Lisbon Cafe — Restaurant in Town of North Hempstead

Went for dinner last night - very disappointing experience. I do not understand how this place can have 4 stars, they do not seem to be able to run the restaurant smoothly. Perhaps the food is good - but getting it is another story.

Arrived around 7:15pm - the outdoor seating area was about half full so we decided to sit out there because of the nice evening. There was no proper host/hostess, so between the 2 waiters and 1 busboy trying to figure out which table to put us on took about 10 minutes despite an abundance of free tables.

Finally got seated - unfortunately without menus. One of us walked up and got menus for our table. After about another 10-15 minutes the waiter came over and started speaking in Portuguese, we told him that none of us speak Portuguese or Spanish. He tried explaining specials but mentioned all of them in Portuguese so I was left with no idea what the specials were. We had seen mussels on a different table - so we managed to communicate to our waiter that we wanted that.

Perhaps another 15 minutes had passed before another waiter came by to take our orders. Unfortunately he did not speak English either. We asked what the green sauce in Shrimp with Green sauce is, to which he responded, "mole verde" - which one of us figured means "green sauce" - that was his only explanation of the sauce and could not tell us what else went in it.

After placing our orders we started to notice that mostly everyone that was siting around seemed frustrated or agitated, several tables had been sitting there since we got seated (nearly 30-40 minutes ago) and had their leftovers packed and ready to go. The wait staff had not brought out the checks. A few tables got up went in to collect their own checks.

The mussels came out in the meantime and they were very good, there was a good quantity of mussels and they tasted nice and fresh.

Around 8:30pm - perhaps 45 minutes after placing our order for entrees, we were fed up/starving/hangry. No wait staff had stopped by to refill our drinks/water, so we went inside to ask for our check. We ran into the manager who said the kitchen was working on making food but wasn't sure how long it would be. When we said we just wanted our check and no longer wanted to wait, she seemed apologetic and told us we could leave.

Despite the mussels being good, the overall experience was so terrible I would never go back and I would not advise anyone to go to Heart...

Update: May 10, 2025. Another amazing dinner last night. I had the special, Filet of Sole with toasted almonds and shrimp. Simply Amazing. The Octopus appetizer was another amazing bite. The flavors were amazing and the Octopus was cooked to perfection.

This is a restaurant my friend frequents. Yesterday he invited me to visit. It was cold out so there was no outdoor dining. There was a big party when we went inside so we were directed to the bar area. We had a very quiet spot. The waiter was very attentive but not in any way rushing us. I order unsweetened ice tea which for me is a test as to what will come. The tea was really tasty and fresh. They bring out fresh bread with amazing olives. We ordered baked clams and mussels. The clams were good and mussels were as well. They serve delicious bread so soaking up the juices was really enjoyable. They served a modest salad with home made dressing. Really good! Then I had rack of lamb with potatoes, my friends lobster and stuffed fish. They were beautifully presented.. My lamb was cooked to perfection. It was a lot of food. Dessert was really good. The menu had a lot of good choices. Hard to only pick one. I had the Flan and my Friend the apple dish. The Flan was really tasty and the apple was really good served with ice cream and whipped cream. To die for literally. When we got there it was boarder line lunch menu and dinner. They allowed us to stay with the lunch menu which saved a lot of money. We had a really good time. Want to come back when the outdoor patio is open.

Two weeks later we returned. The meal was amazing and the service as good as ever. Posting new pictures.

September 15, 2024 We were back again. What an amazing meal. This place rocks. Everything was perfectly cooked. Such an amazing meal. The waiters are so good. I love the outdoor space. The seabass was amazing, the Lobster with pasta was amazing my Octopus appetizer was spot on. Thank you for yet another...

Actually, the rating I want to give this restaurant is 4.4.Went to the restaurant today for a late lunch. It was a delayed celebration of my birthday, Mother's Day and my son's first year at the college graduation with a 4.0 average! There were 4 of us: myself, my husband, my son and the mother-in-law. For an appetizers I ordered steamed mussels with wine and garlic and for the table we ordered grilled portobello mushroom appetizer which included portobello mushrooms, stuffed with seafood, stuffed clams, shrimps, grilled calamari and roasted peppers. The portobello mushroom platter was enough for the four of us. The sauce was delicious with a touch of heat in it. I tried the mushrooms and baked clam. The mushrooms were delicious, the clam stuffing was light and tasty. Tried a little piece of the calamari- not a fan of calamari-it was very tender and very tasty. You can tell that it was fresh. My mussels were very tender and were served in a delightful wine sauce with plenty of fresh garlic. Even my son liked the sauce. For the main course I had Sole with Almonds, my husband had Stuffed Sole with seafood stuffing, my son had a Rack of Lamb, my mother -in -law had Shrimps in Garlic sauce. My fish was delicate, flaky and tasty. My husband enjoyed his stuffed sole ( I didn't try it), he said that the sauce was very nice. Tried a bit of my son's lamb-it was tender and juicy. My mother-in-law said the shrimps were very tasty ( I don't eat shrimps, so I didn't try any) but my husband had a taste of them and said they were very flavorful. I trust my husband))) If he said they were good, they were good)) Will...