Cervejaria Ribadouro — Restaurant in Lisbon

When history meets location prepare to pay a premium! Food quality was up to our expectations, but service was lacking professionalism.

Eating seafood on Avenida de Liberdade, or Lisbon's city center in general, is a very hard and pricey task. I understand the fame and operational costs of such establishments, but I need to perceive value on things such as service and ambiance, which will improve my overall experience.

Here is my detailed review from my experience and point of view.

As we were portuguese speakers, compared to the international dominant clientele, we felt that our waiter, who was clearly looking forward for a day off, was being pushy and wanted us to accept suggestions with little or any dialogue, just for the sake of upsell, or because from his past experience our table wasn't worthy his service delivery efforts for the small expected tips he would have got in return. For the story I left a tip of 2.50€ (from the 5% suggested on the bill, which is an outrageous imported practice which appeared since the Covid outbreak in Lisbon) was a very kind gesture from my side (but the rest of the table disagreed...he didn't deserve any, and he knew it).

Moreover, in order to put you in to some context, we sat at 19h30 in a half full restaurant already being served food, and as we haven't been advised of any 2nd sitting time, we didn't want to rush and we wanted to take our time and enjoy ordering some dishes and then later on maybe some more, which is what we did (for the story by 21h30 we had already left).

Food wise, the 'sapateira', which is the spider crab served with a mayo filling mixture on its shelf (and the legs aside) was huge (1.2kg for 37.50€/kg)!! Usually in other seafood restaurants you find 400-800g crabs, cause above this weight your are just wasting money on the carcasses...

We also ordered an additional crab shelf just with the filling (without the legs), but it seemed that this one was long forgotten on a fridge shelf, and had barely crab taste in it. Of course when listed at 9.90€ compared to the rest, we had little or any expectations...

The clams bulhão pato were very small in size, for a tourist portion priced at 20€.

To the waiter's surprise, I wanted to order their best bottle of white wine, a Crasto Superior priced at 36€ (mark-up 'x3') wasn't available, and he suggested the the 2nd most expensive (Rocim, Verdelho) as counter proposal, which isn't of my liking, and I declined his offer opting for another one at 22€ which has Arinto and Chardonnay grapes. Unfortunately the wine bottle wasn't cold enough and went back to the fridge for 15min...

The bill took 10 min to arrive, and the POS another 10min... Meanwhile other clients were waiting outside for our table to be cleared and reset. Isn't seat turnover what profitability is all about?

On the good side, the huge spider crab was fresh and tasty, the medium size shrimps were good (43€/kg) and the small shrimps fried with garlic were also great and well served (17€ per portion).

I hope this review can be perceived as constructive criticism for the management and not as some kind of punishment for one waiter's behaviour. Please remember that every client counts, and you are always one client away from turning a good reputation...

This place was recommended by my friend, an architect that is from Lisbon and lives between Lisbon and London . I have to say this was probably the best of all the places I went to in this short 3 day mini break. The place is very busy, nicely decorated, the fish, shellfish, the bread, the wine, were all of a quality that is hard to beat or to find again. We started with their amuse Bouche, which was brought to us before we even blinked, a selection of very good ham and a crab that was so fresh and tasty, you felt you were tasting the sea. Then we had 12 oysters and also ordered Percebes. I knew what they were, but they are very rare to find. Not here ! They had them and we ordered a few, and the only thing I can say is WOW! Not only the oysters were the best oysters I had in my life ( salty, fresh, mineral, I struggle to find adjectives that describe the wonderful taste we experienced ), but the percebes were even more delicious! We also had the lombo de bacalau, and the prawn. We also ordered another round of oysters, and we accompanied this wonderful meal with an Alvarinho Palacio de Brejoeira, a fantastic suggestion by the incredibly efficient waiter that looked after us ! This is old school service, the waiter knew exactly what to suggest, the best recommendation, the best wine pairing, and he was fast and efficient, you could see that he probably has been working there for a very long time! Perfect timing, very fast and efficient, knowledgeable and very nice ! This wil be my first place to come back to for a meal when I visit...

Ribadouro has that timeless Lisbon energy — bustling tables, waiters gliding with trays of shellfish, and a large selection of seafood on ice that’s a pure pleasure to the eye as you walk in. Add the perfect location on Avenida da Liberdade, and you know you’re in the right place. This isn’t about trendiness, it’s about tradition — and they’ve mastered it.

The food? Spot on. The garlic shrimp were rich, fragrant, and cooked just right, the tiger prawns came out perfectly grilled, and everything had that freshness you only get when the seafood practically waves at you from the tank before hitting the grill. The only small letdown: no carabineiros (scarlet shrimp) on the menu — one of my personal favorites, which I can usually find over at Ramiro. And while the lobster was excellent, the price did feel a bit excessive compared to other Lisbon cervejarias.

That said, everything else hit the right notes. The service was sharp and friendly, the wine list matched the food beautifully, and the atmosphere — lively, old-school, and full of Lisbon charm — tied it all together.

So, no carabineiros this time, and maybe I’ll think twice before splurging on the lobster again. But the quality, the vibe, and that seafood spread? Absolutely worth it.

I’d highly recommend this joint — especially in August, when Ramiro is closed. Not bad for a place that’s been around...