Café Luso

Recommend this fun restaurant that serves authentic Portugese cuisine plus live entertainment. Food was decent, though portion sizes could be larger. Set menu dishes tasted good. Waiters' attitudes were inconsistent and needed improvements. Some waiters were friendly while others were grumpy and rude. Warm and inviting ambience and the highlight was the live music and singing performances. Very talented singers with several singers offering different styles. Overall, it was an entertaining dinner experience.

This was our farewell dinner and fado show. Music and food were wonderful. I was amazed how beautiful the Portuguese guitar sounds. Very talented musicians and singers. The service was amazing as well as the food. I highly recommend taking in a fado show during your visit to Portugal!

After reading several negative reviews I have to say this place was MARVELOUS. The food, ambiance, performance, and service was spectacular. Paula Matos was our server and she was fabulous. Very attentive, kind, sincere, and friendly. The food was exemplary of local cuisines, nothing complicated, but good, wholesome examples of typical Portuguese dishes and cooked well. The 4 performers were all spectacular. The environment of the location, a former horse carriage house I believe, was beautiful. As an architect I appreciated the simplicity of the space. Being located so close to our hotel at 9Hotel Mercy was an added plus. CAFE LUSO is NOT a tourist trap. It is an extremely enjoyable experience. Our reservations were for 7pm. That means arrive at 7 and order from fixed menu. Entertainment started at 815 pm and with intermission lasted until about 10 pm. A throughly enjoyable experience for pennies!!!!

Myself and my husband had a wonderful time at Café Luso for his birthday following a recommendation from a friend. Food was beautiful. The Fado musicians were stunning and the music would have brought a tear to your eye. Musicians sang a set just for us and staff brought over a birthday treat. A very special night that we will always remember. Thank you.

The place was amazing! The food, music, atmosphere and the staff were all beyond expected. João and David were both super funny and made us feel like the most important people in the room!!!! Our tour guide told us Cafe Luso was the best place for FADO in the city and he was not wrong. Thank you from your Canadian friends!!!!!

Fantastic evening! Everything was perfect from the beginning to the end. Awesome menu served with attention to details by very nice waiter. Fado show was spectacular and intimate with great musicians and singers.

I dined here while traveling with a group and I was thoroughly impressed. The food, service, and atmosphere were all 10/10. The Fado singers did a fantastic job. I would definitely recommend.

This restaurant was a big disappointment. Unfortunately, it was recommended and booked for our entire group by our guide. For the price we paid, the experience was far below expectations. Over the course of three hours, food was served only once per hour. In my case, that meant a sad little salad with a few lettuce leaves and two tiny cherry tomatoes cut in half, half a piece of fish (which, to be fair, tasted okay), and a dessert that looked like a chocolate mousse — I didn’t even try it, as I had lost all appetite by then. The musicians may have been very talented, but I couldn’t see or hear them properly. The place itself felt a bit depressing — the atmosphere and interior were not very pleasant. All of this for €55 per person. I can only assume the guides are offered some kind of benefit for bringing groups here.

The servers were attentive and pleasant. I had the cod specialty and cheesecake. The cod was flavorful and unique. The cheesecake had a nice texture, rich, creamy and not too sweet.

Fado, it is! Earlier in the day, we were in a Christmas market in Praça Luís de Camões in Barrio Alto and ended up conversing with one of the merchants selling leather goods. The conversation led to where the best place to listen to Fado was. He recommended two locations; one was Cafe Luso, which was more conveniently located for us. So we decided to have dinner at Café Luso and listen to some Fado. Café Luso has a fascinating interior. It is almost like a wine cellar converted into a large dining hall with interesting art hanging on the walls. It is comfortable and intimate. We were lucky because you usually need a reservation, but they had a few tables available on this occasion. We were seated within a few minutes, and our server came over with the menus. We started with Caldo Verde soup and Salad, and for the main course chose Sea Bass and Steak Portuguese Style. Everything was good, especially the steak. We also shared a flan for dessert. The fado was truly enjoyable. During the dinner, four or five singers joined the band, one at a time, and entertained us. Of the band of four, one of the guitar players was outstanding. Among the musicians, one of the female singers was wonderful. This was our first long exposure to Fado, and we loved it! Altogether this was an enjoyable experience with good food in a pleasant environment with fantastic live music.

Service was good. Food not at all. Don't bother ordering something expensive. It's mediocre at best. Mot just mine but the neighbors and everyone around complaint. Not even the salad is good. Ambiance and music are worth it, although there are always large groups of people on the long tables. The place is packed. The music is worth it, and everyone leave as soon as the music ends. Basically, the price of the food is for the music.

