Where to eat in Baixa, Lisbon: Local’s guide to the best restaurants, snacks and bars

If you’re someone who finds joy in food, then Lisbon’s Baixa (bye-sha) may be one of the trickiest places to eat well – but don’t fear, I have some great local tips. The capital’s flat, grid-pattern downtown neighbourhood is a place where time both zips by and stands still. Here you’ll find historic 20th-century taverns and haberdashery shops bumping up alongside tacky tourist shops and far too many ramen bars. 

I’m a former food critic who has lived in Lisbon since 2018, and I’ve watched downtown Baixa transform from semi-abandoned to a bustling tourist hotspot. The area’s central location also means there’s a good chance your hotel or guesthouse will be based on one of its one-way streets, and luckily, some gems are hidden among the uniform 18th-century blocks. 

In this list, covering where to eat in Baixa and around Rossio and Restauradores squares in Lisbon, I’ll share a handful of excellent historic restaurants, snack bars and bakeries along with new finds that I would genuinely recommend to friends and eat at myself.

Map of where to eat in Baixa, Lisbon

Best quick snack bars in Baixa, Lisbon

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A Tendinha do Rossio

Founded in 1840, A Tendinha is one of the last traditional snack bars or taverns in Rossio. I often drop in here for a quick bite or standing lunch – it’s well-known for excellent, large pastéis de bacalhau (codfish cakes) and the daily soup is usually great too. You’ll get change for a €5 note.

These days, it has a big terrace, where the tables have vinyl wraps with pictures of the snacks on offer – but if you want to experience the soul of the place, step inside and stand at the bar elbow-to-elbow with police officers and off-duty local guides. Behind the bar will likely be Alfredo, an employee who’s worked here since 1998. A few years ago, he was quoted as saying he used to see a tourist every month or two… and now 70 percent of his customers are tourists.

This spot is traditional, so here’s what to expect: salty yet efficient service; everything served cold (unless it was just fried); and bones in your bacalhau (salted cod) sandwich. Yes, these are all bar snacks – usually made throughout the day, so there’s a good chance your schnitzel or omelette sandwich will be cold. Instead, order a soup and a pastel de bacalhau or a ham-and-cheese toasted sando (tosta mista). 

📍 Address: Praça do Rossio
🍴 What to order: pastéis de bacalhau (codfish cake); soup
💰 Price: €1-4 per item

As Bifanas do Afonso

This is Lisbon’s best bifana spot. What’s a bifana? A pork-steak sandwich, and here the thin steaks are cooked in a pan with lard, white wine, garlic and more. Six minutes ago, there was no queue at Alfonso’s bifana canteen. You could pop by this little snack window, hand over a few coins and enjoy a bifana and imperial (tiny beer) without any fanfare. Now, Google reviews reveal that you might be waiting more than an hour. Jeez.

Tourism can be good – and it can also be too much. In this case, it’s too much. Thankfully, there’s a VIP queue for hard-core regulars who have been coming here for decades and still want their classic bifana. I think that’s a good thing. Anyway, back to the bifana – you can order it plain or with cheese. The traditional thing to do is just order it plain, then add mustard and/or piri piri oil to your liking. Bring cash.

Tip: In 2025 a second location opened just a five-minute walk away the Lisbon Art Stay Aparthotel. Expect no queues there (plus tables where you can actually sit down).

📍 Address: Rua da Madalena 146
🍴 What to order: bifana with or without cheese
💰 Price: €3 for a bifana, €5 with cheese – cash only!!

Pizzeria Romana Baixa

This small takeaway window bakes up Roman-style pizza by the square slice. One slice is a great snack; two would be a solid lunch. In the display case at Pizzeria Romana, admire a kaleidoscope of colourful focaccia-style pizza. The ingredients here are top-quality, with the dough fermented for 72 hours. Each slice is re-baked once you order and then served hot.

📍 Address: Rua da Conceição 44, 1100-154 Lisboa
🍴 What to order: pizza by the slice
💰 Price: €3.50-4 per slice

Tavern at Casa do Alentejo

I love the relaxed tavern at Casa do Alentejo, a cultural centre set within a 17th-century palace in the heart of Lisbon. It feels like a hidden gem to walk up the stairs, through a Moroccan-style riad courtyard, and into this Alentejo-vibe whitewashed patio with a huge olive tree and long tables.

It’s open all afternoon, making it a good spot for snacks and a few beers. Here you’ll find petiscos – Portugal’s answer to tapas – with an Alentejo twist. That means specialties like migas, a sort of mashed bread stuffing with grilled pork, and the flaming chorizo, which is always fun.

