Pingo Doce is your standard national grocery store chain. For fellow Americans, I'd compare this to a compact Kroger or Safeway (emphasis on "compact").
Prices are on par for Portugal, so you can easily walk out of here with dinner for two and a bottle of wine for under 15€. Visiting from Hamburg, that's totally insane. However, it's pretty standard for Portugal and Spain.
What makes this a 2-star experience? The limited selection, poor layout, and super slow/unfriendly checkout process.
The selection is far more limited compared to El Corte Inglés a few blocks away, but it's adequate for a short stay. Fish offerings leave a lot to be desired (i.e., I wouldn't buy anything here), and the butcher counter appears to get backed up really quickly.
The layout doesn't handle more than one person per aisle, so you keep running into other people or their baskets. The staff also seems to think mopping the floors during rush hours improves the experience somehow. I've seen this at two Pingo Doce locations, so I'm guessing this is a corporate tradition.
Lastly, checking out here takes longer than actually shopping. They have 4 cashiers at top capacity, which completely get swamped by what appears to be the entire city coming here. The cashiers also give you that lovely "I hate my job, why are you here?" vibe.
Would I come here again when visiting? Probably not. El Corte Inglés is certainly more expensive, but you can get in/out faster and don't feel like you'll have to fight an old Portuguese lady for the last pork cutlet. Would I shop here if I lived in Lisbon? Possibly if I could find a non-rush hour time where shopping was somewhat enjoyable. read more