A Provinciana — Restaurant in Lisbon

Right off the bat I will say that if you're in a rush or limited on time then this place is not for you at all. You should walk around the corner to the pedestrianised R. das Portas de Santo Antão and there are loads of tourist places that will probably sort you out much quicker. We (family of 5) decided to go this place because of the reviews and it was a great experience.

The place is all about portuguese home cooking - small, with 4 tables outside as well as some inside but there's a queue just to get a table! I have never queued for a table before but considering the ratings thought it was worth a punt. Lunch was being served between 12-3.30pm. We waited for about 30 mins and eventually the waitress found us a table inside. This lady was literally doing everything by herself - waiting tables, taking payments, serving food, serving drinks, cleaning tables BUT she was the most charming individual I have ever seen in such an under-resourced position with so much positivity when interacting with the clients (fyi - she appears to speak every language as well as portuguese and with so much charm)

I did notice that some reviewers mentioned that the service was terrible but I would disagree and say we waited a normal amount of time between courses (we decided to start with some bread and olives).....but we weren't in a rush to get anywhere as we were loving the atmosphere too.

All the main dishes were excellent with "peixe espada", sardines, "grelhada mixta" to name but a few dishes of the day. My highlight was my "Delicia de coco " desert which was the sugar rush I needed to continue going. Great place overall, very busy, frequented by locals, and memorable for all the...

On the recommendation of our wonderful e-bike tour guide, Diogo, we found this unbelievable and charming family operated restaurant in an unlikely, nondescript alley. Don't let the location fool you!

From our experience, you want to get there early as there were a few people in line waiting for the 7PM opening. The hostess / server / likely owner seemed even somewhat surprised by the number of patrons waiting when she opened the door.

Since we were pleasantly nestled in like sardines, as the saying goes, I decided on the grilled sardines for dinner. Others had salmon (exceptional), cod (exceptional), pork (exceptional).

The host / bartender / likely owner prepared drinks, of course, and also tenderized certain meat offerings at the bar before passing them through a small window to the chef / possibly dishwasher / likely owner in the kitchen. (I later asked and was told this family-operated endeavor has been in the works for 36 years)

Considering seating the restaurant all at once and to my knowledge a three-person operation, food and drinks were served in a timely manner. If you can get a seat, sit back, relax, enjoy their house wine, feast your eyes on the wall-to-wall floor-to-ceiling collection of clocks and memorabilia, while you await a hearty meal at a more than reasonable (cash...

Food is ok, price is good however the service is terrible. I waited 40 minutes for a table and even tho they had 2 free tables they didn’t allow us to sit (even with an elderly person with me). This is because we are only “allowed” to sit when they call us... which means: there’s only one woman who has to take the orders, clean the tables, bring the food and to get the bill to the costumers! That’s insane! Specially on summer when there’s a LOT of tourists!! She def CAN’T handle everything so she gets stressed and take on the costumers.... so after we finally got a table, we had to wait until the other sits beside us to be sit so she would take our orders.... this is not handy AT ALL... because in the meantime the cooker is not doing anything and when FINALLY the cooker gets the orders, she has to prepare a LOT of things at the same time!! Me and my mom spent almost 2 hours there to have the meal of the day and a Coke. Anyways.... a lot of mistakes and I was really disappointed due to the good reviews I read here. I will never going...