The best bars and cafés Lisbon

Without doubt one of the most beautiful esplanades in Lisbon! A cosmopolitan place, a clientele mixing travellers and Lisboetes as well as many tables offering a breathtaking view of the Tagus and the rooftops of Alfama. You can enjoy petiscos (tapas), sandwiches, and salads at any time of the day, you can also simply come and have a drink and laze in the middle of the excitement. The prices are higher than elsewhere, the view has a cost, the service is, unfortunately, rather uneven, but it doesn't matter. To be tested at the end of the day over a beer.

Very little signage for this bar with a 500 ^m2 terrace and a 180° view. To get there, you really have to go into the parking lot and take the elevator to the top. When you get to the bar, it's really quite a surprise! Its hard part, its decoration and its vegetation evoke a little the Tropics. Planted shrubs and light woodwork give the space a suspended garden feel. A little Mediterranean cuisine and some snacks (homemade gourmet hamburgers) to satisfy your appetite and cocktails on the esplanade to enjoy.

This former "brothel", once frequented by local prostitutes and visiting foreign sailors, retains something of its sultry cabaret atmosphere. On the program: cultural events, improbable DJ nights in its dance hall, or just chatting. Chapel-Sixtine-style ceilings, pedestal tables and antique armchairs give the "Pension Amour " plenty of charm and sensuality. You can then go and sleep just upstairs in their Madam's Lodge hotel, and stay in an oriental ambiance.

An establishment under the São Luís theatre and above the São Carlos theatre, which has a pretty vaulted room full of charm and a small terrace. You can take the time to daydream in good company or even to read thanks to a pile of international magazines at your disposal. A slate at the entrance offers a dish of the day that will always be cheaper than an à la carte dish. At certain times of the year, free quality concerts (jazz cycle: Monday and Friday) entertain a cosmopolitan and well-educated clientele.

Here, the coffee is roasted on site. Since its creation in 2015, the Fabrica Coffee Roasters has not destuffed with its small terrace where you can have breakfast with a coffee and a croissant (a real good one as in France). For us, it is the best elongated coffee in the city (called here americano or abatanado). If you are a fan of good coffees and cappuccinos, we highly recommend this address. Be careful, here no wifi, deliberate bias of the owners who do not want to see their establishment filled with computers.

A crazy bar with four intergalactic animals for mascots. You can spot this bar with its bright yellow illuminated sign that sits above the bar on a deep blue wall. It serves local beers, wine, but also homemade cocktails made with seasonal ingredients. We go there mainly for that, especially since sometimes they are on promotion (it's announced on the Instagram account). On the program: sets, soul, funk and latino rhythms to keep you entertained all night long or almost all night long. The motto: dance, don't stand still!

An original bar that makes barber at the entrance and bar/pub in the background. A very British style with leather sofas and billiards. A real atmosphere apart with a little touch of lisboet madness in addition. It has the advantage of being outside the crowded streets of Bairro Alto, but still close enough to attract people. The atmosphere is guaranteed on weekends and the bar is packed! DJ sets are organized on weekends to warm up before going dancing in one of the city's clubs. They also offer some snacks in case you get hungry.

At the entrance to this bar, you won't see a name, just a red frog carved above a bell that reads "Press for cocktails". Ring the bell and the door opens, leading to a basement bar. This is indeed a hidden bar, in the tradition of speakeasy bars, the underground bars that existed during Prohibition in the USA. Down a few steps, you enter a small, dimly lit bar with a retro look, very American in the 1920s and 1930s. Red Frog was voted one of the 50 best bars in the world in 2022.

"The Good, the Bad and the Bad", a whole program! This establishment, named after the famous Sergio Leone western in Portuguese, is really one of the new good surprises in the Cais do Sodré district. In a kind of huge apartment with a design and cosy style, several rooms with bars, sofas, armchairs... The light is dimmed and the atmosphere is good-natured. Every evening, or almost every night, there is live music: DJ sets, afrobeat or jazz concerts. The perfect place to start the evening or finish it off with a cocktail.

A little hidden on the right of the statue of this dear Adamastor, the giant of the Storms (depicted by Luís de Camões in his Lusiades), it is a busy space, which offers a superb view of the city from two beautiful terraces. The very friendly welcome recommends caipirinhas, vitamin juice and snacks... If it is too cool, blankets are distributed to observe, without worries, the sunset on the deck of April 25 (sublime!) and dive gradually into the night, sometimes animated by small concerts or DJ performances.

Probably the most mythical café in Lisbon, once frequented by politicians and especially modernist artists and writers. This historical monument in its own right, which opened its doors in 1905, continues to attract tourists with its Art Nouveau façade and its grandiose interior decorated with gilding, large mirrors stitched by the ages and painted ceilings. A coffee and a nata pastel are a must! On the terrace, it is impossible to miss the statue of Pessoa (of which it was one of the HQs) sitting at a table, book in hand.

At some 21 p. m. (except Sundays), it presents good live music sessions (Cape Verde and other Portuguese African colonies). Rather relaxed atmosphere.

On the 9 ^th floor of the Hotel Mundial, an esplanade bar with an incredible view over Lisbon. Admire the castle, the Baixa, the districts more northerly, and our gaze is lost on the horizon in the Tagus. Chic chairs and tables, clean in white and blue tones. Sip cocktails, especially gin, some salads and tapas plus a jazz music background.

A typical and cute kiosk, all dressed in white, in the corner of Principe Real Park. Take your "Bica", and simply let yourself be contemplated by the comings and goings of passers-by, and the imposing view of the century-old trees. Very good for a little coffee between friends, to gossip on passers-by. In the early evening, it is the meeting place for the Lisboetes just after leaving their work. On the other side of the park, another kiosk, this time pink, which displays more prices "for tourists", to avoid.

A stone's throw from Mãe da Agua and the Amoreiras garden, with access via João Penha Street, it is nestled in a small house nestled at the top of a flight of steps. To complete a romantic walk in the neighbourhood, this precious and intimate little bar, opened in 1972, is absolutely perfect! Thanks to its excellent cocktails and digestives, this unusual address attracts an after-dinner clientele. The waiter in costume walking us out the door tells us that O Procópio belongs to the ex-wife of the manager of the Pavilhão Chines!

A little away from it all on the way from the Assembly of the Republic to Príncipe Real, a place founded in 1978 that's extraordinary and comfortable enough to take a break or spend the evening. Several salons follow one another. With all its collections, the first one is furiously reminiscent of the Pavilhão Chines, created later in 1986: this is to be expected, since it was the same decorator Luíz Pinto Coelho who designed them. There's even a parrot to greet visitors. It's all part of a chic, somewhat exotic London pub vibe where you ring the doorbell.