In Portugal, life revolves around coffee. People drink it from first thing in the morning right up until late evening — it’s not uncommon to finish a meal at 10 or 11 pm and still order a coffee afterward.
If you’re visiting Portugal from countries like the United States, UK, Australia, Canada, or France, you’ll find that the coffee culture here is quite different from what you’re used to. For Europeans, the main difference is the coffee types. For North Americans, there are much bigger differences.
I’ve listed all the different coffee types below, but the short version is that I usually order a galão or an abatanado (and I ask for the abatanado cheio — more on that below). Sometimes it’s a meia de leite, and sometimes just a plain espresso. In summer I tend to go smaller, because a big milky coffee is a lot when it’s 35°C or more outside.
Quick tip before we get into it: a lot of these coffee names aren’t intuitive, and half the fun (and occasional confusion) is in the pronunciation. If you want to actually hear how to say bica, galão, meia de leite, and the rest, Practice Portuguese has a really useful Dining Out in Portugal lesson that walks you through it (and you can get a discounted membership here).. Well worth a look before your trip to the cafe.
Hopefully, this guide will help you navigate the world of Portuguese coffees.
The Main Types of Coffee
There are lots of different types of coffee in Portugal, and lots of variations on those coffees, but if you only remember four, make it these. We cover each one (and all the variations) in detail further down.
- Um café (an espresso) – The most typical coffee in Portugal. Even if it’s not your favorite, it will probably be what you drink after a meal.
- Um abatanado / americano – If you want a slightly longer black coffee (although not as big as an American filter coffee).
- Uma meia de leite – The closest thing to a flat white or latte.
- Um galão – A milkier (and slightly larger) coffee, served in a glass.
Types of Coffee Establishments
- Pastelarias: The heart of Portuguese coffee culture, and my personal favorite. These are coffee shops that offer a wide variety of cakes, pastries, and savory snacks. Many also serve main meals at midday or in the evening. Uniquely, many serve alcohol too — yes, you can have a beer for breakfast if you want (and some do!). One thing to know: pastelarias are not all created equal. If you move somewhere, it’s worth doing the rounds until you find the best one. It’ll usually be miles above the others, and the good ones often make their own cakes.
- Snack Bars: Similar to pastelarias but often with a more limited selection.
- Modern Coffee Shops: These are more similar to what you might find in other countries. Here, you’re more likely to find flat whites, lattes, and a choice of coffee beans. They often offer plant-based milk alternatives too.
- Starbucks: While not traditional, Starbucks is present in Portugal (mainly just Lisbon and Porto, with a few locations in the Algarve). This is where you’ll find familiar items like flavored syrups, pumpkin spice lattes, and tea lattes.
Important Points About Portuguese Coffee Culture
- Don’t ask for a coffee unless you want an espresso: If you ask for “um café,” most people will assume you mean an espresso and won’t ask you to clarify any further.
- Espressos are king: The most common coffee is “um café” (also called “uma bica” (bee-kah) in Lisbon or “um cimbalino” in Porto), an espresso that normally isn’t filled to the top (unless you ask). That said, milky coffees like uma meia de leite (the closest thing to a latte) and um galão (a larger, milky coffee) are popular around breakfast time.
- Coffee is an all-day thing: Portuguese people happily drink coffee from morning to night. Milky coffees are mostly a morning drink, though — you’ll see far fewer galões and meias de leite in the afternoon, when most people switch to a straight espresso. Personally, I can’t do caffeine all day, so I’ll skip it in the late afternoon and evening, or order a decaf.
- Portugal has its own coffee types: You won’t typically find lattes, cappuccinos, or flat whites in traditional pastelarias. Portugal has its own types of coffees (which we cover below).
- Iced coffees are sometimes available: Some pastelarias serve iced coffees, although they’re often just a glass with ice, a shot of coffee (hot), some ice-cold water, and, if requested, milk. Frappuccinos are not common outside of Starbucks.
- Coffee is enjoyed sitting down: It’s rare to take coffee to go (although it’s becoming more common in Lisbon and Porto). Most people sit down, or if they’re in a rush, have a quick espresso at the counter.
- Flavorings are not the norm: Sugar is served in a packet, not in the coffee, and you add it if you want it. Syrups and flavorings are not common, but you can get your sugar fix by eating one of the many delicious cakes available.
- Tipping: Tipping isn’t expected, though rounding up the bill is sometimes done (e.g. if a coffee costs €1.50, leave €2). Of course, tips are always appreciated.
Milk and Alternatives
- Most places use UHT dairy milk. You can often get skimmed milk.
- Half-and-half is not normally found in Portugal (or most of Europe). Consider bringing some with you.
- Plant-based milks are usually only found in modern coffee shops, not traditional pastelarias. I drink plant-based milk at home, so I’ll ask for it if I see it on the menu — but be prepared for most traditional places not to have it yet.
Sweeteners and Flavorings
- Sugar is typically provided in sachets. You add it yourself rather than the barista adding it when making your coffee. Because a café is small and can be quite bitter, a lot of people add a sachet every single time — which adds up over a day of drinking coffee. I try to keep mine black most of the time and save the sugar (or a cake) for a treat.
