-ups here.
- Call if the site shows no availability. The phone number is +351 968 163 165.
How to Get to Kau Barbecue from Lisbon
Kau Barbecue is located at Rua Dr. José Eduardo Esteves, Malveira (Mafra municipality), about 35 kilometers (about 22 miles) north of central Lisbon. Driving is the easiest option if you have a car. You just need to take the A8 north toward Leiria and exit at Malveira/Venda do Pinheiro. The drive takes about 35 minutes without traffic.
Arrive early since Kau Barbecue doesn’t have a parking lot. (Street parking isn’t an issue unless there’s a basketball tournament happening across the street.) If you plan to drink, designate a driver. Portugal’s blood alcohol limit is 0.5 g/l (i.e., 50 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood), and fines can be steep.
Bus Option
The Carris Metropolitana bus system, our preferred option, has routes that connect Lisbon and Malveira. The 2740 line is an express bus, while the 2752 and 2742 lines are much slower. All three buses leave from the Campo Grande station, which is located on Lisbon’s green and yellow metro lines. Fares vary but should cost less than €5 each way depending on when and how you book your ticket. Current schedules and fares are posted on the Carris Metropolitana website.
We took the 2740 bus to/from Malveira. Our bus rides took under a half hour. The relatively flat walk between the restaurant and bus took us 10 minutes each way. Our fare was free since we had purchased navegante Metropolitano monthly passes.
Car Service Option
Bolt and Uber are great options for traveling to Malveira. At the time of our meal, we noted one-way fares ranging from €18 to €25. Be aware that return rides may be difficult at night since Malveira is out of the city.
Train Option
There’s a train that runs between Lisbon and Malveira, but its schedule is limited. We don’t recommend this transit option.
Kau Barbecue Info
- Address: Rua Dr. José Eduardo Esteves, h1, 2665-248 Malveira, Portugal
- Hours: Thursday to Sunday, 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
- Reservations: Online via CoverManager or by Phone
- Phone: +351 968 163 165
- Instagram: @kau_barbecue
- Lisbon outpost: Kau Pastrami House in Saldanha
💡 Frequently Asked Questions
You can reserve a table up to 30 days in advance of your meal using the online CoverManager reservation platform. You can also call the restaurant.
Expect to spend €25 to €50 per person depending on how much food and drink you order.
No. Tipping is optional in Portugal. Locals typically round the bill up by 5 to 10 percent for excellent service.
Yes. Kau Barbecue offers limited vegetarian options, which include corn ribs, potato salad, coleslaw, esquites and corn-on-the-cob. Note that Kau’s menu is subject to change.
Yes. You can either take a Carris Metropolitana bus from Campo Grande metro station (Lisbon Metro – green and yellow lines) or a car service (i.e., Bolt and Uber) from anywhere in Lisbon. Allow at least 90 minutes each way for the bus and an hour for car service, though it probably won’t take that long.
Kau Barbecue is open Thursday through Sunday for both lunch and dinner.
🇵🇹 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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