Coyo Taco Cais do Sodré — Restaurant in Lisbon

Who goes to a place, gets seated, and only orders guacamole?? Apparently us!!! Walked in last night at 9:24pm, got seated behind a stone wall, waiter came over at 9:27pm, we asked about the margaritas, ordered 2 of what he suggested, also some of the guacamole. Off to a good start....Fast forward now to 9:50pm.....guacamole had been eaten but still no drinks were served, nobody came to check on us or take our dinner order(no the place was NOT busy). At 9:57pm we finally grabbed our waiter where we proceeded to ask about our drinks for starters. His exact response "What drinks?" are you serious right now!!!! You suggested the jalapeño margarita cause you said it was "sweet", but you're right we never ordered drinks. Ok then why have we been sitting there for almost 30 minutes now without being served drinks or dinner in front of us. I mean not even a glass of water!! Oh yeah that's right, we only wanted the guacamole (which probably came out of a can cause it was mediocre at best), silly me for thinking otherwise. But we clearly watched other people get seated after us, get their drinks and food, while we just got walked by and ignored. Overall the night was ruined thanks to Coya Taco. By the time we walked out of there after paying the $9 bill (as the waiter just laughed at us) all the actual restaurants in the area were closing. Had to settle for a pizza at Don Costini and it was fantastic!!!...

After having a quick lunch at the restaurant yesterday (Feb 6, 2024), we both suffered from a mild food poisoning. I already sent an email with more details to the address provided to another reviewer who suffered a severe case of food poisoning a month ago.

The food itself seemed ok, so I suspect that the handling of the food is not up to safety standards. But having had my fair share of Mexican food around the world, I cannot say that I am impressed by what Coyo Taco serves. Portions are small for the prices asked, the burrito contained more "fillings" such as beans and rice than actual meat and the tacos seemed rather dry.

The small outside terrace is nice though as we sat in the sun whilst having our meal.

I cannot recommend Coyo Taco though and truly hope that the people of the large table inside did not suffer the same feat!

EDIT 20240214: Finally a whole week after my email I received a response from the management company behind the restaurant, with the same false promise to conduct an internal investigation they gave the other reviewer who suffered food poisoning. This company is clearly only interested in making quick money and doesn't care about the well-being of their customers. Vote with your wallet and don't go to these restaurants managed by the same company:...

I ate at Coyo near Time Out on a hot day in Lisbon. A huge mistake. The main door was wide open with an AC unit directed towards the kitchen area where the cooks, cashiers, and all the waitstaff stood apathetic. On the opposite side, the patrons sat in heat without AC or electric fan. Many customers were fanning themselves with menus. I get it... the kitchen staff need to cool off while preparing our meals. However, customers need to feel comfortable as well. Some waitstaff who had on a T shirt, denim shirt, pair of long pants, and pair of leather boots were standing in front of an only AC in comfort. To the owners, get some electric fans.

Also, each tacos are around 6€ a piece. That's extremely steep in Portugal. Also, tipping/gratuity is not required in Portugal. They add gratuity to the bill without any explanation, and customers, without realizing this, pay the amount printed in a larger type (total amount plus tip). I've seen other places with waitstaff give you a bill and request a tip while insisting that it's not required. Most places in Portugal just give you a bill without gratuity and don't even expect them. They won't even bring it up because it's not part of the Portuguese culture.

Perhaps their other locations are better? There are too many great restaurants in Lisbon for me...