Image by Erik Lassche

Royal Café is a nice, almost hidden, place to have breakfast, lunch or an afternoon snack. The setting is modern and clean, without being distant. In the back you can find a (rather tiny) terrace.

The main specialties are natural- and biological products. They have a good assortment of salads, sandwiches, fresh juices, various teas and infusions.

It is not cheap, compared to your average Portuguese pastelaria or snackbar, but nothing scandalous, especially if you’re used to Northern European prices.

I like to come here to have lunch or a snack when spending time in Chiado. It is just 100 meters away from the main street in Chiado, but a lot more quiet and less touristic. And it is open on Sunday!!

If it is full try Vertigo.

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Royal Café | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Sandwich & juice € 9.00
Largo Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro 29 | Chiado & Baixa | +351213469125
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 00:00, Sun 10:00 – 20:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon

Image by Erik Lassche

Hidden away next to the picturesque Largo do Carmo, Vertigo is one of the more trendy places in Chiado. It’s a perfect spot to have lunch or a cup of coffee in the afternoon. Or have a drink here before going for dinner in Bairro Alto!

The menu is rather healthy and features lots of salads, sandwiches, fresh juices and more exotic offers. (Not that easy to find in Lisbon, trust me!). The interior is very cozy yet stylish.

The area around Vertigo is becoming more and more interesting, with lots of cafés, shops and restaurants opening. Check it out.

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Vertigo | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Sandwich & juice € 8.00
Travessa do Carmo 4 | Chiado & Baixa | +351213433112
10:00 – 00:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon

Image by Erik Lassche

Kaffeehaus is located in the middle of Chiado, just next to one of Lisbon’s most famous theatres, São Carlos. It fits in the old, and almost lost, tradition of literary cafés that were the trademark of Chiado. Kaffeehaus, however, does it in her own, Viennese style.

The place is hard to classify since you can go here for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a drink at night. A better way to describe it would be its style: a great place to get up to date on what is happening in Lisbon, read a newspaper, have a coffee or a drink.

Besides the setting, the food helps! Try great Austrian pastry in the middle of Lisbon! Amazing Apfelstrüdel and a lot of other surprising dishes. There is something different written on the chalkboard every day, so you can always come back for something new!

Great place for a pit-stop on your Saturday-shopping in Chiado or a more prolonged break on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Be patient though, it is becoming and awful popular place! So popular in fact that they increased their capacity. No more waiting (almost )

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Kaffeehaus | Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (European/Austrian) | Main € 8.00
Rua Anchieta 3 | Chiado & Baixa | +351210956828
Tue – Thu 11:00 – 00:00, Fri – Sat 11:00 – 02:00, Sun 11:00 – 20:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon

Image by erik lassche

Chiado is definitely one of the most charming areas of Lisbon. The main street is has some nice historical cafés, but they tend to be very touristic. A great alternative is Café no Chiado.

The location is excellent: smack in the middle of Chiado, with tram-line 28 passing right in front of you! The place has been renovated in 2006. It nowadays has a very cool interior and a great terrace.

Come here to have a cup of coffee or lunch, read a book on the terrace or just to enjoy the setting. Try the salads, they are great!

At night it’s a great place to dine, especially after visiting one of the nearby theatres, since they serve dinner until 02:00. Try the steak with mustard sauce. I did for a dozen times already

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Café no Chiado | Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (Portuguese) | Great salad € 8.00
Largo do Picadeiro 10-12 | Chiado & Baixa | +351213460501
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 02:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon

Image by Veronica

Santini is a traditional italian icecream shop, that has been in business since 1949! They started operating in the “Linha” – around Cascais and Estoril, but finally decided to open a store in Lisbon in 2010. And what a wonderful idea it was! Sometimes there can be a line at the door but it is worth the wait! Trust us!

Santini creates the best flavoured ice-creams in the world They use real fruits, no crappy fake stuff and always fruits that are in their season. After I lived in Italy for a semester, I can assure that Santini icecreams are just as good as (or even better than) the ones you find at the best Gelaterias in Milano!

Be a dare devil and create your own double scoop.

