10 of the Best Places to Eat in Lagos (when you don’t want traditional Portuguese Food)
Burger at Nah Nah Bah restaurant, Lagos, Algarve, Portugal. Photo courtesy of @nahnahbah
The best places to eat in Lagos is subjective, of course. One mans pleasure is another mans poison, so the saying goes, and there is no shortage of great restaurants in Lagos, so making a shortlist was tricky.
However, as a long-time Lagos resident, and as someone who has eaten in every restaurant in Lagos multiple times, I’ve got a handful of favourites that I return to again and again.
While the speciality of Lagos is, of course, the incredible grilled fish (particularly sardines) that the region is famous for, sometimes you want something else. There are plenty of fantastic traditional Portuguese restaurants around, and if you want freshly caught grilled fish, incredible buttery boiled potatoes, and a basic Portuguese salad, you can’t really go wrong in most traditional Portuguese restaurants, but if you’re after something different for your dinner in Lagos tonight, read on.
Guide to the Best International Restaurants in Lagos
I have mentioned previously that I would love it if Lagos, and even Portugal as a whole, had a greater variety of international cuisines and restaurants (as a previous resident of Sydney, London and San Francisco, I have been spoiled in the past), but nonetheless, the international and modern Portuguese restaurants that we do have in Lagos are top class, and as more and more expats, digital nomads and remote workers discover Lagos, my dreams of a cosmopolitan food culture in Lagos are slowly coming true.
So, in no particular order, my suggestions for you on the best places to eat in Lagos when you want something other than traditional Portuguese food.
Beats and Burritos, Lagos old town. Best for Mexican food.
Awesome Mexican food at Beats and Burritos, Lagos, Algarve, Portugal. Photo courtesy of @luisdacruzphoto
Located in the heart of downtown Lagos, Beats (as it’s lovingly referred to by locals), has been serving up awesome Mexican-Californian inspired food for nearly a decade and is one of the few places in Lagos that caters really well for vegetarians and vegans.
Incredibly popular with locals (always the key to a great dinner choice), it’s got a stellar reputation for a very good reason - the food is awesome. And the beats aren’t bad either.
Whether you choose a burrito, bowl, quesadilla or more, your food is entirely customisable to your tastes, because you choose your meal by selecting all the ingredients you want on a check form (don’t be shy with the incredible salsas and chilli sauces!).
Ideal after a surf, or if you fancy some food to go while you wander the cobbled streets of Lagos old town, Beats never disappoints in both flavour or quantity, and speaking as someone with a very ‘healthy’ appetite, head here if you’re ravenous.
Pom Pom Bagels, Lagos old town. Best for breakfast.
A variety of incredible bagels at Pom Pom Bagels in Lagos, Algarve, Portugal. Photo courtesy of @pom_pom_bagels
Born in the pandemic when owner Katie Pomeroy started making and delivering bagels to good food-starved Lagos residents, her incredible bagels proved so popular with locals that the only way Katie could keep up with demand was to open a bagel shop.
Great for breakfast or lunch, don’t be confused if you go looking for Pom Pom Bagels in the late afternoon or evening and you can’t find it, because, as a result of a stroke of creative entrepreneurial genius, each afternoon Pom Pom Bagels morphs into its sister business, Illicit Burgers (see below) - the sign outside the shop flips, the staff and ingredients change, the vibe changes from chilled, Earth goddess-like and vegan-friendly, to brash, unapologetic, hip-hop infused, and definitely NOT vegan friendly, and Pom Poms disappears until the following morning.
But back to the bagels. Head here if you want a beautiful breakfast and coffee whilst watching the good people of Lagos go about their mornings, or it’s a great choice if you want to grab a breakfast to go if you’re on your way to the beach.
I would totally recommend the onion and garlic bagel (disclosure: I’ve never tried any of the others. I had this the first time I went there and it’s so good I can’t bring myself to ever order anything else!), and take your pick of the fillings, they’re all awesome, but the salted beef is a personal favourite, along with the turkey, brie and cranberry.
Oh, and say hi to Elliot (the dog) who you’ll meet there. He’s a very good boy.
Illicit, Lagos old town. Best for burgers.
Not for vegetarians. Illicit burgers, Lagos, Algarve, Portugal. Photo courtesy of @illicitburgers
Take a burger, and smash it!
