Local dishes of Porto

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A menu in a Porto tavern can be hard to read for a first-time visitor, and the dishes that matter most are rarely explained on it. The city has a short list of its own: a sandwich that has become its emblem, a tripe stew behind the nickname of its people, a family of pork sandwiches, salt cod, a green soup, and two wines from its own region and the next one north.

Here they are one at a time: for each dish, what it is, where it comes from when that is known, and where diners in Porto mention it most, with the restaurant's rating, opening pattern and price band where one is published. The places named are those with the most mentions of the dish among the city's reviewed restaurants, so they are a starting point rather than a verdict. The seafood that fills the coast is covered from a different angle, by ingredient, near the end.

The francesinha

The common mistake is to order a francesinha as a light lunch before an afternoon of walking. It is a full meal and more.

It starts with bread layered with ham, linguiça, fresh sausage and steak. The whole thing is covered in melted cheese and flooded with a spiced sauce of tomato and beer. It usually arrives with chips, and often with a fried egg on top.

Its story is short and local. The dish was created in Porto, said to be in 1953, by Daniel David da Silva, who had come home from France with the croque-monsieur in mind.

No dish in Porto is mentioned by diners in more restaurants: 107 of the city's reviewed places. Yuko Tavern leads by a wide margin, rated 4.5 out of 5 from 5,210 reviews, serving lunch from half past twelve and dinner from seven.

Restaurante CUFRA, rated 4.2 from 4,536, is the second most mentioned and was listed as closed on Mondays. Santa Francesinha by Cufra, in Senhora da Hora, is rated 4.7 from 1,381.

The sandwich houses Casa Guedes Progresso and Casa Guedes Oliveiras, and Barcarola on Costa Cabral, rated 4.4 from 3,132, follow. My Palace, rated 4.3 from 2,264, lists a price band of 15 to 20 euros.

Tripas à moda do Porto

The mistake is to skip tripe on principle. In Porto it is more than a dish: it gave the city's people their nickname.

Tripas à moda do Porto is tripe stewed with white beans, chouriço, pork and cumin, and served with rice. The people of Porto are called tripeiros, the tripe eaters, and a legend explains why. In 1415, the story goes, the city gave its meat to the fleet of Prince Henry sailing for Ceuta and kept only the offal for itself., a legend rather than a record.

Diners bring up the dish at eleven of the city's reviewed restaurants. Loureiro, rated 4.5 from 486 reviews in the 15 to 30 euro band, is mentioned most, followed by A Cozinha do Martinho, 4.4 from 443, and Líder, 4.5 from 600, which opens for lunch and dinner.

In the Baixa, O Buraco, rated 4.4 from 3,413 reviews in the 10 to 15 euro band, and Antunes, 4.5 from 4,403, are also places where diners mention it, and among the most reviewed of the traditional houses.

Loureiro and A Cozinha do Martinho were listed as closed on Mondays, so plan a tripe lunch for another day.

Pork sandwiches: pernil, bifana and cachorrinho

The mistake is to think of a sandwich as a snack. In Porto, three of them are everyday lunches.

The sandes de pernil is slow-roast pork leg in a bun, the standard of the Praça dos Poveiros. Casa Guedes, whose two houses are rated 4.6 from 8,302 reviews and 4.7 from 5,530, is the name most associated with it. Both open from noon to midnight in the 10 to 20 euro band. Lareira in the Baixa, rated 4.5 from 5,360, is the place diners mention most for sandwiches of any kind.

The bifana is a thin pork steak cooked in garlic and white wine and served in a soft roll. It is eaten across Portugal and is a common lunch in Porto. Restaurante Lameiras, rated 4.5 from 3,236 reviews and open from 11:30 AM to 9:30 PM, is the place diners mention it most, followed by the Churrasqueira Portuguesa do Amial, 4.4 from 7,228, and Casa Expresso, 4.7 from 2,214.

For a cheap bifana, Restaurante Portas de São Roque, rated 4.6 from 332, is in the 5 to 10 euro band and open from 10 AM to 4 PM.

The cachorrinho is a thin sausage with cheese, pressed flat and crisp, cut into fingers and eaten with a spiced sauce. It is the least often mentioned of the three, so ask for it by name.

Bacalhau and caldo verde

The mistake is to look for one bacalhau dish. Salt cod comes in hundreds of preparations in Portugal, and bolinhos de bacalhau, the fried cod cakes, are its snack form.

