Originating in Porto, the Francesinha is considered one of the best sandwiches in the world. Porto is still the best place to eat francesinhas and where you will find the best francesinhas in the world.
But choosing where to eat francesinha in Porto is not easy, as there are hundreds of places to eat francesinha. That’s why we rolled up our sleeves and explored where the best francesinhas in Porto. The final result is in this article, with a list of the best francesinhas in Porto.
The referenced restaurants are not listed in order of preference. Sometimes what varies a bit is the sauce’s flavor varies, the quality and quantity of the ingredients, and the size of the francesinha. In the end, it all depends a lot on the taste of each one, if you like a more spicy or neutral sauce. Nevertheless, you will eat a proper francesinha in any of these restaurants.
We also explored a few vegetarian and vegan francesinhas to provide everyone with a culinary experience. It’s not exactly the same thing, but some are surprisingly good!
What is a Francesinha?
A Francesinha is a delicious sandwich created in Porto. But it’s not just a sandwich. It’s made with toasted bread, ham, fresh sausage, and sausage and steak. Finally, it is topped with melted cheese and a very special sauce.
The secret of the francesinha is in the sauce, which can vary from restaurant to restaurant; each has its own version, but the sauce base is tomato, beer, and Piripiri. The sauce and the meat’s quality make the francesinha perfect. Some francesinhas also have a fried egg or shrimp on top. It’s simply divine.
Francesinha is a rather recent portuguese food as it was created in 1953 in Porto by a Portuguese immigrant inspired by the famous French sandwich croque monsieur. Hence its name, “Francesinha.” The original francesinha used roast meat instead of the steak used today. You can still find Francesinha with roast meat in some of these restaurants, but honestly, the newer steak version is better.
The first restaurant in Porto to serve francesinha was called “A Regaleira,” which still exists. However, management has changed, and its Francesinha is not particularly prestigious.
Currently, several restaurants in Porto serve good francesinhas. In essence, they are similar, but there may be some variations in the sauce and the type of meat they use.
10 Best Francesinha Restaurants in Porto
#1 Cervejaria Brasão
Cervejaria Brasão (Brasão Brewery) is one of Porto’s best places to eat Francesinha. It’s one of our favorite francesinha restaurants.
It is a more chic restaurant – it is well decorated, and the service is excellent. And the food is really good. The only downside to the restaurant is the large number of visitors, often with queues. It’s best to call to book a table. Otherwise, you’ll probably have to wait a long time.
The Francesinhas from Cervejaria Brasão are excellent. They are made with toasted bread, steak, paio, ham, fresh sausage, and sausage. The meat is of good quality. Fries come separately and are very good.
The Francesinha sauce is very good; it is not sweet and has a strong and spicy flavor without overpowering the other flavors. However, the francesinhas are a little smaller than usual, which may be a good thing for many people, as francesinhas are really filling.
There is a vegetarian Francesinha option, and the restaurant has many other dishes for those who don’t want to eat francesinha. Note that there are several Cervejaria Brasão restaurants in Porto. We like the one close to Aliados and Porto City Hall. The other locations are Coliseu, Foz, Salgueiros, Antas, and Leça.
- Price of Francesinha with egg without potatoes – 13€
- Service – very good and nice atmosphere
- Location: Rua de Ramalho Ortigão 28, 4000-407 Porto
#2 Francesinha Capa Negra II
The Capa Negra II restaurant is one of the most popular restaurants in Porto for eating francesinhas. In addition to being a great place to eat Francesinha, it is a day-to-day restaurant, serving dishes of the day and other types of dishes. It’s a very good lunch restaurant, frequented by people who work in the surroundings. It is large with a relaxed atmosphere.
The francesinhas at the Capa Negra II restaurant are good, with steak, sausage, ham, and fresh sausage topped with lots of cheese. The meat is of good quality, the fries too. The sauce is good, a little spicy and not too sweet, as we like it. It has little sauce, but you can always ask for more (as in everywhere else on this list).
The restaurant serves other dishes besides francesinha, as already mentioned. They don’t have a vegetarian francesinha but have the option of a half Francesinha if you think you can’t take it all. The restaurant is spacious, and there are usually no queues on weekdays. The service is good but not excellent.
