O Arco — Restaurant in Lisbon

I’d leave a 0 star or negative if there was the option. I visited O Arco in Alfama during the Santo António celebrations with the intention of purchasing drinks for myself and a friend. Before ordering, I politely asked a staff member if I could use the restroom first, simply for practical reasons - it’s not easy to manage drinks while navigating a crowded space.

To my surprise, the employee refused in a very rude manner. Even worse, she began speaking disrespectfully in Portuguese, apparently assuming I wouldn’t understand - but I do speak Portuguese, and I was truly shocked by her tone and language. When I expressed that her behavior was unkind, the situation escalated instead of improving.

When I calmly tried to report the issue to someone who seemed to be in a managerial position, I expected at least a neutral response. Instead, he supported the staff member without listening to my side, and I was asked to leave. When I mentioned I’d leave a review and turned to take a photo of the restaurant, the staff member started running onto me and would probably cross the line, is she wasn’t held back. Absolutely shocking.

As someone who lives in Portugal and has traveled extensively, I have never encountered such an aggressive and dismissive attitude in a hospitality setting. I understand things can get hectic during festivities, but basic respect should never disappear.

There are many wonderful restaurants in Alfama - I strongly recommend choosing one where professionalism and courtesy are part of...

We arrived just after 7.15pm without the reservation. The waiter gave out a sigh of frustration when we made him aware of this.

We ordered the Grilled Shrimps for starters and we were disappointed. The sauce was lukewarm and the shrimps were not grilled.

We ordered the Arco's style octopus and Seafood Cataplana for mains. The octopus was well prepared however the seafood Cataplana was disastrous.

The sauce of the Cataplana was lukewarm so we alerted the waiter of this. He totally missed the point and pushed back saying the Cataplana pot is hot. He eventually conceded and let out an exasperated huff muttering "Oh my GOD". We noticed the sauces for the grilled shrimp and the Cataplana was the same and can't help wondering if the sauce was premade in large batches the night before and just doused over the sauced dishes before being served.

I expected much more from the service and quality with the menu pricing. A total disappointment.

Ps. The atmosphere is calm, relaxed and inviting. The decoration is intriguing with currencies of the world pinned up on the wall. The toilet was tiny and you had to straddle the toilet bowl to use it. When one of the other customers asked the waiter where the ladies were, we aggressively gestured towards the back of the establishment. He just stood and watched the customer wander around the rear of the...

The food is amazing, so I have to give at least 2 stars. The octopus was probably the best I've ever tasted - absolutely tender and the natural tastes of all the ingredients really shone in this dish. Cataplana and curry were amazing, too. The stars were lost due to horrible customer service experienced by us and also others around the same time. Almost all the customers were tourists like ourselves. We asked for a wine recommendation. The waiter immediately laughed out loud, and after he gathered himself, he said "What do YOU like?" We told him what flavour profile we like, and he said "then get that" and he laughed again. We told him we asked our question because we wanted to know if he had a recommendation for a wine that would go with the dishes we ordered. He laughed again and said "I don't know! Get what you want!" A few minutes later, we saw him laughing at 2 other tables and we exchanged unsettled looks and remarks about how terrible of a service he provided. An older gentleman came out of the kitchen to introduce the dishes to us and he was marvellous, but they really need to reevaluate the younger man working in the dining room. Maybe he doesn't like tourists but we are paying to eat there, so...