O Caraças

The best restaurant in Porto! The restaurant is family owned and the sisters who are the main waiters are AMAZING! They have only 2 dishes for lunch and dinner, one meat and one seafood. Me and my friend would get one of each and share. We also tried their cheesecake with lime and it was amazing. Such authentic local Portuguese cuisine that is flavorful and such a joyful atmosphere. Such a hidden gem and out of all the things I have tried in Portugal, this is one of my favorite memories! We loved it so much, we ate both lunch and dinner here! They only take cash by the way! 10 euros each meal for lunch and 13 euros each meal for dinner.

If you're looking for authentic Portuguese home cooking, then this is the place for you. We showed up right at opening on a Friday night without a reservation and we're able to get in. There are only 2-3 mains a night and our party of 5 all chose the roast veal. It came with a basic salad and homemade chips. The veal was very flavorful with our house wine. The meal ended with us sharing a lime cheesecake that was so light, an almond pie and a delicious chocolate mousse. Great value for the price of €16/person before tip. The place is run by the hardest working trio of two sisters and their grandmother.

Our favorite restaurant during our Portugal trip. From the ambiance to the food to the prices to the owners — everything was perfect. Luckily we made a reservation, as on Friday nights there is a line! We had the fish and meat dishes (only one meat and one fish dish offered per day) and they were both amazing. I would recommend to anyone in Porto!

A superb lunch at this family run restaurant in Ribiera. 2 sisters and their Mum offer either bacalhau or veal and pasta and lime cheesecake for dessert. With a drink, €26 for the two of us. Fantastic food, ambience and value

Beautiful view of parts of the river and the city, from the back terrace of what probably was a private home. The terrace has 10 tables that fill fast, so come early! Family owned and operated, O Caraças has several interesting quirks: 1. Only two dishes per meal—no other choices. When we had dinner here, the two choices were a veal stew with salad, or breaded and fried octopus with rice. We had the octopus with rice, and it was delicious. It certainly felt like a home cooked meal. 2. Only cash, no credit cards. We didn’t know that before attempting to pay. Fortunately, we had enough cash. By the way, don’t pay at your table, but rather at the bar, on your way out. 3. The two waitresses are sisters. Funny, attentive, quirky hard workers, walking up and down from the main building to the terrace. 4. No vegetarian options! Absolutely recommended and unique experience.

Such a lovely place. It’s a hidden gem and has amazing food and such a cozy atmosphere with the nicest people. It’s a family restaurant held by 2 sisters and their mother and they are doing such a great job❤️ Highly highly recommend this place

A very authentic and enjoyable place. There is the menu of the day with 2 or three choices depending on what is left when you arrive. The food is simple but really, really good. The staff is so kind! It's not expensive and rather cheap for a meal. The desserts are also delicious. I strongly recommend

Best place ever!!! We ate an amazing dinner (there were only 2 meals to choose - fish or meat) prepared by an old lady, who left the kitchen for some time and asked everybody if everything is ok (actually food was excellent). The atmosphere was like in an italian restaurant - there was some kind of celebration at the table next to us with singing and fun. Portions were big and the price was really low. We ate lemon tarte for dessert which was AMAZING! Don’t hesitate and go there for sure! I’d give 10 stars if only I could.

Mama is the star of this lovely restaurant which is frequented by tourists and locals. She walks around to ensure you are happy with you me meal. She has mostly family members working at the restaurant and it seriously feels like you are having dinner in their home. You must make a reservation or you will have to wait awhile. There was a line out the door as we were about to leave. I Iove the simple menu. 2 items...fish or steak when we ate there. We ordered one of each...both served with rice, salad, and chips. Both were tasty and delish. Out of the 2, I'd go with the fish as the freshness just couldn't be denied. I couldn't help but devour the chips as there was a perfect crisp versus chew to each bite! Half a liter of house which was actually box wine but still tasty, chocolate mousse for dessert, and 2 home cooked entrees for 30 euros? Cmon now. What a steal! They speak multiple languages including English and French. Super helpful for the tourists visiting. Loved this spot and hope to visit again!