- Price of Francesinha with egg and potato – 12.50€
- Service – Good and nice atmosphere, can be a bit noisy.
- Location: Rua do Campo Alegre 191, 4150-177 Porto
#3 Yuko Tavern
Taverna do Yuko is a typical francesinha restaurant. Despite serving some snacks such as steak, woodpeckers, omelets, and ham sandwiches, its specialty is francesinha. People don’t go there to have anything else.
The restaurant has a very characteristic decoration of a tavern and tavern, it looks like an old rural house which gives it a rustic atmosphere.
Francesinha is very good. Both the quantity and quality of meat are excellent – steak, sausage, ham, and good fresh sausage and topped covered in cheese. The fries were good. The sauce doesn’t have a strong flavor, is very neutral, and isn’t spicy. So what we liked the least was the sauce, but that depends on each one’s taste.
It has the option of half Francesinha and vegetarian Francesinha (we haven’t tried it yet). The restaurant is not very spacious, so reservations are more than recommended.
- Price of Francesinha with egg without potatoes– 12,00€
- Service – Very good and nice atmosphere
- Location: Rua de Costa Cabral 2331, 4200-232 Porto
#4 Casanova
The Casanova restaurant has the best vegan francesinhas in Porto. If you are vegan or vegetarian and want to eat a good Francesinha, the Casanova restaurant is the place for you. Even though it is not a vegan restaurant, both the vegan and traditional Francesinha are very good.
It is an unpretentious restaurant – more of a snack bar, which serves meals and francesinhas. Note that it is not a vegan restaurant and therefore does not have other vegan dishes.
The traditional Francesinha is appetizing, with good quality meat: steak, sausage, and sausage, with lots of cheese topping. The sauce has a strong beer flavor, slightly spicy but good. The fries are homemade and very good.
As for the vegan francesinha, it is very good and reproduces the flavors of the francesinha well. It takes seitan, chorizo, and vegan sausage. It comes topped with delicious vegan cheese and a very good herb tomato sauce. The set is very similar to a francesinha. Very good and satisfying. It was our favorite vegan or vegetarian, francesinha.
The restaurant doesn’t usually fill up on weekdays, but they accept reservations, so it’s preferable to book. The only drawback of this restaurant is that they don’t accept cards.
- Price of Francesinha with egg without potatoes or Vegan – €10.00
- Service – Very good and nice atmosphere
- Location: Rua da Constitution 691, 4200-200 Porto
#5 O Afonso
Afonso is one of the most famous Francesinha restaurants in Porto. It is a good francesinha restaurant that became even more famous after the chef and presenter Anthony Bourdain ate at the restaurant on the CNN program – Parts Unknown.
Needless to say, this restaurant is busy, very busy at times. They do not accept reservations, so it is recommended to go during the week and preferably come early at 12h or 19h. Otherwise, there will be queues. It’s a brewery/snack bar-type restaurant. It has a distinctive decoration related to Formula 1 and several photographs of Ayrton Senna.
The Francesinha is very good with good ingredients. The meat is of good quality, with steak, sausage, ham, sausage, and fresh sausage. It’s covered with a good amount of cheese. The sauce is quite unique, with a strong and spicy flavor and a substantial alcoholic aftertaste. It is said to take several types of alcoholic beverages. The fries are also good.
In short, the francesinha is good, especially for those who like strong flavors. If you don’t like a strong flavor with a hint of alcohol, maybe this francesinha isn’t for you. If you do, this is the one to go!
The restaurant serves other types of francesinha, such as the francesinha with roast meat and the vegetarian francesinha, but we only had the traditional ones here. They also have other types of traditional Portuguese dishes.
- Price of Francesinha with egg without potatoes – €13.00
- Service – Very good and nice atmosphere
- Location: Rua da Torrinha 219, 4050-610 Porto
#6 Café Santiago
Café Santiago is one of the most famous francesinhas restaurants in Porto. Possibly the most famous and popular lately. It is a snack-bar type restaurant, which also serves dishes of the day. It has a very relaxed atmosphere that many people from Porto used to eat daily.
