In a stunning house designed by local Pritzker Architecture Prize-winner Álvaro Siza, Casa de Chá da Boa Nova (Boa Nova Tea House) provides dramatic ocean views with waves crashing against the rocks below. The two-Michelin-starred restaurant, helmed by acclaimed chef Rui Paula, serves traditional Portuguese dishes, many highlighting local seafood and fish, as well as a vegetarian menu featuring local potatoes, fava beans, and greens.

A pioneer in the vegetarian scene in Portugal, this modern restaurant in Leça da Palmeira has become a national reference. Built only with natural elements (wood, burnt cement, and marble), it could inspire an entire Pinterest board. Chef Nuno Castro serves meatless recipes blending familiar flavors with contemporary flair. Look for the restaurant’s take on caldeirada, the famous Portuguese seafood soup, the vegetable gazpacho with rosemary and olive focaccia, or the steamed buns with breaded mushrooms and kimchi.

The Mercado de Matosinhos supplies the region’s restaurants with the freshest fish: mackerel, sardines, tuna, black swordfish. In this local farmer’s market, vendors sell all sorts of seafood, plus vegetables, flowers, and even live animals to be slaughtered. But the large, modernist, ceramic-paneled building has other surprises, such as the small restaurants worth visiting after browsing the stalls. Mafalda’s, for instance, opens only between late morning and afternoon, but it’s one the best options for sandwiches, toasts, and a lunch menu that changes daily depending on the ingredients from the stalls. Other venues allow customers to choose directly from trays of fresh fish cooked however they like.

There’s more to this Nordic-style cafe than paper lanterns and pour-overs. The hip eatery serves an organic, local, vegetarian lunch menu, driven by the seasons and the kitchen’s creativity. All the items from the rotating menu are perfect to snack on as you sit by the windows watching life pass by on the street outside. Three days a week, the venue plays host to a dinner pop-up izakaya concept with Japanese snacks.  

This neighborhood tasca serves comfort food drawn from the owner’s heritage in Trás-os-Montes. The daily rotating menu might feature regional dishes like breaded pork with roasted potatoes, massa à lavrador (meaty stew with pasta and red beans), or caldo verde (potato-kale soup). With its casual furnishings and checkered tablecloths, the restaurant in Carregal Garden feels like a special local hideaway far from the tourist crowds.

In a city historically known for its Port wine, the number of good wine bars (with great food) has only recently improved. In a casual, cozy space on Miguel Bombarda Street, known for its art galleries and studios, Genuíno joins the trend with a sharp wine list focusing on organic and natural winemakers, mainly from Portugal, along with comforting yet creative dishes. The menu changes weekly — think cod fritters, Scotch egg, steak tartare, spinach pancakes — as do the wine options. Brazilian owners Gabriela Johann and Gustavo Schmidt just partnered with baker Jorge Mariano to open a sister pizzeria project next door, Generosa.

Go past the tall bar stools and sidewalk tables to find a lively, green terrace with communal tables, an outdoor hideaway ideal for anyone willing to enjoy Porto’s hot, windy weather. The beer selection, which focuses (though not exclusively) on Portuguese craft breweries, absolutely justifies a visit, and you can pick up a few bottles from the shop to drink later. Catraio often welcomes visiting chefs and pop-ups to pair with whatever is on tap. Look for local breweries like OPO 74 Brewing Co. and Bendita, as well as options from Catalonia and the Basque Country.

Porto is still a city full of working-class eateries, locally known as tascas (or “tascos”, as local people call them). Opposite Praça de Carlos Alberto, Casa Expresso has hung on for decades serving the same dishes: rojão (chunks of pork marinated in garlic and white wine) sandwiches, beef liver with onions, deep-fried cod escabeche, and daily specials accompanied by boiled potatoes and fresh salads. Order a pitcher of the house wine to wash down your meal.

