Restaurante Donna Olinda — Restaurant in Tavira

Party of 5, with 4 adults and a child.

Very friendly first approach via phone with Sergio sharing the menu and making the booking.

At the restaurant the staff was not friendly, I assume because they are overwhelmed with the summer demand, which impacts the Cx. I would suggest changes, to make the staff happy with having customers with them. Rita is very professional and to the point. The waitress, which served most of the dishes and drinks, shows a very sloppy approach, dropping dishes to the table with a “clunk” sound - not gentle at all, and serving us the wine with drops over the table, dishes and even our personal effects. Simple things like a missing glass or spoon for serving took at least 5 minutes to arrive, with us having to insist on the request. I would suggest proper training, before throwing the person to the customer. And again, not friendly at all.

The order could not be taken in steps, so we could not order starters, and then with ease select main dishes. This created a lag in the ordering for us, and the food took approximately one hour to reach the table, by food, I mean the starters. I assume this will not work if you have children with you.

The food was to the point, good quality, depicting our traditional cuisine (with regular portions for the starters but smaller than anticipated portions for the main dishes). The food and peak summer season are perhaps the reason why the restaurant was full.

For the drinks, we were surprised that for the two listed sparkling wines, only the cheapest one was available. But we had that one and it worked well with the food.

As a summary, I would recommend this restaurant off peak, since I believe that if the staff is not overwhelmed, they will be able to come closer to the good Cx that the food already provides. And of course, allowing for the food to take less time to arrive, because 1h waiting is not ok.

Price wise, for 5 people we had 4 starters and 3 main dishes, which amounts to 20 euros per person, with water, 1 bottle of wine, and 1 juice...

A restaurant a little bit from the city center but by the river Gilao A big terrace with shadow, which is good during the summer. The winter can be a bit chilly outside. Since we have a dog,the outside terrace is the only option for us.

Anyway, we had 5-8 tapas, grilled chicken wings, olives, bread, vegetables, presumptos, different frittered things/cannot remember. But all in all it was a very lovely evening, not expensive, and we will definitely come here again (And for those who have dogs, the personell kept track when the dog water was empty and refilled it.)Very nice service

All in all, this was our first visit and we are definitely coming back again.👍

This review above was written a couple of years ago. Our last visit yesterday was also very nice. We had piglet, many tapas, dessert, good wine and beer, excellent service, sat there for 3 hours. Again excellent food. One of my favorite restaurants in Tavira. Well...

A lovely restaurant opposite the river near the railway bridge. The authentic Portuguese food was so tasty and not the usual fare in local restaurants. It's not a tourist menu and groups of Portuguese friends were eating there. We had a selection of small plates including cod fritters, some sliced pork with piquant veg and a vegetarian dish of black eyed beans with spinach, garlic and cornbread croutons. All delicious! Everything is cooked to order so don't expect fast food but it's well worth the wait. Great value too,...