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The 13 best traditional restaurants in Porto

Discover the authentic taste of old Porto at the city's classic restaurants

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When it comes to food, tere's a hell of a lot of choice in Porto. But if it's your first (or second, or third?) time in the city, there are some dishes you simply have to try. It's the rules. The best place to do that? That'll be Porto's traditional restaurants.

These are the kinds of places run by families for hundreds of years. The kinds of places in which recipes are passed down through generations, and each dish is perfectly refined. From seafood to francesinhas, here are the restaurants offering up an authentic taste of old Porto. Enjoy!

RECOMMENDED:
💕 The most romantic restaurants in Porto
🍴 The best restaurants in Porto
🥪 The best francesinhas in Porto
📍 The best things to do in Porto 

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. 

Traditional restaurants in Porto

  • Portuguese
  • Bonfim

Few things are better about Porto than its abundance of family-run restaurants. And Casa Nanda is an absolute classic of the genre. These guys have bene cooking here for more than 35 years, and the dishes have been refined to perfection: highlights include hake fillets with rice or potato salad and the grilled beef rib.

2. Margarida

Open for more than two decades, this traditional Portuguese restaurant serves up great food with old-fashioned and attentive service. At Margarida, starched tablecloths are adorned with family photographs, and elaborately carved plates and Arraiolos rugs decorate the stone walls. Try the prawn açordas on toast, one of the house's signature dishes, the seafood rice and the cabidela (Portuguese chicken), End with a slice of almond tart or Abade de Priscos (a Portuguese crème caramel).

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  • Portuguese
  • Ribeira
  • price 2 of 4
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

We don’t hold back about the stuff we love, and when it comes to the Adega São Nicolau, we love everything. There’s a menu full of great dishes – chicken bordelaise, octopus fillets with rice, or the perfect appetiser, cod cakes. Then there’s the desserts (all homemade) or the outdoors tables, overlooking the Douro river. Then there’s the great service – António Coelho has been doing this since he was 11 (in a legally-okay way, we’re sure). Just one thing to note: The restaurant is small, the queues are (very) long. Make a reservation or be prepared to wait. 

  • Portuguese
  • Baixa
  • price 1 of 4

A restaurant named after the patron saint of eating had better be pretty shit-hot. Luckily, Taberna Santo António in Miragaia is. Order one of the four daily specials, all guaranteed to be good. If the menu includes alheira sausage pie and turnip greens, or cod pataniscas with rice and beans, choose them. From the massive dessert display, the homemade chocolate mousse is among the city’s finest. Nice one, St Antonio.

 

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  • Baixa

Well-made dishes, affordable prices and friendly service bring locals back to O Ernesto again and again. Among the most famous dishes at this traditional restaurant in Baixa are the Portuguese stew, octopus fillets, rojões (fried pork) and tripas à moda (beef stomach). For dessert, don't miss the most famous fruit salad in the city (it's more exciting than it sounds). 

  • Portuguese
  • Foz
  • price 2 of 4
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

The secret of this Foz classic is simple: food portions are family-sized, so take plenty of company. The cod à la Brás is so good they only serve it once a week, and we'd recommend the octopus rice. The adventurous might want to go for the tongue stew and the ‘cabidela’ blood rice, scary-sounding but delicious.   

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  • Mediterranean
  • São Bento

If it’s a Monday, head to Rápido for their Spanish-style cod. If you’re reading this on a Wednesday, book a table anyway and order a cozido. This restaurant, next to the São Bento railway station, is steeped in tradition, which has earned it many devoted patrons. The owner himself picks all the ingredients – including those in the famous oven-roasted octopus, served by special order. Oh, and save room for dessert.

 

  • 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 here; 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. Prices are reasonable too.  

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  • Portuguese
  • Bonfim
  • price 2 of 4
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

A Cozinha do Manel is a Porto classic. Don’t miss the duck rice and the roast veal, and check out the walls. Everyone from sports stars to prime ministers has dined here, and their pictures decorate the space. They came, they ate corn bread – which comes fresh every day from Avintes – and they got their picture taken.

 

  • Portuguese
  • Baixa

Antunes rule number one: everything goes down great with a glass of house wine. Rule number 2: follow the advice of Dona Maria Luísa. Third rule: close your eyes and point at the menu – whatever you choose, it will be good. Try hake fillets with vegetable rice, partridge stew, cod with onions (served year round) or wild boar with beans (when in season). Pork fans, the knuckle will blow your porcine mind.

 

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  • Portuguese
  • Porto

This Campo Alegre restaurant’s name is pretty descriptive: this is indeed Amélia’s kitchen. She’s in charge of the show, offering delicacies such as the cod cakes or the eight (yes, eight) other kinds of cod dishes. If you’re in the mood for meat, go for the tripe stew, the ‘mirandesa’ beef steak, or the baby goat (sniff sniff).

 

  • Portuguese
  • Ribeira
  • price 2 of 4

The Taberna dos Mercadores in the Ribeira is owned by the same family as the nearby Adega São Nicolau. Traditional and regional dishes dominate the menu: prawn açorda bread soup, rojões diced pork and even an unmissable arouquesa meat pot. For special days – and by special order only – they make cod tongue rice and roast kid goat, prepared with ingredients that proprietor António Coelho sources from his home town of Resende (sort of ‘return to Resende’).

 

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13. Senhor Zé

At Senhor Zé, the chefs really, really like cod. And they do it well, too. But that's not all that's on offer; try the roosterfish with açorda, hake fillets with beans and rice and the veal liver with onions. For dessert, they do an unreal vermicelli dish. 

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