The first pioneer to introduce smash burgers to Portugal, Irish-Australian owner Kevin (partner of Katie of Pom Pom Bagel fame) doesn’t try to be something he isn’t.
Whereby many restaurants and food joints fail by trying to be everything to everyone, usually the secret to success is to do one thing really, really well, and if a potential customer doesn’t like your thing, then, no problem, you just send them to somewhere else that they will like, and you can give them a happy wave as they walk away.
In the case of Illicit, I’m looking at you, vegetarians. Sorry. You are, however, incredibly well catered for here in the mornings, when the burger shop is a bagel shop.
But if you are a meat lover after a world-class burger, with incredible, inventive sides like deep-fried mac and cheese balls, you will LOVE it here.
Made from locally sourced top-grade beef, and ‘smashed’, The Illicit smash burger is unlike the usual medium-rare, meat-heavy burgers usually served up in fast food joints. Instead of letting a big, fat burger lay on the grill to cook, Kevin and his team make smash burgers by putting a ball-shaped patty onto a piping hot griddle and quite literally smashing it as it cooks in just a few seconds. The result is a divine, crispy-edged, caramelized and well-browned burger that tastes like unhealthy heaven.
Get the ‘Sticky Cowboy’, don’t miss the mac and cheese balls, wash it down with a beautiful Ocean beer, and promise yourself you’ll go to the gym twice tomorrow to make up for it.
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Tabua de conservas at Mar d’Estorias restaurant, Lagos, Algarve, Portugal. Photo courtesy of @mardestorias
If you follow directions to Mar d’Estorias, you’ll probably walk past the entrance a few times thinking you’ve accidentally arrived at a charming artisanal craft and gift shop.
And that’s because you have. But don’t worry, you’re in the right place.
Spread across three floors in the centre of Lagos old town, Mar d’Estorias was originally built 600 years ago as a church, and in its time has served as the Lagos Maritime Association, a warehouse for wines and cereals, and from 1932 for 54 years it was the headquarters of the Lagos fire brigade. It’s had a fascinating and varied history, told beautifully on their website.
Now, Mar d’Estorias comprises of the aforementioned ground floor shop, selling artisanal Portuguese gifts and local foods and wines, amongst other things, with the upper floors hosting a bookstore, gallery, restaurant and stunning roof terrace bar overlooking the old town of Lagos, the entrance to the Bensafrim river, and the city beaches.
Both the restaurant and roof terrace are a great place to head for high-quality, modern Portuguese food, such as braised pork cheeks, roasted octopus, or a lunchtime cheese and charcuterie board, and while we promised this article wasn’t about Portuguese food per se, the food here is so good we thought we could bend our own rules a little.
Poké Lagos, off Lagos Avenida. Best for healthy Hawaiian food.
Salmon poké bowl at Poké Lagos, Algarve, Portugal. Photo courtesy of @poke_lagos
When Poké opened their doors in Lagos in 2018, and I discovered Poké bowls for the first time, I thought I’d gone to heaven. In fact, I went here on an almost daily basis for months because I developed something of an addiction.
If you don’t know what Poké bowls are, you are in for a treat. A traditional Hawaiian dish, Poké bowls are not unlike a deconstructed sushi - diced raw salmon or tuna (which can be switched out for tofu for a vegan option), usually served over sushi rice, but with your choice of vegetables, salad, sauces, and toppings to customise it however you want - and the result at Poké Lagos is so good it can cause the aforementioned addictions. You’ve been warned.
What’s more, this is the perfect place to head to if you want a takeaway or meal out that is just insanely healthy.
Filling, kind on the wallet, good for you, it’s no wonder that Poké Lagos is a raging success and a must-visit if you’re in Lagos. I’ll see you there.
Nah Nah Bah, Lagos old town. Also best for burgers.
Warning. Another gratuitous burger shot. Nah Nah Bah, Lagos, Algarve, Portugal. Photo courtesy @nahnahbah
Yep, it’s another burger joint, but the burgers and reggae-themed vibe at Nah Nah Bah are just so good, there is no way they are being left off this list.
In fact, the burgers here are so good, it’s even forgivable to head straight to Nah Nah Bah if you’ve just polished off an Illicit burger (which is just around the corner) because both are THAT good. I won’t tell anyone if you do that, I promise.
