The restaurant opens from 12-3pm for lunch, and 7-10pm for dinner. We arrived shortly before 7pm,…read moreand there was a line waiting already! The front of the restaurant is for take out customers, while the dining room is in the back. The waiter didn't give us any menu, because chargrilled chicken is all they serve! Not much choice for sides either - salads and fries, take it or leave it. No apologies. It's interesting to see big families having dinner here, hard to imagine, for an American, that they can all manage to be satisfied with the same dish, without some diet or preference in the way. As you can imagine, for a restaurant like this, they do one thing and do it really good. Tender chicken with a wonderful chargrilled flavor. My husband loves grilled chicken so this is like the 4th chicken place we visited on the trip, and this one is the clear winner. The fries and salad are just meh though.

Do one thing and do it well! Best peri peri chicken on our entire 2 week visit to Portugal. Arrive…read moreearly and prepare to wait but it's worth it.

Tapas style but the servings were large and everything so well presented and excellent tastes…read more Little gem in an alley.

Our tour guide E'll highly recommended it and now we do too! A tiny place on a narrow avenue…read more Service was great. The food exceptional! Reservations needed. Lots of tapas to share. Highlights included a fig & cheese appetizer, mushroom fennel goat cheese baked in pastry and a tender beef stew. Chocolate fondant is not to be missed. All so good, we have reservations for tomorrow night!

We were looking for good arroz + marisco/cataplana in the area and fell upon this restaurant due to…read morethe positive ratings. Everything we ordered was delicious from the clams bulhao to the arroz marisco to the Algarve tart (best algarve tart we had on our trip). Even the homemade garlic bread was good. Seafood all tasted fresh, staff was pleasant, and the restaurant had a catchy playlist going too. Only downside was how long it took to deliver our main course after starter. We were seated at a table near the front door; perhaps sit at a table closer to the front for better attention.

Jardim Rústico - Albufeira, Portugal…read more If you're anywhere near Albufeira and don't eat at Jardim Rústico, you're truly missing out. We spent a month in the Algarve and ended up dining here at least 10 out of 30 nights. We kept trying to find another restaurant that could compare--and never did. The food is authentic Portuguese cuisine at its finest. The clams, made from the owner's grandmother's recipe, are hands-down the best I've ever had in my life. Honestly, it doesn't matter what you order--everything on the menu is exceptional. Be adventurous. You won't regret it. The restaurant is family-owned and family-run, which adds so much to the experience. Vitor runs the kitchen and delivers incredible food every single night. His wife Ines runs the front with grace and warmth. Luan and Joah were there every evening we visited, offering some of the best service we've ever experienced anywhere--professional, kind, and genuinely caring. The ambiance is casual, quiet, and cozy--it truly feels like home. Every guest is welcomed like family, and this incredible team goes above and beyond to make each night memorable. If you go (and you absolutely should), tell them the Fanellas from Florida sent you. Jardim Rústico is a gem, and dining there was one of the highlights of our trip.

Piri Piri chicken are tender, juicy and super tasty! We love it here. We take it to go & service is…read moregreat. It can get so busy so try to go as soon as they open at 6 pm. The place is very casual. And best part other than the delicious chicken is that the prices are very reasonable. A must when in the area. Bring your cash & appetite! CASH ONLY HERE

Delicious food, but very poor service. It's difficult to get someone to take your order, and if you…read moretry to order more, you might never get it. Forgot to get a sparkling water as part of our original order; it took 20 minutes to finally show up. Ordered extra fries when we ran out; never arrived. When seated, the table hadn't been cleaned from the previous patron, so had to wait at a dirty table for someone to finally show up to clean it. And there are flies *everywhere*. Putting out even rudimentary fly traps would help immensely. The food is good, but quite salty.

One of my favorite low priced Portuguese restaurants in Loule. Across from the Mercado, this…read morerestaurant serves authentic Portuguese seafood dishes and various meat choices as well. Beef and veal cuts are different in Portugal than you may encounter in other European countries and in North America, so ask questions about the cut before ordering. For steak you cannot go wrong with entrecôte (thinly sliced boneless rib eye) or picanha (rump cap) salted and grilled, with boiled potatoes or fries and a simple salad. I usually stick to the seafood offerings and my fave is prawn and monkfish skewers when offered here along with the soup of the day to start. You can enjoy an excellent meal for under 20 Euros, with a glass of wine and dessert. Even less if you order the plate of the day (prato do dia). Wait staff is very attentive and this is an authentic Portuguese restaurant that caters to locals. Not everyone speaks English so practice some basic Portuguese phrases. Use DeepL on your cell phone for help. Top tip: A must get here are the fresh grilled sardines when in season (May - July). A delicacy and they know how to grill these babies. And always end your meal with a "sharino" which is a short espresso with a shot of medronho, the Portuguese version of grappa, distilled from the medronho fruit. Potent and unique to Portugal.