As for the francesinha, it’s very good. The quality of the meat is good, it has an excellent sausage. Plenty of cheese to cover. The sauce is nice, a little spicy, but not too intense in flavor. Fries are reasonable but not the best, as they are sometimes a little sticky.
They don’t have a vegetarian francesinha, but they do have other types of dishes, including the dish of the day. There are three Santiago cafes, two on Rua de Passo Manuel and one on Praça dos Poveiros. The original restaurant is on Rua de Passos Manuel, but we have also tried the one in Praça dos Poveiros, which was as good as the original.
As I said, it’s a very popular restaurant, so there may be queues. We advise you to go early, around 12:00. They do not accept reservations. But as they have several locations relatively close to each other, you can always try each one to find if any is not filled yet.
- Price of Francesinha with egg and potato – €12.00
- Service – Good and nice atmosphere
- Location: R. de Passos Manuel 226, 4000-382 Porto
#7 Cufra
Cufra’s restaurant is a seafood restaurant. So francesinhas are not their main specialty, but they are great. It is a large restaurant with different types of dishes, including dishes of the day, with seafood being its strong point.
The francesinha is quite good and very filling and with good quality ingredients. As usual with the great francesinhas of Porto it takes several cold meats, and is topped with a good amount of cheese. However, this one also takes mortadella. The sauce tastes spicy but too strong. The fries are good.
There are options for other types of francesinha, such as francesinha with shrimp or giant shrimp, which can make the francesinha a little more expensive. There’s also francesinha with roast loin instead of steak if you want to try the old version of Francesinha.
One of the advantages of this restaurant is the large covered car park next to the mainland supermarket.
- Price of roasted sirloin Francesinha without egg – €11.00
- Service – Good and nice atmosphere
- Location: Av. da Boavista 2504, 4100-119 Porto
#8 Santa Francesinha
The francesinha from the Santa Francesinha restaurant is also one of the best in Porto. The restaurant’s specialty is francesinha, although it serves other dishes such as pregos, bifanas, and dish of the day. It is a snack bar restaurant and has a lot of space. There are usually no queues unless it’s really peak season.
The francesinha has a good quantity and quality of meat. It takes steak, ham, fresh sausage, and a linguiça (It could have more). It is topped with a good amount of cheese. And the sauce is good, a little spicy but not too strong. It is generally a respectable francesinha, with everything right but nothing extraordinary either.
There is also a vegan francesinha option with portobello mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, grilled onions, seitan steaks, soy chorizo, courgette, and vegan sausage. The sauce is vegan too. It’s good, but it’s not up to Casanova’s level.
In addition to the traditional francesinha, there are francesinhas of various tastes and shapes, such as chicken, shrimp, and minced steak in bijou bread. We’ve never tried any of these, so we can’t rate them. But some sound really weird, honestly.
- Price of Francesinha without egg or potatoes – €12.00
- Service – Very good and nice atmosphere
- Location: Praça dos Poveiros 72, 4000-032 Porto
#9 Lado B
The Lado B restaurant is a famous francesinha restaurant in Porto. There are other types of dishes, but francesinha is the specialty. The francesinha on Lado B even has a registered trademark. There are two Lado B restaurants, one near the Coliseum and the other in Mercado Bom Sucesso.
As for the typical francesinha on Lado B, it’s quite good. It has a good quantity and quality of meat, taking steak, sausage, ham, and fresh sausage. The bread is a little more soggy than usual and is topped with a generous layer of cheese. As for the sauce, it’s a little spicy, as it should. The francesinha is a little smaller than the usual ones.
There are other types of francesinha, like the original with roasted meat and vegetarian. The vegetarian francesinha was OK, nothing extraordinary. Casanova’s vegan francesinha was much better. It’s made with smoked tofu sausage, eggplant, and vegetable sausage. It comes with an egg if you want. The sauce is very different from the traditional francesinha, it has a tomato flavor and a little flour.
The restaurant is very popular so there may be queues. They do not accept reservations, but they add you to the waiting list.
- Price of Francesinha with egg without fries – €9.75
- Service – Very good and nice atmosphere
- Location: R. de Passos Manuel 190 Front, 4000-382 Porto
