Rio's Tapas & Bar — Restaurant in Porto

As soon as the waiter looked outside while we were reading the menu, we had to leave. But unfortunately we decided to try….

Service. At first I was seated outside, although it looked like we were indoors, but it was very cold (now is January).

At my request, I was transferred inside the restaurant. The waiters are nice, but terribly annoying, every 2-3 minutes they pass by and look at your plate, before you have finished eating, they try to clean it right away. It was very uncomfortable because of this, I wanted to finish everything as soon as possible and run away from there.

The waiters also asked several times if everything tasted good. If I started to say that something was wrong, the waiter decided to find out what was wrong, but the feeling was that it was not us, but he was unhappy with us that we complained.

In addition, they have terribly inconvenient "children's" devices. Knives and forks with short handles, very uncomfortable. The knife is terribly dull... Salt and pepper to the dish only upon request from the waiter...

Food. We ordered ribs, fried octopus, french fries and lemonade - of all this, there was only a delicious sauce on the ribs and fries, that's all... The ribs themselves are like half-raw - stringy, poorly baked, very tasteless. The octopus was battered, nothing special, it looked like a frozen product that had been fried. And the sauce for the octopus is generally disappointing - mayonnaise with beetroot.

Lemonade was in the category - fresh juice. Instead of juice, they brought water with lemon.

In addition, without warning, the check included a service charge of 2.5 euros per person, and 3 euros per person for 5 slices of bread, to which they brought a few olives, a piece of butter, olive oil and lard.

If you just want water, it's also only for money, and if you don't ask, you'll find out about it only from the receipt.

In general, it is not worth the time, money and spoiled mood at all. Definitely not...

This restaurant is a real eye catcher from the outside. It looks incredibly beautiful and atmospheric, but we were seated in the back and once you get inside the lights seem too bright, and the atmosphere is kind of cold.

We had high hopes for the food, but unfortunately this was the biggest disappointment.

The salmon ceviche was tasteless. No salt, no acidity. Just salmon, coconut milk, and red onion, which made it just a very strange dish. And the onion was very dominant. Maybe they relied on the acidity of the passion fruit, but this just added another odd component to the dish. The overall taste was like eating cream with onion.

There was not a lot of choice for meats or vegetables or fish for that matter. There was only a beef stew.

However there was a big selection of “fried” foods, and for those who cannot handle that much oil.. it’s simply a disaster. The fried chicken was drenched in sesame oil, and chili oil. This was supposed to be a sauce, but it was just plain oil. This was another dish of which we simply couldn’t understand the thoughts behind it..

The other dish was the polvo salad. Now I have had many traditional versions of a Polvo salad, but this was a very interesting take. Some green leaves with deep fried octopus.. again… no salt, no vinaigrette… no taste just some greens, olive oil and fried octopus.

The red wine was absolutely the highlight, and it was delicious. BUT, it was 10 euro’s per glass, and they did NOT inform us about the price in advance. Maybe we should have looked better, but usually the staff informs when you ask a recommendation for wine. We ended up paying more for wine and service than for the actual food.

The staff was absolutely the best. Very friendly, very thoughtful.. and very kind. I gladly paid the 7 euro’s tip that is included standard on the bill.

I wouldn’t really recommend going here for the food. But this is just my...

Rio’s is a very popular spot so it’s unlikely you’ll get in without a reservation. We didn’t get in on our first night but managed to get a reservation on our second night.

The restaurant is really lovely inside and the staff are super friendly. They really accommodated our young kids.

For me the food is a cross between tapas and American bar snacks. The more traditional dishes, like the Rojões, stood out for me whereas the Fried Octopus was like a fried bar snack that you could get anywhere that didn’t let the main ingredient shine. Octopus this good should be front and centre! It was tasty and tender but fell short of what it could be. Similar with the Pork Ribs. They were like good pub or bar ribs but nothing special.

The Chicken Strips were perfect for the kids and went down a treat with fries.

Wine selection was good (nod to the waiter for his suggestions) and service was impeccable. My only other gripe was the Glade Plug In Air Fresheners that were plugged in around the restaurant. At times quite overwhelming and not necessarily what you want with your dining experience.

Certainly worth a visit when in Porto but perhaps lean more towards to the traditional dishes...