Your Guide to Incredible Eats in Portugal
The girls' trip made it out of the group chat and into Lagos and Lisbon
We somehow managed to plan, coordinate, and execute a girls’ trip with seven girls. To Portugal. We flew out of New York City, Boston, Albany, NY, and North Carolina, and all met up at the Lisbon airport, where we were greeted with the ungodly customs line. Thank God, I had packed a PB&J in my backpack because I was starving. (This is one of my pro travel tips, by the way.) It gave me energy to wait in line for an hour and a half, only to find out that I could have gone to the “electronic passport” line the entire time. So I zipped under the roped lines, quickly scanned my passport on the machine, and was finally through. Hello, Portugal.
We stayed in Lagos for six nights and in Lisbon for two nights. We used Daytrip car service to pick us up from the airport and drive us to Lagos and then back to Lisbon. I highly recommend them as a car service. We rented this Airbnb in Lagos. Super spacious. Quick access to a beautiful private beach and a 10-minute walk to downtown Lagos. We booked this private chef. Let’s just say chef João and his sous chef live a double life as male strippers… And sailed on this catamaran. Gorgeous views from the water. And explored the caves on this kayak tour. Very fun activity. Then, we rented this Airbnb in Lisbon’s Alfama neighborhood. Stunning, light and airy flat. And obviously, we ate a lot of incredible food at a lot of different restaurants all week.
So here is what we ate and where we ate it. We did make dinner reservations in advance for almost every night because seven girls is a lot of girls.
Breakfast, Brunch, & Coffee Spots
LAGOS SPOTS
Menu highlights: Fresh-squeezed OJ (best oranges I’ve ever had) and smoothies!
A very healthy “avocado toast spot.”
Menu highlights: Cold brew, The Pink One - fresh watermelon, lime, and mint juice, Almond Croissant, and Pistachio & Strawberry Cruffin.
Loved this spot. Especially, the cute logo with someone diving into their coffee cup. Pastries here were unreal, and I loved that they have a sit down restaurant and a quick-to-go coffee and pastry shop side by side.
Menu highlights: Homemade orange zest ice cube in the cold brew and a delicious smoothie made with banana, dates, cacao, almond milk, and peanut butter.
I came here a couple of times for the fill up smoothie.
LISBON SPOTS
Menu highlights: Colorful breakfast plate with sourdough toast and mocha latte made with dark chocolate
A very cozy and adorable coffee shop. The seven of us took over every table.
Menu highlights: The Pastel De Nata and the Dark Chocolate Pain Suisse.
The Pastel de Nata is a Portuguese pastry, and it was incredible. The best way I can describe it to you is a delicious crème brûlée wrapped in flaky, buttery croissant dough. Also, never had a pain suisse before – it was like a pain au chocolat, but with a bit of vanilla pastry cream in the middle too.
Beach Clubs in Lagos & Luz
Menu highlights: A classic Mojito and, surprisingly, a very delicious Chicken Caesar Salad (yes, I was shocked.)
This little beach bar is situated right on the private beach that is close to the condo we rented. The owner and servers were very friendly and gave my friends a lot of free sangria.
Menu highlights: Extensive menu with lots of options.
This beach bar is on the very large and long Meia Praia in Lagos. I honestly can not remember this meal at all, which means I was probably unimpressed.
Menu highlights: The frozen Pina Colada was the best one I’ve ever had. And the sweet potato frites.
I made the mistake of ordering prawns and sweet potato fries and bringing them to my beach chaise. They were peel-and-eat and not easy to eat on the extremely windy beach at all. My sweet potato frites started blowing away, so I tried to protect them by sitting down quickly, but the cushion wasn’t on the chair, so I tumbled onto the sand and dumped the frites all over me. After my chaotic experience, I would suggest eating your beach snacks at their protected-from-the-wind tables.
Dinner Restaurants
LAGOS SPOTS
RESTAURANTE DOS ARISTAS Michelin 2024
Menu highlights: The tangy and sweet elderflower cucumber sour, the poured-in-front-of-you lobster bisque, the super creative sea bass dish with pea and serrano pepper puree, polenta, carrots, and date chutney, and the affogato in a martini glass.
We ate here on our first night in Lagos, and it was a delicious meal outside on their beautiful garden patio.
Menu highlights: The incredible fish ceviche and garlic prawns.
This was a fun meal since we ordered all the tapas and paired them with a few bottles of wine.
Menu highlights: The artisan pizzas and bread.
A good switch-up from the daily fish we were eating.
Menu highlights: The giant Hugo Spritz. I will only be drinking my spritzes out of a glass this large from now on. The crunchy garden salad and the tomato salad. The selection of fresh fish prepared any way you like.
We walked along the coastline from our Airbnb to this restaurant, and the views are stunning. Great photo ops.
AVENIDA RESTAURANTE Michelin 2025
Menu highlights: The creative white asparagus dish on the à la carte menu.
This place was very Michelin. Everything was artfully presented as expected, and I tried bone marrow for the first time.
LISBON SPOTS
Menu highlights: The house made pickles. The lobster roll. The crispy tuna tartare tacos. The flat bread. The caramelized banana tatin with vanilla gelato for dessert.
We enjoyed a glass of wine served from their adorable wine window before we sat down for our reservation. We ordered tapas style and shared basically every small plate on the menu. And six, no seven, espressos to finish.
Menu highlights: The pisco sour and the tuna belly.
My first time trying a pisco sour, which honestly tasted a lot like a margarita to me, so it was great. We ordered the tuna belly paired with passion fruit, corn, and squid ink, and the salmon and tiger prawn ceviches. Ibiza really turned me on to ceviche last summer.
Menu highlights: The Osso Buco in a delicious tomato-based broth with creamy polenta.
This cellar serves classic Portuguese cuisine and has all the wine options. You describe the type of wine you want and the owner picks a bottle out for you to enjoy. To conclude the evening, we ordered one glass of red port wine and passed it to everyone at the table to take a sip. None of us liked it.
Speakeasies & Rooftop Bars
LAGOS
Menu highlights: The 1920s-themed cocktail menu.
First, you have to find the red door.
LISBON
Menu highlights: The spritzes. The city views. The sun-drenched afternoon vibe.
You head up the stairs to this rooftop bar through a parking garage.
Gelato
LAGOS
I ordered the stracciatella and salted caramel gelatos to create a caramel macchiato on a cone.
LUZ
I ordered the coffee gelato after our beach day in Luz.
LISBON
I chose the coconut popsicle and dipped it in dark chocolate.
Menu highlights: The clams. The fish cakes. The apple turnover.
I hired Chef João through Airbnb Experiences to come to the house and cook for us. I told him to surprise us with a tapas menu. He brought everything he needed with him. It was a fun night filled with a lot of laughs and a lot of sangria.
I ordered from the sushi counter, and was so underwhelmed and actually annoyed. I ordered a hand roll, and the skin was still on pieces of mango and salmon, and it was missing the cucumber. From this experience, I would not go back.
I already can’t wait to go back to Lisbon. Also, I am heading to St. Barths in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned for more travel content.