Café Restaurante O Afonso — Restaurant in Porto

Service was horrific… they let you wait because they aren’t able to clear the dishes of otherwise available tables. When finally you get a table you sit between tables full of dishes … they don’t even bother to take the tip on those tables… neither do they look stressed to get this mess under control. Two waiters struggle to organize themselves in a rather small area. Instead of one cleaning the tables and one making drinks, they both make drinks or at least try to because there is not enough room for two people to work efficiently behind the bar. So one waits behind the bar for the other to finish. Then when you want to order everything is fine until your order comes and is messed up. We asked for the sauce to be separated from the meal (I can’t eat spicy things) so we can control how much sauce we want to use (nothing complicated) instead we get one francesinha gut in half on two plates covered in hot sauce. It wouldn’t have been a big deal, if there would’ve been an opportunity to tell the waiter his mistake. The waiter never bothered to appear so we waited so long the dish went cold. I ate the fries instead, which were disgusting. They weren’t crispy at all, didn’t have salt and were the cheap frosted ones you can buy in a supermarket. Even at home you could have done them better than there. When we wanted to pay the waiter ignored us and let us wait until he was finished with his smoke and preparing the restaurant to close. We didn’t get the receipt and it was more expensive than it was in the menu. My boyfriend and I were absolutely disappointed and wouldn’t recommend this to anyone. Otherwise rather nice decoration inside. Not good enough to balance...

A must visit for any Bourdain fan. This place is the exact same hole-in-the-wall that Mr. Bourdain visited in 2017, just one year before he left us. They have only a few minor updates, but have left Mr. Bourdain’s table just as it was as a memorial. It certainly made us tear up a bit.

Because of this, you can probably expect some crowds, as well as some very tired servers. The food here is very basic and traditional Porto cuisine, which is the whole point of these types of restaurants. Nothing here is not fancy or healthy, so if you have culinary needs or expectations, you might leave disappointed. Price is probably a bit higher than what you can find in similar restaurants, but that’s expected. Business is business!

The Francesinha with an egg was great. My wife and I split it (with fries) and it was still too much food. I can’t comment on any of the other items, but they all seem to be similar to way you’d find in most any other Portuguese diners. We also had the sangria, which was perfectly adequate and just what I’d expect from a tiny diner like this.

The staff was clearly exhausted by the time we got there, but they nonetheless showed us extreme generosity. We ate here on our last night, and it was a wonderful end to our time...

We are avid Bourdainians and saw some of the lower rated reviews of Cafe O Afonso. This place does not disappoint. Despite being profiled by Bourdain, the majority of patrons are still locals and don’t be surprised if you overhear comments about how the tourists are causing lines. We waited about 40 minutes to be seated during peak hours. This place is not a restaurant where you will be doted on by the staff. It’s a pub that serves incredible Francesinhas.

We found the staff to be quite friendly except for one employee. That employee was not rude - but not excited - but that’s fine. It’s a pub not fine dining. The rest of the employees were great and the owner Chef Afonso was clearly still very passionate about his restaurant.

If you set the right expectations you will not be disappointed. Their memorial to Bourdain is touching and keep an eye out for the only brown table - they kept it as is to honor his memory but replaced the rest of the tables at some point over the years.

The food was incredible. The experience was authentic. Would absolutely recommend it to anyone visiting Porto.

If you order the signature dish it will absolutely leave you saying “Good lord, Look at that thing!” -...