It’s not just Tomar’s monuments that are layered with history. Tucked down its many streets, you’ll find taverns from the mid-20th century still serving the locals, a bakery that invented sweets now famous across Portugal, and a Bauhaus café open ‘til 2am. If you’re visiting Tomar and are wondering where to eat dinner, grab a quick breakfast, or stop for a drink, use this restaurant guide to find your next meal.
While I’m usually based in Lisbon, I recently spent five nights in Tomar, eating at restaurants across the Templar city night and day. Not every place I ate at is included in this list – only the best Tomar restaurants that I’d genuinely return to. Of these, my favourites would be Bela Vista, Chico Elias, Casa das Ratas, Curry Indian Kitchen, and Insensato Café.
This guide brings together my favourite restaurants and places to eat in Tomar, plus the best cafes, bakeries and spots to stop for a drink. Enjoy, and please leave suggestions for places I should try next visit!
Best restaurants in Tomar
Bela Vista – €€
One of the best dishes we’ve ever eaten in Portugal was at Bela Vista in Tomar. I’d spotted the romantic setting on a previous visit to Tomar, and we locked it in on the recommendation of friends. This place, called ‘beautiful view’, has century-old wisteria vines that wrap across the veranda, framing the city of Tomar, its Templar Castle, and the Nabão River. Idyllic.
We doubled down and ordered a full dose of the cabrito assado – roasted kid (though I noted the English menu said lamb, cabrito is generally goat). The slow-roasted meat is clearly cooked for hours upon hours, becoming at once melt-in-the-mouth soft with some crunchy caramelised bits. A generous portion arrived on a huge platter with roasted potatoes seasoned with spices, garlic and olive oil, along with my favourite Portuguese side that seems to be common around the middle Tejo region – cabbage with beans and cornbread. The vegetable soup to start and leite creme (crème brûlée) to end were the perfect bookends. Call ahead to reserve a table on the terrace.
📍 Address: R. Marquês de Pombal N°68, Tomar)
🍴 What to order: cabrito
🗓️ Reservations: Book ahead by phone for a terrace table
Read next… Guide to Tomar: Portugal’s city of Templar legends
Chico Elias – €€€
Step back in time at Chico Elias, a family-fun restaurant open since 1963 that still cooks original recipes of the matriarch, Maria do Céu Simões, in a wood-fired oven. After a two-minute drive from town (or a longer uphill walk), you’ll enter a classic dining room where wooden furniture is draped in white tablecloths, the ceiling in green, and newspaper clippings line every wall.
To dine here, you’ll have to reserve a table the day before (or earlier) and pre-order your mains when you call. We went for the bacalhau with pork and potatoes, and the duck with cabbage and rice, and for an entree we shared the petingas (small sardines) baked with onions, olive oil, vinegar, and breadcrumbs. I’m not sure if we’ve ever had warmer or more caring service in Portugal. Our host even brought us some of the house white and red wines in two small carafes so we could pair them with each dish.
📍 Address: R. Conde de Tomar 92A, 2300-302 Tomar
🍴 What to order: bacalhau com carne (salted cod with meat); rabbit cooked in a pumpkin
🗓️ Reservations: Essential! You order your mains when you book by phone at least one day ahead.
Casa das Ratas – €/€€
Casa das Ratas is one of Tomar’s oldest tascas, though sadly it was forced to shift location about five years ago. While the owner sadly lost a legal battle against the original adega’s (wine-house) landlord to keep this piece of Tomar’s 20th-century history, not all is lost. Casa das Ratas has combined with Casa Matreno across the street.
Inside, the interiors have a vintage feel with pastel tiles and tonnes of Portuguese memorabilia and vintage items lining the shelves. The menu is traditional Portuguese with the only twist being that every dish receives extra care or small improvements. Go for the specials of the day – on a Sunday, that meant we tried the exceptional duck rice (truly very good), and the bacalhau (salted cod) of the day, which was with cabbage and cornbread.
📍 Address: R. Dr. Joaquim Jacinto 7, 2300-577 Tomar
🍴 What to order: daily specials
🗓️ Reservations: Essential on weekends, optional on weekdays.
Curry Indian House – €/€€
Some of the best Indian food in Portugal was certainly not on my Tomar restaurant bingo card. This sleek, modern restaurant (close to Tomar’s train station) is where you can order dozens of classic and lesser-known curries, tandoor specials and Indian snacks. The owner, Ganesh, is super kind, and while he grew up in Mumbai, he lived almost a decade in the UK, and then in other parts of Portugal. So the menu includes curries you’ll expect to find at British-Indian restaurants, such as butter chicken, madras, and tikka masala.
