O Buraco
©João Saramago | Arroz de Pato do O Buraco
©João Saramago | Arroz de Pato do O Buraco

The 10 best cheap restaurants in Porto

Travelling on a budget, or just after great-value food? Here’s where to eat for less in Porto

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Let’s get one thing straight first: prices in Porto are pretty darn reasonable. You won’t find overpriced small plates and extortionate bottles of wine on every corner here, and a trip to the city most definitely doesn’t have to break the bank. 

But if you’re in a pinch and looking to get a whole lunch for under €5, or looking to have the cheapest dinner out possible to save your money for booze after, there are some spots that should be on your radar. From burgers to rissoles, these spots are ‘I can’t believe it’ cheap. But the best part? They don’t scrimp on flavour. Here are the best cheap food spots in Porto. 

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This guide was written by the editorial team at Time Out Porto. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

The best cheap restaurants in Porto

1. Curb

The sandwiches sold here started out on a motorbike, going out at street markets and festivals. But they gained a physical space at the end of 2016, and in 2018, this space was renamed Curb. The biggest change that started after this? Curb started doing burgers instead of sandwiches. And they're unreal.

  • Santa Catarina
  • price 1 of 4

Imagine the following: a thin toasted bun with a filling of sausage and melted cheese, sprinkled with butter and a spicy sauce and then cut up into little pieces. That’s what you’ll find when you sit at the counter at the Cervejaria Gazela, in the Batalha neighbourhood (and then some). 

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3. Oficina dos Rissóis

As you may have guessed, everything at Oficina dos Rissóis revolves around rissoles (deep-fried pastries filled with fish or meat). The best part? The rissoles here are all handmade, from the dough to the fillings. Prepared with organic flour and baked in the oven, these are stuffed with everything from roast country chicken with onions to black pork sausage with cheese and wild prawns from Mozambique. The other best part? They're all priced between €1.50 and €3. Grab chips, salad, pickles and rice for the side (between €2 and €5.50). Take a seat at the counter and repeat several times, ‘it's just one more, it's just one more,’ until you fall to the ground.

  • Portuguese
  • Baixa
  • price 1 of 4

The queues out the door make clear that something good is happening inside Casa Guedes. That something is a delicious pork-leg sandwich with ‘mountain’ cheese. The pork is swimming in sauce, the cheese is creamy and the bread lightly toasted.

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  • Pizza
  • Santa Catarina

On Sundays, Maus Hábitos’ restaurant turns into a brunch mecca, offering three different menus: the mini-brunch, the brunch for one and the brunch for two (to share). Eggs – scrambled or fried – and bacon, green salad, pancakes with lemon curd and house ricotta, and bottomless filter coffee and lemonade integrate all three. You can also try other specialties like the quesadillas, homemade granola with yoghurt and berries or the dark chocolate mousse. You can choose to order à la carte.

6. Casa Expresso

Preliminary note: the Expresso referred to here is the Casa Expresso and not the Expresso Restaurant next door, with a connection inside. What you're reading right now is an ode to Casa Expresso and its incredible, bulging rojões sandwiches, the pork and liver onion panado ones, and the very good chocolate mousse. For lunch there are dishes like feijoada (a black bean and pork steq), alheiras (Portuguese sausage) with egg, roast chicken, grilled turkey steaks and loads more traditional grub. Some better than others, but all are under 5€.

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7. Apuro

Porto's first vegan bar was opened in 2018 by vegan author and blogger Natacha Meunier. ‘I decided to take a risk and create something a little different that I could identify with,’ she said of the inspiration behind Apuro at the time. The menu is full of tapas, toasts, burritos, burgers and bowls, all 100 percent plant-based and local. There's craft beer and natural wines to go with it, everything is super affordable and dogs are more than welcome. What could be better? 

  • Cafés
  • Galerias
  • price 1 of 4

In a nutshell, O Diplomata is a paradise for pancake lovers. Pancakes feature on all four brunch menus here (from €6), served with butter and honey. As well as the house special, you can order scrambled eggs with bacon, açaí cups, beans with tomato and mushrooms and great coffee. 

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9. Casa de Presuntos (Xico)

Juicy rojões (fried pork), dipped in a glutinous sauce flavoured with cumin, thin slices of Cinfães salpicão, melty cubes of Celorico da Beira cheese and a well-stuffed meatball. All delicious and all for less than €15 for two people. At Casa de Presuntos you'll also find breaded sandwiches, plates of sarrabulho, meat rissoles, codfish cakes, morcelas and a multitude of well-served snacks. Oh, and the kind of warm service it can sometimes be hard to come by. 

  • Portuguese
  • Baixa

You’ll probably have to wait at this traditional restaurant: both upstairs and downstairs rooms are usually full, particularly at lunchtime. Home-style dishes are the speciality: one of their most famous, veal pie, is difficult to find elsewhere in the city. And there’s more: hake rissoles, fried sardines with rice and beans, ‘rojões’ diced pork, duck rice and tripe stew, Porto-style. Everything is very affordable.

 

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