Simple, lovely portugese food. Owners are an awesome family, the specials are a great deal…read more Focus on: fresh fish, in season. This restaurant is directly across from the Mercado and offers access to fantastic fish. My kids love: the bifa portugese- potatoes and gravy on a big slab of steak. Crowd pleaser. Salads are simple, desserts are fine but not the reason you go. Service is friendly snd lovely, and it's a beloved place by locals.

El sitio es pequeño.Solo diez mesas para dos. Recomiendo hacer reserva. No admiten tarjetas. Solo…read moreefectivo. La comida es abundante y exquisita. El restaurante es de ambiente familiar.

My husband found this local gem online and it did not disappoint. Yelp says they open at 6, this is…read moreincorrect. They open at 5:30pm. We got there right at 6 and they gave us one of only 2 remaining tables, telling us we had to be done by 7:30pm. We started with prosciutto & melon which was AMAZING!!!!! And reminded us of Italy. My children got the house style spaghetti which was a cream sauce with tomatoes and ham. Neither kid could get enough! The pasta was soooo tasty. My husband and I shared the Mixed Catalana for 2 - prawns and clams. It was the best meal we had during our almost 2 week trip to Portugal. The broth was so delicious I could've drank it with my spoon. It was loaded with veggies too. Came with white rice on the side and some fried potatoes. Also my husband got a glass of house red wine which was a very generous pour! They only take cash, which we did not know ahead of time. But luckily there's an ATM across the street. They turned tons of people away while we were eating. I guess their system is reservation only from 5:30-7:30pm and then after 7:30pm they allow walks in on a first come, first serve basis.

We came here because I asked a guy in the street what was the best place to eat dinner in town. He…read morepointed me to Jaime. We had secretos of Iberian Pork and Golden Sea bream. The fish was well cooked yet moist the french fries didn't even need salt they were that good. And lastly the Secretos were just top notch! For desert we asked for semi frio de bolacha which they served us bolo de bolacha. Really weird, but we didn't want to complain. When we got the bill we were charged for bread 2 butters and a sardine paste that we didn't eat nor touched. Mind you the food was absolutely delicious. The waiters are nice and attentive. We were served in no time even though they were busy. We might come back, but we will sure to ask for the orange complaint book if they pull this on us again!

Wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful. Healthy food. We wish we would have found sooner. Wonderful family…read morefriendly service. We really recommend the chicken!

From the owner: Glilled Chicken and Typical Portuguese Home made foodread more

Oh. My. Sweet. Goodness. I'm in HEAVEN…read more I am hiking the "Rota Vicentina," which passes through Cercal do Alentejo. It's a really cute town that deserves a lot more noteworthiness. I stayed at a great and amazingly inexpensive hotel here and the owner's no-hesitation suggestion for dinner was this place. So off I went. The front is a bar so you're not immediately sure you're in the right place. Just follow your nose to the back restaurant area. There is a limited menu but if you take a seat and just put your dinner in the owner, Sheila's, hands, you will NOT regret it! I explained my gluten problem and she brought out a cavalcade of awesome dishes including a truly local soup and main dish of pork, pickled cauliflower, and oranges. This is the second time I've been served oranges with pork in Portugal and it's a brilliant flavor combination! My gosh, I'm exhausted from that meal. But it was so good I just had to write about it. I'm sure you can get a fancier meal in a fancier setting, but this was REAL, DOWN-HOME Portuguese country food and it was outstanding! I hope that other folks walking the Rota Vicentina and passing through Cercal see this and stop in. They will remember it for a long time!

The Passarinho is what I imagine life would be like with a Portuguese grandmother. You walk into…read morethe seemingly small restaurant expecting nothing spectacular to happen but then out pops the first friendly face of a small Portuguese woman who welcomes you to one of the tables in the back. We came at just the right time because within 15 minutes all of the tables were filled and everyone looked excited to eat. We recommend you accept their suggestion of a sampler plate of local cheese and don't forget a pitcher of "house wine". We ordered two entrées and were VERY full after finishing them. We watched sadly as our table neighbors (who had shared an entrèe) each ordered a GIANT slice of wiggly cake. Next time we will have to try that too! We paid 26€ for a cheese appetizer + pitcher of wine + bottle of bubbly water + 2 entrées. This place is great for anyone looking to really taste the local cooking and the best part is the really the elderly Portuguese women who not only cook but also serve you the food. Those are some really peppy ladies!