Argentinian chef Mauricio Ghiglione brings the smoky flavors of his homeland to the parrilla (grill) at Belos Aires, now at a new location in the buzzy Baixa neighborhood. He incorporates Portuguese products, such as sea bass with carrots and thyme, but the real highlights of the menu are the meats, especially the chorizo and rib-eye. If you come craving Argentinian classics, know that Ghiglione also prepares amazing empanadas and a dulce de leche flan that is to die for.

At Mito (which means “myth”), chef Pedro Braga proves that it is possible to make haute cuisine at affordable prices. His relaxed, no-frills restaurant is located in the hip Rua da Picaria neighborhood. Tucked in next to trendy venues, Mito offers dinners featuring dishes that are both inventive and hearty, as well as lunch on Saturdays. The chef utilizes traditional Portuguese recipes and local ingredients, but he also looks to other cuisines for inspiration in gnocchi and tapioca, among other global tastes.

Torto is one of the new venues helping the cocktail scene in Porto to flourish. The bar is located in a Neo-Mudéjar style building from the early-20th century, while the neon-decked interior feels slightly more Brooklyn-industrial in style. Head bartender João Mendes’s menu features world-class cocktails to please all tastes, including whiskey-based batch cocktails served on tap. There are also ingenious creations, such as Capeta 199 — cachaça, falernum, banana, macadamia nuts, and makrut lime — and the Picante Gang Gang, with tequila, Espelette pepper, green Chartreuse, and roasted bell pepper.

In the luxurious, wine-focused hotel of the same name in Vila Nova de Gaia, you’ll find the two-Michelin-starred Yeatman restaurant. Under the command of chef Ricardo Costa, the restaurant serves two tasting menus, one standard and one vegetarian. The options encompass traditional flavors of Portuguese cuisine with modern flair and seasonal produce, including fresh seafood and fish from the Portuguese coast and porco preto (black Iberian pigs, an Indigenous Portuguese breed). The wine pairings are predictably fantastic, drawn from a cellar packed with rare bottlings. If that weren’t enough, every meal comes with a stunning view of the Douro River and the Porto skyline.

Situated in a narrow alley just off the frenetic streets of the riverside area, Taberna dos Mercados serves traditional regional dishes to about 20 lucky people, so be sure to book a table in advance. Order a bowl of seafood açorda, a popular bread soup made with prawns, clams, and cockles, or the Portuguese cozido, stewed lamb with potatoes and greens. The wine list favors bottles from the nearby Douro Valley.

Pastelaria Moura, based in Santo Tirso, opened a branch in Porto to sell its most famous sweet: the jésuita, a triangle-shaped puff pastry topped with meringue, named for the outfits worn by Jesuit monks. The shop also offers an array of other Portuguese pastries, such as fatia de laranja (a flavorful orange pudding), custard eclairs, and pastéis de nata (of course).

In a charming retro building with tile flooring and stone walls, chef João Cura recreates recipes from childhood memories while adding inventive, modern touches. Look for roasted pig head terrine or young goat oven rice with giblets. The tasting menu encompasses 10 courses for 80 euros ($88), but there are a la carte options too.

This lively venue merges Japanese cuisine with the minimal, casual atmosphere of a Portuguese tasca. Chef Ruy Leão offers sushi and hot share plates inspired by izakaya fare. He makes use of local fish, such as mackerel and sardines, and the rest of the daily catch. Winners from the hot dishes include eggplant roasted in miso and okonomiyaki.

Head to O Buraco (the Hole), a beloved downtown Porto restaurant, to find well-made local dishes, such as the iconic tripas à moda do Porto (Porto-style tripe stew) and delicious veal pie. You may notice some of the beautiful dishes flying out of the kitchen are not listed on the menu, so be sure to ask the waiter for the daily specials, which often include gems like duck rice and fried cow liver with caramelized onions.