The smell found us before we located the door of Curry Indian House. I quickly realised just how good this would be, so we decided to go wild ordering pappadams and dips, onion bhaji, a malai chicken tikka entree, rice, garlic naan and two curries – lamb madras and a chicken jalfrezi. The idea was that we’d take the leftovers home for lunch, but sadly, we didn’t leave with half as much as we’d hoped, as we kept going back for ‘just one more’ spoonful of the rich and layered curries. It’s also one of the best restaurants to savour vegetarian food in Tomar.
📍 Address: R. 10 de Agosto de 1385 RC 26, 2300-553 Tomar
🍴 What to order: whatever you fancy, but definitely garlic naan
🗓️ Reservations: Recommended on weekends, otherwise optional.
Read next… Best day trips from Tomar
Clandestino – €
For a buzzy, fun restaurant to eat with the locals in Tomar, try Clandestino. This spot leans into petiscos, Portugal’s answer to tapas – though a single plate is large enough to feed one person. The vibe was great, the staff were super attentive and sweet (and we weren’t forgotten about, despite choosing to sit on the street), and the menu features a stack of classic Portuguese snacks and small plates.
There’s a good and interesting selection of wines; I spotted some small and cool Portuguese producers in the fridge. We went for a light local red from Casal das Freiras, the closest winery, which did a collab with the well-known Niepoort. Make a reservation for Friday or Saturday nights.
📍 Address: R. Dr. Joaquim Jacinto 48 A, 2300-577 Tomar
🍴 What to order: chicken hearts, ovos rotos
🗓️ Reservations: Recommended on weekends.
Biscaia – €
For a super quick lunch or dinner, Biscaia is a gem. The terrace of this no-frills spot was always full at lunch, with people enjoying interesting salads or the house specialty – pulled pork sandwiches. I ordered the soup – a classic caldo verde (cabbage and potato soup) – and I could tell from the chouriço floating on top that while the menu is simple, the ingredients chosen are of the highest quality. I ordered my pernil de porco sandwich with gooey sheep’s cheese, but you could also have it with egg and bacon, or pumpkin jam. One to repeat.
📍 Address: R. da Silva Magalhães 77, 2300-390 Tomar
🍴 What to order: pork sandwich or salad
🗓️ Reservations: Possible.
A Lúria – €€€€
Hidden in a small village outside Tomar, A Lúria is a traditional Portuguese restaurant that has been open since 1979. While it likely began with humble beginnings, these days A Lúria is a bit of a Portuguese institution with white tablecloths and a shiny dining room whose slick interiors include a touch of Templar symbolism.
We started with petingas (little sardines) cooked with onion, olive oil, and a good splash of vinegar – an excellent, hot, fishy entree. A friend mentioned something called “Hunt Crispy” in English, and we couldn’t work out what it was. Basically, it’s a meat pattie with the mushy texture and flavour of alheira sausage served in a crispy bowl of filo pastry. For mains, we skipped past a steaming pot of lamprey rice, one of the house specialties, since it was a baking 34°C day. Instead, we went for the branded porco preto. We’re huge fans of black pork, so we were curious if this brand-name meat would be superior. It was certainly some beautifully grilled, high-quality pork.
📍 Address: Portela de, R. da Alegria 34, 2300-182 Tomar
🍴 What to order: enguia (eels)
🗓️ Reservations: Highly recommended on weekends – we slipped in on a Friday, but there were signs about 90-minute waits on the door.
O Tabuleiro – €
For a cheap and cheerful Portuguese, O Tabuleiro is one of the restaurants in Tomar frequently mentioned – so I went to try it out. While I wasn’t blown away by the arroz do peixe (fish rice stew), the prices are good, and I know this tasca can accommodate groups, so I’d give it another try next round, going for something off the grill.
📍 Address: R. Serpa Pinto 146, Tomar
🍴 What to order: grilled steak or pork
🗓️ Reservations: Recommended on weekends.
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Snack bars & cafés in Tomar
Café Paraíso – €
I love historic spaces, and Café Paraíso is iconic in Tomar. This huge café-bar has been open on the main pedestrian street since 1911, always in the hands of the same family. The space underwent a huge renovation in 1946, with Porto architect Francisco Granja mixing Art Deco and Bauhaus elements, and since then, little has changed. He brought in glass from Venice, the Bauhaus chairs from Germany, and an Italian craftsman who painted the columns to imitate marble. At the front sits the wooden counter of the old newsagent that sold cigarettes and newspapers until the ‘90s.
The other thing I love about Café Paraíso is that it’s still the cool place to hang out in the city. It’s open from 8.30am until 2am six days a week, and the drinks are cheap – making it popular with students and one of the best places to go out at night here.
📍 Address: R. Serpa Pinto 127, Tomar
🍴 What to order: coffee from 65c, beer from €1, toasted sandwiches, cake
🗓️ Reservations: Not needed
Orchestra de Sabores – €
Tomar is a genuinely gorgeous small city, and one of the most beautiful places to explore is the city park that sits on an island in the middle of the Rio Nabão. Wander through here and you’ll find a casual café and ice-cream bar called “Flavour Orchestra”. It’s right next to the playground, making it a popular hangout for families. For us, the drawcard was views of the river and city, ice-cold beer, and plates of summer snails. A great spot for an afternoon pause or a late-morning coffee.