Great food and music with a fair price and amazing ambiance. Friendly staff. The only con is find a place to park near by. My mom had an accident and needed some help to walk till the restaurant but it was worth it.

Let's be real. You came here for Fado. The Fado was good, aside from the one singer who seemingly treated it as the recording studio for her first CD, stopping the band from playing so she could shush the crowd repeatedly. MOST of the performers were great, the musicians were fun to watch, and the show was spread out with breaks that made it fun. Now for the food- the food was average at best. The menu is either very simple or very confusing, depending on how much of a surprise you want when the bill comes. If you order a combination menu (€46 pp), the "entertainment tax" is included. If you order a la carte, you'll end up with a €27 tax per person that is in the fine print at the bottom of the menu. This makes the combination meals the best option, and really, I'd rather have not ordered anything. The menus are all four courses, arranged in a precarious way so that certainly you can pick your favorite entree or favorite dessert but not both. We picked two different menus so we got to sample 6 different dishes plus the mandatory bread course. The cod was covered in some sort of garlic aioli so that it was unrecognizable, and the fresh fish was just okay. Midway through each course we were ready for it to be taken away. This place was packed with long tables of tour groups, and a few couples and four tops scattered throughout. As soon as the final Fado song ended, the entire place cleared out and the staff began cleaning. Our waiter disappeared to collect linens and it took 20 minutes to flag someone down for a check. The Fado was good, the food was bad. Up to you if that combination is worth $50 a head plus drinks.

Fado is amazing!! I would say eat before hand though. Food want not good but definitely worth the experience for the music.

The place feels as if you are stepping into a cave, in a good way. The food here was creatively local and the entertainment was top notch. The servers were patient and kind. The Fado singer line up was outstanding. The prices were higher than some of the other Fado places because of the extensive entertainment lineup. Actually, once you factor in the amount of entertainment I considered this place a bargain and definitely worth the splurge. Its places like this that have taught me to love Fado. The music is intertwined in the culture here. It is sort of like American Blues music, from a passionate perspective, except very much 100% Portuguese.

This was a wonderful dining and music experience! I was alone but seated near the Fado musicians who were excellent. I also met a young couple next to me and we chatted and laughed at the waitstaff's humor. Very attentive service. Highly recommend! And dinner with drinks very well priced.

-minimal consumption per person €27 ( extremely expensive for Lisbon ) - menu is small not that many options and dishes start at €33/ only drink menu is wine menu, no glass of wine sold just bottle - portions small and lacking in flavor -this place is great at hosting large parties that are not too interested in listening to Fado music and more interested in talking throughout the live performances and taking pictures

We were in town from Utah and wanted to see a fado show. We heard this place was really good, so we made reservations for the 8pm show. The service was excellent. We each got the combination dinners & were impressed with the food. I loved the lamb & my friends' fish. The gnocchi was just okay. Dessert was small but good. The show began with a dance troupe. They were fun. Then the fado musician & 2 guitarists came out. They were brilliant! Very impressive talent & personable. We bought CDs from all 3 musicians & they signed them & we spoke for a while. I'm glad we came.

The worse restaurant I ever been in Lisbon, they overcharge their customers. I went to celebrate my Mum birthday on the 1st March 2018, first of all they told us at the entrance the menu and Fado included was 30.00 euros each. Also I requested for them to sing happy birthday to my Mum and the waitress just ignored us and was very rude, they sang to the other lady in a different table and not for my Mum, very disappointed. Then when the bill arrived they overcharged us 55.20 euros of TAXA Expectaculo which is ridiculous we didn't even spend more then 10 min and the music was not great at all and we paid 119.15 euros for 2 people. Never again and I don't recommend anyone to visit Cafe LUSO -FADO in Lisbon, rubbish service and rude staff.

Nice food with typical music, not only Fado. Great ambience, for families, groups or couples. I was there during a short weekend in Lisbon and enjoyed the evening. If the weather allows take a walk to get there as the location Bairro Alto is full of life at night.

Great food and amazing music. Highly recommended if you wanted to see the Portugease pride and culture.

Bad and over priced place for dinner. Fado is great however, avoid dinner. It's really there poor service and greedy attitude that lets the restaurant down. Haven't been to a place yet where it's takes an 45 minutes to ask you for drinks..

Great restaurant! Food was very good, nice appetizers with cheese, olives, tomatoes. Soup was excellent, a bean soup, tasted great. Good for vegetarians. I had the chicken, well prepared with peas & carrots, potatoes. Dessert was flan. In addition to a great meal there was great fado music, tradition Portuguese folk music.