📍 Address: R. das Portas de Santo Antão 58, 1150-268 Lisboa
🍴 What to order: chouriço (chorizo cooked at the table), migas com porco (bread stuffing with pork)
💰 Price: €6-12 per dish

More snack spots to try in Baixa, Lisbon

• Nova Pombalina – relaxed cafe-bar known for its traditional sandwiches
• Beher Lisbon – serves top-quality Spanish jamón. Ideal for a sandwich to-go or a charcuterie board and wine.

Best bakeries and sweets in Baixa, Lisbon

Confeitaria Nacional 

Have a sweet tooth? Visit Confeitaria Nacional, Lisbon’s oldest and most traditional bakery. A man named Balthazar Castanheiro opened the bakery here in 1829, which once supplied the royal household and to this day provides sweets to the president. The location downtown is right on Praça da Figueira, one of the main squares, from which you can step inside the bakery to admire the ornate gilded interiors and choose something delicious from the counter. Or there’s the option to sit outside on the terrace with a coffee and more time. What many don’t know is that the bakery has an upstairs canteen with daily meal specials.

Fun fact: The first telephones in Lisbon were installed between the factory and the bakery.

📍 Address: Praça da Figueira 18B, 1100-241 Lisboa
🍴 What to order: Any sweets that catch your eye, or pop upstairs for lunch
💰 Price: €1-5

Pastéis de nata stops – Castro, Manteigaria, Nat’elier

For efficiency’s sake, I’m wrapping up the best pastéis de nata spots in Baixa into this one paragraph. My top three in the area are Castro, Manteigaria and Nat’elier. You’ll find Manteigaria in Rua Augusta, the main pedestrian drag. And the other two are close to the famous Santa Justa lift. Castro is classic, like Manteigaria – but Nat’elier is the first spot to play with Portuguese custard tarts, so you’ll get funky flavours like pistachio, tiramisu and white chocolate macadamia. 

📍 Address: Google maps – Castro, Manteigaria, Nat’elier
🍴 What to order: pastel de nata
💰 Price: €1-2

Read next… Best Pastéis de Nata spots in Lisbon

More sweet spots to try in Baixa, Lisbon

• Crush Doughnuts – famous for huge, soft American-style loaded doughnuts.
• Pasteleria Suiça – the historic bakery was reborn in a new spot on Praça da Figueira
• Gelateria La Romana dal 1947 – excellent gelato from a famous Italian store

Best Portuguese restaurants in Baixa, Lisbon

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Prado

Prado is one of Lisbon’s best restaurants. With young chef Antonio Galapito at the helm, this light-filled modern space was one of the first spaces in the capital to hero fresh, seasonal ingredients. The menu revolves around what’s coming from the farm or the sea, so if it’s out of season, the menu shifts. While it’s à la carte, at dinner you can also opt for an €80 per person tasting menu. All the wines are organic or biodynamic, too.

📍 Address: Tv. das Pedras Negras 2, 1100-404 Lisboa
🍴 What to order: as much as you can eat
🗓️ Reservations: Essential, online.💰 Price: €30-80pp

STŌ Restaurante & Mercearia

STŌ was one of the best things to open in downtown Lisbon in recent years. I’ve seen the project evolve from a café and grocer to more of a restaurant, but the core mission has remained the same – to share high-quality traditional Portuguese products and flavours. At lunch, you can dine a là carte, while dinner is a set menu. Either way, don’t skip the signature alheira croquettes.

📍 Address: R. dos Fanqueiros 83
🍴 What to order: alheira croquettes
🗓️ Reservations: Online, recommended
💰 Price: €15-35

A Provinciana

A few true tascas are still to be found downtown, if you know where to look. One of them is A Provinciana, a tasca open since 1988, whose prices seem to resist Lisbon’s rapid gentrification. There’s always a queue (sadly, this spot is no secret), but Senhor Américo and his family greet everyone with a warm, friendly smile. If you can’t get in here, I’ve also eaten at the tascas on the same lane – you’ll see they’re filled with local office workers and the food is good too.

📍 Address: Tv. do Forno 23
🍴 What to order: Whatever the daily special is, or a bitoque (simple steak with egg)
🗓️ Reservations: No
💰 Price: €10-15

Bonjardim

Charcoal chicken has been the bread-and-butter of Bonjardim since 1959. These days, the famous churrasqueira attracts queues of tourists (and some patient locals) who come for the succulent grilled piri-piri chicken. Unlike most other spots, here the chickens are grilled whole – apparently it was the first place in Portugal to do this.

📍 Address: Tv. de Santo Antão 11
🍴 What to order: Chicken
🗓️ Reservations: No
💰 Price: €15-25

Baixamar

Baixamar is one of many restaurants on Rua dos Bacalhoeiros, which has been closed to pedestrians, creating a street where tables spill out across the road. Given the location is a little touristy, I didn’t have high hopes, but Baixamar is genuinely an excellent spot to try traditional Portuguese seafood dishes such as bacalhau (salted cod) or octopus.