- Alternative sweeteners like Stevia are less common, but many cafes will have them. You can buy these in Portuguese supermarkets if you want to carry one with you.
- Flavored syrups are rare outside of Starbucks.
- There’s no flavored creamer available. Most coffee shops in Europe don’t have creamer either — they have milk instead. You can get Coffee Mate in international food stores like Flavers and Lojas Liberty in Lisbon.
- Most pastelarias have a huge selection of cakes (including custard tarts) where you can get your sugar fix instead.
Food Options
Don’t come expecting the coffee-shop menu you might know from home — but do come hungry, because there’s plenty to eat. I have a few go-tos, but I’ll usually try something new too.
- What you won’t find: bagels, muffins, doughnuts, or American-style cookies.
- What you will find (sweet): a big selection of Portuguese cakes and pastries. The pastel de nata is the quintessential one to have with your coffee, but it’s far from the only option (more on what to order below).
- What you will find (savory): most pastelarias and snack bars offer sandwiches — a tosta mista (toasted ham and cheese), a prego (steak sandwich), or a bifana (marinated pork sandwich) — plus simple savory snacks called salgados.
Espresso coffees
“Um café”
This is an espresso, and it’s what you’ll get if you ask for a coffee (um café). It’s short, rich, chocolatey, and the most popular coffee in Portugal. Cafés are drunk several times a day in Portugal, a bit like shots, to keep people going.
One thing worth knowing: Portuguese espresso is often very darkly roasted, which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. If you’re used to lighter, fruitier third-wave roasts, the traditional café can taste intense and a little bitter.
In Lisbon, you would ask for “uma bica” (bee-kah), whereas in Porto you would ask for “um cimbalino.” You can just ask for “um café” in either city, though, and people will know what you mean.
Sidenote: Apparently BICA stands for Beba Isto Com Açúcar (drink this with sugar), because when coffee first came to Portugal it was considered extremely bitter. You can drink your coffee without sugar, but most people add a sachet.
“Um café cheio” or “uma bica cheia”
In Portugal, a café is never quite filled to the top. If you want that extra bit of water, you ask for “um café cheio” or “uma bica cheia”.
This is what I order. An espresso is small enough to begin with, and I’d like it to last more than three seconds — a café cheio gives me a little more to work with. Portuguese people generally prefer less water, so a standard café comes fairly concentrated. If you’re anything like me, ask for it cheio.
“Um café pingado”
This is a café or espresso that has been topped up with milk.
We don’t say “um pingo”, we say “um café pingado”Elisabete
“Um garoto”
This is a milder-tasting espresso that’s around 50% coffee and 50% milk. The word garoto literally means a little boy. Apparently, this is because it’s what parents give their kids when they’re trying to introduce them to coffee.
“Um carioca”
A carioca is a weak form of espresso that’s ideal if you’re not looking to get too wired on coffee. Normally when an espresso is made, the old coffee is emptied out and replaced with freshly ground coffee. To make a carioca, you don’t change the coffee. Finding a good carioca seems to be a challenge.
A carioca should be made with half the amount of coffee of a ‘bica’, but unfortunately most of the ‘pastelarias’ make it the way you mentioned and them it comes out to be a really horrible, sour drink.
Hope I helped in making a tasty carioca.Alice Batista Prego
“Uma Italiana”
The closest type of coffee to this is a Ristretto.
“Um café duplo”
A café duplo is a double espresso. This is what you drink when your neighbor’s dog has been barking all night or you’re busy cramming for exams.
“Café com Cheirinho”
A “café com cheirinho” or “bica com cheiro” is a coffee with a drop of brandy or aguardente in it. You can also order the two separately, and you’ll often see older Portuguese men drinking a coffee alongside a glass of brandy.
“Café com gelo”
This is as far as Portugal goes when it comes to iced coffee: an espresso and a glass of ice. You put the two together and make your own iced coffee.
“Café descafeinado”
This is a decaffeinated coffee or espresso, but you can add the word descafeinado to any of the coffees to make it a decaf. Want to get more particular about your coffee? Ask for it in a chávena quente (hot cup).
Milky coffees
Milky coffees are typical in the morning in Portugal, and you’ll see lots of people order a meia de leite or a galão — usually with breakfast, or again around 16:00–17:00 with a cake. You’ll see far fewer of them later in the day, when most people go back to a straight espresso. The milk that’s typically used is a full-fat long-life milk (UHT). Some places have skimmed milk, but there isn’t really a selection. You won’t have the option of ordering half-and-half or heavier milks, for example. As for plant-based milks like soy and almond, it’s likely these will become more common in the coming years, but you won’t find them in most traditional pastelarias for now. If you want a plant-based milky coffee, look for a more modern coffee shop where the menu has things like lattes and flat whites rather than meias de leite and galões.
“Uma meia de leite”
This is half milk and half coffee, and it’s the closest thing Portugal has to a flat white or a latte — though there’s still quite a difference, so don’t expect an exact match. If you want it stronger, ask for “uma meia de leite escura“. Recently, places have started experimenting with latte art, although that’s a fairly new thing.