A piece of Porto heritage since 1914, the Mercado do Bolhão opened its doors again in 2022 after four years of renovations, allowing vendors to return to the stalls where their parents and grandparents once worked. The historic Beaux Arts-style building in the city center houses 81 stalls and 38 stores, which sell a mixture of fruits, vegetables, baked goods, charcuterie, tinned fish, cheese, and flowers. There are also modern coffee shops and newer restaurants, such as Culto ao Bacalhau, where you can taste many preparations, including desserts, made with codfish, one of the most significant symbols of Portuguese gastronomy.

Like many cities worldwide, Porto has been overrun with bakeries offering sourdough bread since the pandemic. In the Marquês neighborhood, Brites goes beyond crunchy loaves, with golden croissants and kouign amann, soft focaccia, and sweet pastries, which tempt passersby from a window to the street. Don’t miss the bolas de berlim, a doughnut-like pastry filled with a sweet custard.

In Portuguese, “apego” means a great feeling of affection. Chef Aurora Goy lives up to the name, infusing every dish with affection, but also technical skill, original ideas, and elegant execution. The stone walls, soft light, and long, bistro-style banquette give the place a cozy atmosphere that pairs well with the Portuguese-accented French cuisine coming out of the small kitchen. Goy’s creations are simple in concept but complex in flavor, with options like pork with tonnato sauce, fennel, celery, and buckwheat, or mackerel filet accompanied by toasted lime mayonnaise. For 60 euros ($66), the tasting menu gives you a chance to enjoy five dishes from snacks to desserts.

More than a food staple, rissol is a symbol of the popular culture in Portugal. The half moon-shaped savory snack is everywhere, from bakeries to restaurants, and it inspired Alexandra and Louis Druesne to open this French-inflected vintage-looking venue overlooking the charming Jardim de São Lázaro. After stints at fine dining restaurants in Paris (where they met), the couple elevated the beloved delicacy using organic flour and ingredients from the best producers in the country for the fillings. Traditional flavors include beef and fish, alongside more adventurous takes, like Thai green curry or truffles. Beyond rissóis, they also serve a delicious tomato brothy rice, french fries, salads, and other accompaniments. 

Finding a good cup of specialty coffee is not an easy task in the city. But Combi Coffee Roasters makes the mission easier for those walking through the Bonfim neighborhood, where this airy cafe is tucked. The pioneer shop serves various beans roasted in-house from countries like Brazil, Ethiopia, and El Salvador, prepared in different methods (V60, Aeropress, espresso). The food on offer is limited, but there are always dense chocolate brownies with salted caramel and fresh pastéis de nata in the countertop display.

In Porto, the francesinha is like soccer or religion: Everyone has their preferences, and it’s better not to discuss personal tastes in unfamiliar company. This cafe, named after the famous local sandwich, serves one of the best recipes in town — though it rarely makes the most popular lists, fortunately. The sausages (mortadella, ham) come from good suppliers, the steak is served medium-rare, and the dense, coppery sauce brings subtle flavors of tomato and beef. If you still have some room, try owner and chef Fernando Cardoso’s version of the prego, another popular local sandwich, here layered with tender beef, cheese, ham, and pickles on slightly crunchy bread.

This classic restaurant opened in the 1980s to serve traditional local recipes, such as Porto-style tripe, fried sardines, and hake filets with Russian salad. The place has only gotten better with time. That’s because Rogério Sá, owner and head cook, spruced up the space in 2019 with fancy furniture, nice dishware, and an al fresco dining area, all without losing its character. Don’t miss the deep-fried octopus filets with rice, a classic dish in Porto.

This family-run establishment has been serving wood-fired fare since 1985. The counter is the best place to taste the excellent food coming out of the kitchen, but there are set tables for larger groups as well. Start with cod fritters and local presunto (cured ham), then move on to mains such as veal and potatoes roasted for hours over wood. Finish with rabanadas (French toast) or creme do céu, which consists of mousse, biscuits, and creamy egg custard.