📍 Address: R. dos Bacalhoeiros 28 C
🍴 What to order: seafood, ideally – the bacalhau is great
🗓️ Reservations: Online, recommended
💰 Price: €30-50

More Portuguese restaurants worth a stop in Baixa

• Sála de João Sá – 1-star Michlen spot with tasting menus. 
• Terraço Editorial – it’s a rooftop bar and modern Portuguese bistro
• Discreto – neo-tasca with modern Portuguese dishes.
• Maria Catita – traditional Portuguese food with a few Azorean dishes too.
• Pinóquio – top spot for eating seafood by weight. Think prawns, clams, crab.

Best international food spots in Baixa

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Panda Cantina

It’s a fast-service canteen that serves one dish: Chinese ramen. And as you’d expect, Panda Cantina does it really damn well. Order your soup with pork, beef or tofu (beef is my pick) and choose your spice level from one to five. Spice-wise, they don’t mess about, so err on the side of caution. At around €10.50 a bowl, it’s a great spot for lunch or a cheap dinner. Go early and expect to queue.

📍 Address: Rua da Prata 252, 1100-052 Lisboa (there are 3 other locations in Lisbon too!)
🍴 What to order: Beef ramen is my favourite, and I go for spice-level 3.
🗓️ Reservations: Not possible
💰 Price: €10-15

The Oven

There’s no shortage of Nepalese or Indian restaurants in Lisbon, but one that stands out from the rest is the sleek and contemporary Oven. Nepalese-born chef Hari Chapagain puts the focus on quality and makes the huge tandoor, which can reach temperatures of up to 400°C, the star. As you’d expect, this is also a great restaurant for vegetarians in Baixa, Lisbon.

📍 Address: R. dos Fanqueiros 232
🍴 What to order: Momo dumplings, lamb shank biriyani
🗓️ Reservations: Online, recommended
💰 Price: €20-40

Moona Chicken

If you’ve got a craving for deep-fried chicken, head to Moona. This fast-casual spot specialises in Korean-style fried chicken – which you can order with half a dozen different sauces. The Black Secret sauce is my favourite – it’s not super spicy.

📍 Address: Rua da Conceição 51
🍴 What to order: fried chicken, sauce of your choice. The bowl version with rice is good too!
🗓️ Reservations: Not needed
💰 Price: €15-25

For more international cuisine in Baixa, try…

• Swaagat The Taste of India – top-rated Indian restaurant
• Moona Chicken – for Korean-style fried chicken
• Mercado Oriental Martim Moniz – a little outside Baixa is this Asian foodcourt, where you have a choice of almost a dozen street-food stalls of all cuisines.

Best coffee and brunch in Baixa, Lisbon

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Every week, a fancy new specialty coffee shop or brunch spot opens, erasing a traditional tasca or old-school business. I refuse to pay for eggs I could easily cook at home, so here are a few discerning options in the category…

The Capsule Neo-Bistro 

What if brunch were cooked by a real chef? This ‘brunch bistro’ is from the creative mind of Ukrainian chef and owner Alex Horbenko, whose dishes push the boundaries of what brunch or lunch should be. Leading by example, his kitchen makes every effort to avoid waste – yesterday’s bread becomes pasta or dessert – and seasonal ingredients or fermentation sit at the core of the menu. Dishes might be a chicken masala French toast, beef tartare with kimchi mayo, or a Ukrainian potato pancake with salmon, egg and green sauce. The Capsule is mostly open 9-5, but expect later hours on Friday and Saturday nights.

📍 Address: R. do Crucifixo 71
🗓️ Reservations: Online, recommended
💰 Price: €25-40

CO-OP Layday

Down the road from The Capsule, CO-OP is a light-filled café with a solid menu of well-executed breakfast classics – think eggs Benedict, pancakes, avocado toast – along with some lunch specials. While you can get a flat white here, specialty drinks like a bumble coffee or peach matcha tonic are more the drawcard. Need somewhere to co-work? The upstairs space has big tables and power plugs where they welcome you and your laptop.

📍 Address: R. do Crucifixo 33
🗓️ Reservations: No
💰 Price: €5-20

Looking for cafés to co-work in Baixa? Besides CO-OP you can try ExpressoLab and Copenhagen Coffee Lab (though both are more like mini chains)

Fábrica Coffee Roasters

At Fábrica, you’ll only find top-quality specialty coffee roasted by them, and you can choose between espresso or filter coffee options. To pair, choose from the pastries at the counter. Wi-fi? Fábrica makes a statement by not offering it at any of their cafes across the city. Take your laptop elsewhere – this is a coffee temple.