📍 Address: Av. Marquês de Tomar 11, 2300-586 Tomar
🍴 What to order: snails, beer, gelato
🗓️ Reservations: Not possible
Insensato Café-Livraria – €
Behind Insensato is a Lisbon couple who moved to Tomar to open their dream project, combining their love for books and healthy food. Inside the light-filled space, you’ll find a dozen tables and a wall of books. There’s a decent selection of thought-provoking reads in English (mostly touching on socialism, equality, and the impending climate catastrophe). Amazing, I left with two.
I dropped by for afternoon tea, opting for the sumo do dia – a melon and strawberry juice, with a lemon and lavender teacake (both fantastic). You’ll find a full menu of sandwiches and brunch plates. Some dishes are vegan, and there’s the option to make most of the menu gluten-free. A cool spot with a great vibe, next time I’d return to this café-bookstore for lunch. Check out Instagram for pop-up themed evening events.
📍 Address: R. da Silva Magalhães 25, 2300-593 Tomar
🍴 What to order: cafe, coffee, sandwiches
🗓️ Reservations: Recommended on weekends, essential for evening events.
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Taverna Antiqua – €
Dark and moody with medieval lute music, this candle-lit tavern feels perfectly in place in Tomar, a town that celebrates its history in every way. Taverna Antiqua is a well-themed spot, where the staff are dressed up and all the cups and plates are themed to look like you’ve stepped into the Middle Ages. The terrace overlooks the main square, and the price of beer is good too (for the 21st century).
📍 Address: Praça da República 23, 2300-556 Tomar
🍴 What to order: beer or cider, but you can also stay for dinner
🗓️ Reservations: Not needed for drinks, but recommended for meals on weekends.
Bakeries: Sweets and desserts in Tomar
When I travel around Portugal, I always visit local bakeries to taste the regional sweets. Every town and village in Portugal has some sort of doce linked back to the parish church or convent. It almost always involves the use of egg yolks and sugar – sometimes just those two ingredients!
In Tomar, you can try:
- Queijinhos doces – tiny, very sweet cakes made of almond paste and filled with an egg cream (pictured below left, right side)
- Estrelas de Tomar – little cakes made of cheese and almond
- Beija-me depressa – “kiss me quick!” is the translation of these tiny cakes made of egg and sugar. At Estrelas de Tomar bakery, where they were invented, you can get them by the dozen in a box with a 1960s illustration. (pictured below left, left side)
- Fatias de Tomar – it looks like a slice of cake or brioche, but it’s highly whipped egg yolks that have been sous-vided as a cake before being sliced. The slices are then boiled in a sugar syrup. (pictured below right)
Estrela de Tomar – €
Since opening in 1960, this Tomar pasteleria and café has been a staple of the small city. The bakery is focused on Tomar’s convent sweets and even created an iconic doce inspired by Portugal’s traditional sweets – the Beija-me Depressa. There are two sides to Estrela de Tomar: the large sitting room overlooking the river; and terrace tables on the main pedestrian street of Tomar, Rua Serpa Pinto.
📍 Address: R. Serpa Pinto 12, Tomar
🍴 What to order: Estrelas de Tomar, beija-me depressa, fatias de Tomar, queijinhos doces
🗓️ Reservations: Not possible
Pasteleria Tropical – €
I pay attention when I see the words “fabrico proprio”, which means the café-bakery actually makes the sweets it sells. In Tomar, Pasteleria Tropical is a great daily stop for coffee and toast, fresh bread, sweets, or even a birthday cake. They have three locations across the small city. The one nearest to us was open until 10pm every night and midnight on Saturday. It’s always a good time for cake.
📍 Address: Av. Marquês de Tomar 25; R. Fábrica da Sola 17; R. Dr. João de Oliveira Casquilho
🍴 What to order: I ate the queijada de amêndoa (almond tart) on the recommendation of my server, but there are dozens and dozens of pastries to choose from.
🗓️ Reservations: Not possible
What restaurants should I eat at next time I’m in Tomar, Portugal? If you have a tip, leave me a comment!
Keep reading….
- Lisbon’s best restaurants: 41 great places to eat
- My favourite tascas in Lisbon: Where to eat traditional Portuguese food
- Where to find the best Portuguese street food and snacks in Lisbon
- The best pastel de nata cooking classes in Lisbon and Porto
- The Best Food Tours & Experiences in Lisbon
- Lisbon restaurants open Sunday and Monday
- Local’s guide to the LX Factory, Lisbon’s creative micro neighbourhood
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- Best boat tours in Lisbon
One Response
Yum. This is great. Saving for future reference!