Casa Expresso — Restaurant in Porto

Mixed bag. I’ve eaten here three times and don’t know what to expect anymore. First time was great, good quality food with plenty of options, fast service and very fair local prices. Second time was fine, the service was a bit off, and then the last, most recent, visit I was shocked at how rude the usual server was with us. I don’t know if it was because I entered the restaurant alone as an obvious non-Portuguese (without my Portuguese friends, who I usually go with), or if it was because it was a Friday and they were busy, but the guy was really abrupt from the start. I thought he maybe didn’t have patience for my poor Portuguese and just wanted to get the orders in. But later, after the food, when he came by the table I asked for the Wi-Fi password and he replied with “Sobremesa?”(Dessert?) and I asked sceptically “The password is ‘sobremesa’?” to which he replied “The only thing I care about right now is whether you want a dessert or not”. When I told him I was fine for a dessert he rattled off the Wi-Fi password so that I couldn’t catch it and disappeared back to the kitchen. I was really shocked by how rude he was. We didn’t enjoy the rest of our time there and left disappointed. My friend was also disappointed with the fish (bacalhau à Braga) because it was cooked from frozen and there was still a lot of water in the fish. She’s local and knows what to expect with this dish and was not impressed with the way...

A small, authentic place serving excellent Portuguese fare.  Ambience is minimal, but we had fantastic grilled Carapaus (mackerel) and Rojões (spicy pork knee sandwiches).  Delicious food for a decent price.  Our bill was EUR 24,60 and I told the young waiter in fluent Portuguese (I'm a native speaker) to round it up to EUR 30,00 and keep the 5,40 balance as a tip.  I used my phone wallet without checking the handheld display and paid the bill.  It was only after being outside and looking at the phone again to call an Uber that I noticed a banner showing that I'd just been charged EUR 38.00, which was clearly not the number I spoke.  This is Europe, where tipping is not-so-common and often minimal.  Why would I tip EUR 13,40 on a EUR 24,60 bill?  Service was OK but clearly not even remotely justifying a 54% tip.  Maybe it was an honest mistake by the young waiter, maybe it wasn't (based on how he reacted it seemed more like the latter). The manager listened to my complaint, immediately apologized, opened the register and refunded the EUR 8,00 card overcharge in cash.   My advice is: don't miss this place and enjoy its great food, but be vigilant at the time of paying if using phone or...

What more can I say about this place that the other objective reviews have not already? It’s the real deal. I travel the world in search of great authentic foods, no matter the price or size of establishment. Unfortunately, I don’t speak Portuguese, but thankfully there is a page or two in the menu with English. On my visits I noticed a growing contingent of English-speaking diners, I wonder how the locals feel about that. The staff is super friendly and are patient enough and experienced enough to know what I’m trying to say. I could go on and on, but I’m headed out the door for yet another visit on this very rainy Saturday night. PS: the kitchen reopens 7 PM for dinner service but you can get the amazing rojao any time (€2.80 as of this post, apologize for misspelling) between lunch and dinner service. Last night I ordered a whole bunch of stuff including dessert and it came out to a little under €13. Today it was just the rojas which is enough! It is so juicy and sloppy that you will go through a big wad of their very small and very...