“Um galão”
Um galão is a tall glass of warm milk with coffee in it. This is a popular drink in the morning and around 16:00–17:00, especially if you’re having some food (especially cakes) alongside.
Usually this is made using the carioca coffee method, whereby the machine isn’t re-filled with freshly ground coffee, resulting in a weaker coffee.
If you want a stronger coffee, particularly first thing in the morning, you can ask for a galão directo, aka a proper shot of espresso in your galão. On the other hand, if you aren’t a big coffee drinker, you could ask for a “galão clarinho“, which is an even milkier version of the galão.
Note: Some places aren’t very good at making milky coffees, and the coffee or milk can sometimes taste a bit burnt.
“Um abatanado com um pouco de leite”
A black coffee (similar to an Americano) with some milk.
Black Coffees
“Um abatanado”
“Um abatanado” (in the South) or “um Americano” (around Porto) is somewhere between an espresso and an Americano. If you want a long black coffee, this is the closest thing you can get. Even then, it isn’t always as big a coffee as a lot of people would like.
Getting a big cup of coffee similar to an Americano is quite difficult, and even if you ask for an abatanado, they’ll often only put a tiny bit more water in it. It’s rare that they’ll fill it to the top of the cup. If you want to guarantee your cup is full, ask for an “abatanado cheio“, which means a full abatanado — a black coffee with extra hot water.
I’ll be honest: the abatanado is good, but I do miss an American-sized cup of coffee. And while I love being able to sit down for hours, I also miss being able to grab a coffee to go the way you can in the US. The abatanado will do, but it definitely isn’t the same. What I miss most is proper filter coffee — I prefer the flavor of a filter brew to espresso topped up with hot water.
Because sometimes, with black coffee, you just want a big cup to nurse while you scroll on your phone or read a book. You want it to take time. Even an abatanado is over too quickly. (That said, I go for this far less in the summer heat — that much hot liquid is too much when it’s roasting outside.)
You generally won’t be asked if you want room for milk (or cream) if you order a black coffee, so specify this when ordering. There’s typically no choice of roast types like you’d find in American coffee shops.
Non-Coffee Drinks
If you’re not a coffee drinker, here are some other drinks you could order.
“Uma carioca de limão”
Lemon and hot water.
“Um chá”
Chá is tea, and normally if you say tea that means black tea (chá preto). If you want tea with milk, ask for “chá preto com leite“. Some places will automatically bring milk to foreigners. Other teas you could ask for are chá camomila (chamomile), chá tília (tília), and chá de frutos vermelhos (red fruits).
Personally, I don’t drink much tea in Portugal except in winter. Tea’s more of a home thing for me — I’ll have a proper British builder’s brew (or something else) at home, but much less so when I’m out, and less so in Portugal generally. I think you really need British or Irish weather to go with a cup of tea.
“Um copo de leite”
If even a galão clarinho sounds like too much coffee for you, you could order “um copo de leite” (a cup of milk).
“Leite com chocolate”
Milk with chocolate powder (e.g. Nesquik).
“Sumo de Laranja”
Orange juice. I’ll often order one of these — Portugal has such nice oranges, especially around the Silves area where I lived for a while, that I’m always tempted.
Specialty Coffee and Roasters
If you’re the kind of person who cares about where the beans come from, the good news is that Portugal’s specialty coffee scene has grown a lot in recent years, and there are now lots of local roasters worth seeking out. A few names to look for: Casa Macário and Casa Pereira da Conceição (both classic Lisbon spots), Asante, Copenhagen Coffee Lab, Buraca Roasters, Flor da Selva, Fábrica Coffee Roasters, and Casa da Selva. Another good one is Senzu — you can pick up their beans at Pérola do Chaimite. It’s a fun way to drink something a bit different from the standard dark-roasted café.
What to order with your coffee
Now, that’s a whole other question. The easiest thing to order, especially if you’re visiting Portugal for the first time, is a pastel de nata (or what many people call a Portuguese custard tart). Who can resist?
But it’s far from the only thing worth trying. A few of my personal go-tos:
- Pastel de nata — the obvious one, and for good reason.
- Pão de deus — I usually get it buttered (com manteiga) and sometimes with cheese. It’s a lovely contrast of sweet and savory, and I really like it.
- Torrada — I do love the thick slices of buttered toast. Simple, but great with a coffee.
- Salame — when I want something chocolatey. I like the biscuity pieces running through it; they give it a good texture.
A lot of the other cakes are quite sweet, so I don’t order them all the time. And I’ll be honest — plenty of people don’t love the doce de ovos (egg-yolk sweet) that a lot of Portuguese pastries are built around. Something like a queque or a bolo de arroz can be a much easier choice, since they’re fairly neutral. That said, if you’re drinking a black coffee like a bica, a super-sweet cake actually pairs really well — the bitterness balances the sugar.
A lot of it comes down to where you are, too. In Lisbon, it’s definitely a pastel de nata. In the Azores, look for a queijada Dona Amélia. In Porto, go for an éclair.
Many pastelarias also serve a main meal at around lunchtime, which is almost always something traditional and usually very affordable. If you’re looking to try some traditional Portuguese dishes, the café is a good place to go.
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