Award-winning (one of the ‘Best burger joints in the World’, no less) Nah Nah Bah has been a Lagos favourite for nearly 20 years and is adored equally by locals, tourists, surfers, families and the media.
It’s hard to recommend the best burger for you, they’re all great, but you can’t go wrong with the Luis Figo, Blue ball buster, Toucan or All American.
Oh, and you have to get the Mozz and Prosciutto sticks for a starter.
And the Arancini.
And the fish tacos (that one isn’t even a starter).
In fact, go back again and again and get it all.
You’ll thank me. You’re welcome.
Pearl Food Trailer, Lagos Marina. Best for oysters.
Oysters at Pearl restaurant, Lagos, Algarve, Portugal. Photo courtesy of @pearlfoodtrailer
At the time of writing, there are 392 restaurants in Lagos (one for every 80 residents! That’s 6 times as many as London. You can dazzle your friends with that fact at the next pub quiz) and, of the 392 restaurants in Lagos, there can be only one which is the #1 ranked ‘restaurant’ on TripAdvisor, and it’s Pearl.
‘Restaurant’ being in inverted commas, because Pearl is a food trailer nestled between the yachts at Lagos Marina and the Bensafrim river which runs the length of the main Avenida in Lagos. Pearl has some rustic wooden outdoor seating, chilled music perfectly suited for a lazy sunset, and people really, really, really love it here.
Simplicity at it’s best, they sell local oysters, mussels and charcuterie boards. That’s it. With a glass of wine. And it’s heaven.
The Green Room, off Lagos Avenida. Also best for Mexican food.
Awesome Mexican food at the Green room restaurant, Lagos, Algarve, Portugal. Photo courtesy of The Green Room Facebook
“Beef Birria from The Green Room”
That would be my answer if I was offered one last meal.
Seriously. If I was given a choice of anything I’ve ever eaten from the myriad of venues I’ve eaten at around the world in my 40ish years, that would be my answer.
There’s not much else I need to say about this fantastic surf-and-Mexican themed Lagos hangout.
It’s the home of my favourite dish in the World.
It’s that simple.
It’s divine and you can’t miss it (unless you’re a vegetarian. You should probably not order it).
Ps. Everything else is great too.
Bahia, Meia Praia beach. Best for food on the beach.
Prawns at Bahia restaurant, Lagos, Algarve, Portugal. Photo courtesy of @bahiabeachbarandrestaurant
With food as stunning as the setting, a lunch at Bahia is usually our first port of call if any friends or family choose to visit me in Lagos and I want to show off a bit and make them insanely jealous about my life in Lagos. And it works, every time.
To me, life doesn’t get much better than feasting on amazing ceviche, prawns and squid while your toes touch sand and you can hear waves crashing a few meters away.
With wonderful service, a beautiful location, incredible food and regular live music; if you want an incredible afternoon in Lagos to remember, arrive at lunchtime and don’t leave until it’s dark.
Black and White, Lagos old town. Best for coffee (and avo toast).
Breakfast at Black and White Coffee Shop, Lagos, Algarve, Portugal. Photo courtesy of @blackandwhitelagos
Black and White unfortunately isn’t much of a secret spot. If you arrive at lunchtime you’ll often find queues out the door, but people don’t happily queue to get into a place which is average, or even just ‘pretty good’.
People queue to get into places that are fantastic, and Black and White is just that.
Fantastic vegan options (unusual for Portugal), uber-trendy industrial décor, and an avocado toast ambiance previously only found in a few hipster cafes in some select neighbourhoods in Lisbon, Lagos was crying out for a venue like Black and White before its arrival a few years ago, and it was an instant smash and remains so to this day, due to the great staff, fantastic food, and some of the best coffee I’ve ever found in Portugal.
Conclusion
Don’t get me wrong, traditional Portuguese cuisine is wonderful, and we are truly blessed to have such an abundance of natural, healthy resources in our vicinity - ranging from the organic, sun-baked fruit and veg you can pick up at the regular farmers markets, to, of course, the freshly caught Atlantic fish that you’ll smell being grilled over coals most days and that will forever remind you of Portugal (if indeed you ever leave).
But that said, even if you are only visiting Lagos for a few days don’t miss the great food spots on this list.
And if, (shameless plug) you are planning to move to Lagos, or have recently arrived, make sure you join one of our awesome tours to learn many more secrets about the best places to go, eat, shop and more!
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