After having several mediocre to terrible meals in Porto, this is the saving grace and a redemption for Porto cuisine. This is truly a hidden gem!! We came to this restaurant randomly without doing much research and didn't realized what we are walking into. When we were told about the menu, we were a little worry about the lack of selection - three fish dishes (two grilled and one fried) and one beef dish. The waitress told us "don't worry! It's plenty of options....we normally have only two dishes". Needless to say, we were intrigued by this restaurant with such limited selection. It seems like the chef cooks whatever is available that day. We ordered the stuffed beef dish, the grilled turbot, and the fried hake. The beef is rolled like a roulade and stuffed with some filling and egg. The flavor was great! Especially the egg. The beef, however, could be a little tender (but still much more tender than all other beef dishes we have eaten in Porto). The chips and rice that came with the meal was excellent too. The grilled turbot was simply grilled and came with boiled potato and vegetable. Fish is extremely fresh and didn't need lots of seasoning. The vegetable is so sweet even without heavy seasoning and oil/butter. Similarly, the fried hake is fresh and the salad that came with it is fresh, lightly seasoned, and flavorful. The good quality food does not come with steep price tag either. The three dishes were enough for four adults and cost slightly upwards of 40 Euros. The restaurant appears to be operated by a family - mom's in-charge of the kitchen while the daughters (?) take care of the front of the house. Mom would walk around the kitchen to make sure customer are satisfied. We really feel the pride and joy of the chef/mom, as if we are having dinner at the home of a lovely Portuguese family.

Read many wonderful reviews but had to admit we were disappointed. To start, we were greeted with a threat of not being able to eat because we do not have a reservation despite the fact that the restaurant was empty. We're finally seated and then it took another 15 minutes before anyone came to talk to us again. We were told that there were two options on the menu: meat and fish. For the four of us, two adults and two children, we opted for two fish dishes and one meat. I also asked for a 500 ML flask of house white. The food was OK, nothing tremendous. No prices were offered for any of the food we ordered. When we paid our Bill, we were a little surprised that we were being charged €41. Overall, the food was OK. But the price was more than we expected given how little we ordered and then a nearby restaurant offered a much more extensive and taste your menu for less.

We ate their our first night in Porto and it was a perfect introduction to Portuguese food and people. The family running the place was so nice. The mother held and entertained our five month old while we ate. They have a nightly set menu of a few options. We got sea bass with rice and potatoes. It was fantastic.

Highly suggest this restaurant!! The staff are a family and they are so kind to the foreigner! The dishes are so delicious and the cheap price give us a surprise.... Will be back for this restaurant again!!

Amazing authentic Portuguese food - mamma cooks everything here and visits the tables to make sure everything is to your liking. Her daughters help to take orders, etc - they are all delightful! Simple menu and all was delicious. Back patio with amazing view was a lovely surprise as well - Hope to return soon!

The fish dish was great but the other offering of a T bone steak was simply an over cooked fried sandwich steak They put bread and cheese on the table as an app but don't tell you it's 4 euro! Beware house wine is box wine. They do have a good selection of bottled wines though Within 5 minutes of being seated our wine was served the dinner order taken and then served They cater to the residents more so than the tourist All in all not a good experience for us

So fresh and authentic. Only offered 2 plates for lunch but both were delicious. Loved it. Momma even took me in the kitchen to show me what ai was eating.

This place is a gem!!! Super cheap and high quality lunch menu, pretty good service and very convenient location. I ate the best fish in Oporto so far for 6 euros!!! I've been told that it's very crowded at dinner time... Anyway, I love this kind of local restaurants!!

Great food, good price, great environment!! I had fish fillets and chocolate mousse....totally recommend!!

I had two nights in Porto, and ate here both nights because the food and atmosphere are so great! One of my favorite restaurants I've ever been to. My advice is to sit outside in the back patio and enjoy the view of the city.

Wow this place was as AUTHENTIC as it gets. The staff was so friendly and spoke English! We sat at a table and the woman came up to us and asked, "to eat?" We nodded and she said "ok, follow me to kitchen." We were shocked and excited and followed her to the back where she introduced us to her mom, the chef, who was cooking the daily catch (her husband is a fisherman) and a rice dish, plus a separate entree option of steak. That's right, there is no menu at this place but you've just got to trust bc it's awesome. We explained that we don't eat red meat (and I'm allergic to dairy) and they were SO accommodating to our dietary needs. The bread they served was warm and divine and there was also a little plate of assorted cheeses which my friend loved. We were brought a little dish of yummy olives and got the house white wine which came in a pitcher and turned out to be only 2 euros total! The fish rice dish was delicious and the portion was HUGE. We had barely made a dent by the time we were feeling full and ended up unbuttoning our pants! They also brought us a fresh simple salad. There were a few dessert options and we opted to share 1 because we were so full. By the end we went up to pay and had no idea how much we were in for, expecting it to be pretty pricey bc of our bottle of mineral water, wine, two servings of bread, dessert etc... But it turned out to be €27 TOTAL. The main dish is €10 per person. We were shocked and delighted. This place is amazing and local, you must try it!