Bacalhau comes up in diners' comments at nineteen restaurants. Taberna Santo António, rated 4.5 from 4,541 reviews, leads by far and was listed as closed on Mondays. Taberna do Doutor, 4.4 from 1,694, opens for lunch and dinner, and Retiro do Bacalhau, 4.5 from 334 in the 15 to 40 euro band, takes its name from the fish and opens from noon to 11 PM.

Museu d'Avó, rated 4.5 from 3,308 in the 15 to 30 euro band, opens late, from 7 PM to 2 AM.

Caldo verde is a green soup: finely cut couve leaves and potato, finished with a round of chouriço. It is the soup of São João night, when it is served in the streets on 23 June.

Dona Carlota, a petiscos and wine house rated 5.0 from 353 reviews in the 10 to 20 euro band, is the place diners mention it most. Os Pipos, 4.5 from 445, follows.

Salt cod comes in hundreds of preparations; the cod cake is its snack form.

From the sea: octopus, sardines and shellfish

The mistake is to look for a single Porto seafood dish. The coast gives ingredients rather than one recipe, and diners mention different houses for each.

Octopus is mentioned by diners at 53 restaurants. Uma Marisqueira, also known as Zé Bota, rated 4.7 from 3,521 in the 20 to 40 euro band, leads, followed by Meia-Nau in Matosinhos, 4.7 from 1,966, and Lagostim near the Aliados, 4.3 from 3,129.

Grilled sardines are the food of São João night. Rei da Sardinha Assada in Matosinhos, rated 4.2 from 1,653, is the place diners mention them most, followed by Tito 2 and Restaurante Tito I in the same town.

For prawns, Ostras & Coisas near the Aliados, 4.4 from 2,903, is mentioned most. For clams, O Gaveto in Matosinhos, 4.4 from 1,931 in the 50 euros and over band, and Museu d'Avó in Porto lead.

Grilled fish in general is mentioned most at Tito 2, rated 4.6 from 4,243, and A Peixaria II, 4.6 from 1,109, both in Matosinhos and open for lunch and dinner.

The food overview explains how to reach Matosinhos and its seafood houses.

The coast gives ingredients rather than a single recipe.

Sweets and the custard tart

The mistake is to present the pastel de nata as a Porto invention. The custard tart is eaten all over Portugal, but it is a Lisbon original.

It is still one of the things to try, and diners mention it at 14 of the city's reviewed places. Vegana by Tentúgal, rated 4.8 from 883 reviews, is mentioned most. The House of Coffee, 4.9 from 1,009, and Cafetaria Mesa 325, 4.7 from 1,174, both open in the morning until 5 PM, follow.

Padrão Doce, a bakery rated 4.1 from 936 and open from 7 AM to 8 PM, and Metro da Trindade, 4.3 from 1,810 in the 5 to 10 euro band, are practical stops for a tart and a coffee on the way somewhere.

For a sweet that is local to the calendar rather than the city, the Bolo de S. João is sold by the traditional bakeries around the São João festival in June.

The market is the other place to taste. The Mercado do Bolhão reopened in 2022 after four years of restoration; its stalls open from 08:00 six days a week and close on Sunday.

The two wines of the region

The mistake is to treat Port as the only local wine. The north of Portugal has two, and they suit different moments.

Port is a fortified wine from the Douro Demarcated Region, established in 1756. The Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto guards the name, and the styles run from ruby and tawny to white, rosé and vintage. Ageing in the Douro Valley itself has been allowed since 1986, but the lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia are still where most visitors taste it.

Vinho verde is young, slightly sparkling wine from the Minho, the region north of Porto, with its own demarcated region under the Comissão de Viticultura da Região dos Vinhos Verdes.

The Port wine page covers the styles in depth, and where to eat sorts the city's restaurants by area and budget.

Common questions

What is the most famous dish in Porto?

The francesinha, a sandwich of ham, sausages and steak under melted cheese and a tomato-and-beer sauce, created in Porto around 1953. Diners mention it at more of the city's restaurants than any other dish.

Why are people from Porto called tripeiros?

Because of tripe. Legend says that in 1415 the city gave its meat to the fleet sailing for Ceuta and kept the offal, which became tripas à moda do Porto.

Where can I try tripas à moda do Porto?

Loureiro, A Cozinha do Martinho and Líder are the places diners mention it most, and O Buraco and Antunes in the Baixa also serve it.

Is the pastel de nata from Porto?

No, it is a Lisbon original eaten across Portugal. In Porto, Vegana by Tentúgal, the House of Coffee and Cafetaria Mesa 325 are among the places diners mention it most.