📍 Address: R. do Comércio 111 & R. de São Mamede 28D
🗓️ Reservations: No
💰 Price: €2-5

The Folks

For good coffee, The Folks is a safe bet. Besides espresso, there’s usually a hand-brew and cold-brew option – plus a tasting board if you really want to be caffeinated. Food-wise, its menu is a classic list of eggs, toasts, pancakes and oats.

📍 Address: R. dos Sapateiros 111  & R. dos Bacalhoeiros 113
🗓️ Reservations: No
💰 Price: €5-20

More options for coffee or brunch in Baixa, Lisbon

• Cotidiano – good spot for classic brunch and coffee
• Dear Breakfast – another good spot for brunch and coffee

Best bars in Baixa

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Ginjinha Sem Rivel & A Ginjinha

You can’t have a Baixa bars list without including the ginjinha bars. Ginjinha is a traditional sour cherry liqueur that became popular in Lisbon in the late 19th century. There are still two super historic ginjinha bars – the family-run Ginjinha Sem Rival (my fave) and A Ginjinha (where Anthony Bourdain went). If you’re passing by, stop in and ask for a shot.

📍 Address: R. das Portas de Santo Antão 7 & Largo São Domingos 8
🍴 What to order: Ginjinha com ou sem ‘ela’ (with or without cherries)
💰 Price: €1.60-2 

Imprensa Cocktail & Oyster Bar

Imprensa is one of my favourite bars in Lisbon, hands down. I’ll usually visit the original location in Princípe Real, where the vibes are high, the oysters are top-notch, and the cocktails are 10/10. The downtown location has a slightly different feeling, thanks to a huge terrace where you can get comfortable and talk sh*t with your friends for hours.

📍 Address: R. de São Nicolau 24
🍴 What to order: trust your tastes or ask the bartender
💰 Price: €10-15 per drink

Prado Wine Bar

Cut from the same cloth as Prado, the restaurant, the wine bar is a more casual spot from one of Lisbon’s best chefs. The food follows the same philosophy as the restaurant – serving seasonal, ever-changing dishes that hero what farmers, fishermen and local producers provide. The wine list is focused on organic and low-intervention Portuguese wines.

📍 Address: Rua das Pedras Negras, 37
🍴 What to order: wines by the glass and snacks
🗓️ Reservations: Online, recommended (but walk-ins welcome)
💰 Price: €15-45pp

Nova Wine Bar

Step into Nova and meet Pedro, the former ad-man that makes this wine bar special. When the landlord offered him the chance to rent the space and extend his agency, Pedro took it as a sign from universe, sold his agency and launched Nova (which means ‘new’) in 2017. Choose from about 20 wines by the glass, but take a look at the menu of snacks first, and Pedro will help match your dishes to the wine. 

📍 Address: R. Nova do Almada 20
🍴 What to order: cheese, tinned fish, wine
💰 Price: €15-35pp

Cabal

Cabal is a relaxed cocktail in the heart of Lisbon, open seven days a week and owned by a very cool Australian family. There’s a huge terrace to relax on, plus on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights find local and international DJs bringing the vibe.

📍 Address: Largo São Domingos 16
🍴 What to order: beer, wine, cocktails
💰 Price: €3-15pp

Cerveja Canil

Of the couple of craft beer spots downtown, Canil is my pick. This Lisbon brewery says it has more than 36 beers on tap, which are a mix of house-brewed beers and kegs from primarily Portuguese craft breweries. That makes it a great destination to try different Portuguese IPAs, APAs and more. There’s also a solid menu of beer snacks.

📍 Address: Rua dos Douradores 133
🍴 What to order: Beer of your choice
💰 Price: €3-15

Ruby Rosa Rooftop

This cocktail bar sits on the rooftop terrace of the Lisbon Art Stay hotel. Expect a list of cocktails (at a higher price point). Note, the elevator only goes to the 5th floor – then you have to climb to levels of stairs.

📍 Address: Rua dos Douradores 133
🍴 What to order: Beer of your choice
💰 Price: €10-15 per drink

Trobadores – Taberna Medieval

This very serious medieval tavern is a good laugh. Enter the wood-panelled, candlelit space and step back in time. Everything is well themed, with beers served in terracotta cups. There’s a full food menu too – it’s quite simple, but you can order a flaming chorizo.

📍 Address: Calçada de São Francisco 6A, 1200-005 Lisboa
🍴 What to order: Whatever you fancy, you’re there for the atmosphere
💰 Price: €5-25

Those are the places I can recommend to eat in Baixa and Rossio. Did you try somewhere good? Leave me a comment….