Vee’s favorite – passion-fruit and coconut

Rita’s favorite – strawberry, strawberry and strawberry!

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Santini | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Double scoop € 2.50
Rua do Carmo 9 | Chiado & Baixa
10:00 – 00:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon

Image by Nuno Lopes de Paula

When I think about lemonade, and although it’s still a popular drink in Portugal, I always remember some American movies where students raise money doing garage sales, or… working in backyard homemade lemonade stands. Here in Lisbon, the best lemonade in town – and the cheapest, as they say - was at Merendinha, near Bairro Alto.

The old place was a small and claustrophobic restaurant, serving besides the lemonade also snacks like sandwiches, cakes and pastry. But when the crisis came, they didn’t hold much longer, and they had to close the place.

I was a little bit sad when Merendinha closed after 74 years serving the legendary lemonade, I thought the famous homemade drink of Lisbon has gone for good. One year later, the place reopened in a different, modern but yet very cosy style. The new name is Liquid, but you can still read the old name “Merendinha” at the entrance.

They have smoothies – With funny names like “Peter Pan”, or “Doctor Away” (with apple in it I’m sure) - juices and also some pastry and soups. The purpose is to change habits, replacing big meals for a light, but healthy smoothie with enough vitamines to cure a cold. Drinks come in different sizes, from small shots to half a liter, and you can add wheatgrass, ginger or other ingredients and give some flavour to your own the magic potion.

Now you can say they’re back in business – New owners, new vision, modern design, soon they’ll be famous again for good reasons, for here, lemonade is back in town. Yummy! Keep it simple.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Liquid na Merendinha | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Lemonade € 1.50
Rua Nova do Almada, 45 A | Chiado & Baixa | +351917646195
Mon – Sat 08:00 – 19:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon

Image by Claudio Carneiro

This is one of my weekends favourite bakeries. I like this one specially for its “sonhos” (dreams), which are normally a Christmas season specialty, but they have it, fortunately, all winter long. “Sonhos” are fried cakes, much like donuts, but lighter and fluffier. There are the normal and the pumpkin ones, the last being my pick. Also their “rabanadas” (well, I don’t know how to translate that!) are just perfectly done. It’s like a sweet french toast, but much better. And for last, if they are not the only place in Lisbon that sells bagels, they surely are the only one that make authentic ones.

Another great thing is their storefront. It’s always decorated accordingly to the season, or happening or celebration.

And the best of all is that this bakery is in the middle of the best stores and tourist places in Chiado. And it’s there that I normally buy my bread for the whole week. Did I mention their bread is spectacular?

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Panificação do Chiado | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Breakfast € 5
Calçada do Sacramento, 26-32 | Chiado & Baixa | +351213424044
Mon – Fri 07:00 – 18:00, Sat 08:00 – 19:00, Sun 11:00 – 19:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon

Image by KatyP

For one of the freshest, warmest, most delicious pastel de nata in down town Lisbon, go to Café Martinho da Arcarda. This very old (established in 1782), very famous cafe is situated in the top right corner of Praça do Comércio (as you stand with your back to the river) and has an esplanade under the arches of one of the buildings that line the edge of the Praça.

The decor has not changed since Fernando Pessoa used to frequent the cafe in the early 1900s and there is a typically Portuguese tiled scene behind the bar counter showing the kitchen and the baking of the above mentioned pastéis de nata. There are signs up in the cafe proudly stating that the pastéis de nata are cooked on the premises on a daily basis. There are only a few tables inside the cafe with the majority of them being situated outside on the esplanade.

This café, in my opinion, is actually nicer than the far busier, more touristed one that is in Rossio on Praça Dom Pedro IV. Whilst sitting outside this cafe you have a view directly across the newly-refurbished Praça do Comércio to the river.

There is a restaurant attached to the café and although I have not eaten there, a glance at the menu suggested that it is rather a pricey and perhaps touristy restaurant. Nonetheless, I would highly recommend a traditional pastel de nata and a coffee at the café.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Café Martinho da Arcada | Coffee & tea | Coffee & cake € 5
Praça do Comércio, 3 | Chiado & Baixa | +351218879259
11:00 – 23:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon