La Repubblica 37 — Restaurant in Lisbon

Newly opened La Republica 37 is a marvelous rebirth of a long time Saldanha Italian dining location with new ownership, new menu, new chef, and great new service and is definitely a must visit. We tried it for lunch and were excited by the wide variety of traditional and, especially, the very creative Italian items on offer. After sampling their surprisingly delightful couvert, our party of four each had a different dish and were blown away. I had slow cooked, shredded pernil on a bed of mashed sweet potatoes; Sarah a pasta al forno with béchamel, truffled mushrooms, and prosciutto; and one of our friends sampled the pasta with shrimp while the other stretched our geography with the Italian version of entrecôte and frites. All four mains were perfectly prepared, lovingly plated, and uniquely savory. Even with two bottles of a light Alentejano Rosé, the total cost was shockingly gentle! While there are many good to excellent Italian restaurants in Lisbon, we all agreed that La Republica 37 wowed us with the top to bottom quality and the unexpected variety of menu items and we can’t wait to return to sample more! Most highly...

Polite servers, but utterly incompetent. Welcomed us and asked us to sit on a table which was booked and by indication of another waiter had to move. Came to take our order, but forgot paper and pen to take the order. When asked how was the octopus risotto, he said he didn't know, it was a recent dish on the menu (the menu looked as it had been used for months). Then, forgot our appetiser. When the food came we had our appetiser plates in front of us and he asked us to take them away so that he could place the food in front of us... We set the appetiser plates aside, then he puts them upside down in the seats beside us ready for the next client (We had touched the plates!!! Total lack of the basic notions of hygiene in a restaurant). And last and more importantly, the food was terribly salty (the octopus ended up to be tender, but uneatable while the agnolotti were only bearable due to the salad on the side). Positive note, they did not charge for the risotto. Terrible experience. Clear example where they invest on the design and all the rest (that matters most) is as cheap as it gets....

It has been very difficult to find a good Italian restaurant. I have to say this one is very good. The taste and the way the food is cooked was a surprise. We ordered filetto di vitello delle Azzorre, pasta alla repubblica, tagliata di manzo and sangria. For dessert we had this vanilla ice cream with amaretti and coffee. All of it was very good, one of the tastiest Italian food I have ever tried. Despite the vitello was overcooked, the flavor of the combined pesto sauce with the pasta made you forget about that detail. The tagliata not bad taste at all, but not sure that French fries would be the best side dish, maybe with asparagus or salad or something different. Definitely a recommendation if you are looking for a good Italian, tasty and not so expensive restaurant. Annnd, bathrooms were clean, that’s definitely a plus. Update, today I came for the costeleta and it was amazing. I’m changing my review for 5 stars in everything. Great service today. Definitely you need to come to tray the costeleta, unfortunately service still...