Gluten Free Porto Guide
- Megan
- Aug 30
- 7 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Everywhere I ate as a Celiac in Porto, Portugal.
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In May we had the privilege of traveling to Barcelona and Portugal with my husband’s family. Barcelona was one of the greatest cities I’ve ever been to for eating gluten free and you can read all about the restaurants we enjoyed HERE.
Portugal is another beautiful country full of gorgeous landscapes, incredible tiled buildings, wonderful food, and warm people. We started our Portugal tour in Porto, where we flew in from Barcelona. It is an incredible city with steep, winding streets leading down to the river, stunning architecture, and breathtaking views. We had an amazing time in Porto and absolutely recommend making it there if you are visiting Portugal!
Unfortunately due to a few unforeseen circumstances (like getting sick for a couple days and having a hard time making reservations for 5 people at certain restaurants) I ended up not being able to try as many food spots as I had hoped to going into Portugal. But the spots we did eat at in Porto were all wonderful so I will share all of those with you as well as some of the restaurants I was sad not to get to try that had been on my list.
As always, before we left for our trip I did a ton of research to find safe gluten free restaurants to eat at while abroad. I love using the Find Me Gluten Free app (FMGF) to start my planning since it makes it so easy to find restaurants other people have had good experiences at and you can read honest reviews for different spots. If you sign up through the link above you can get $5 off your Premium membership for the first year! (Note: In order to get the discount, you’ll need to sign up directly through the website and not in the app, but once subscribed, Premium is enabled on the app as well). I think having the premium plan is so worth it because it allows you to create your own collections (which is what I do every time I am researching a new city), filter by things like “Most Celiac Friendly” or “Best Match,” you get a better map experience in the app, and you are supporting a small business that works to improve the lives of those in the gluten free community. When planning for a trip I’ll also cross reference places on FMGF with any recommendations I’ve saved on Instagram or Pinterest from other gluten free travelers who have recommended certain spots.
Portugal also has the Associação Portuguesa de Celíacos (Portuguese Celiac Association) which accredits restaurants throughout the country that they deem as being Celiac safe. This is another great resource to use and you can read more about the restaurants that are accredited and other helpful information on their website.
But now let’s get into the list of restaurants we went to and our reviews of each place!
Please remember everyone's experience eating out with food allergies can be different based on many factors outside of our control. The waiter you have, who is in the kitchen that day, and how well you are able to communicate your needs to the staff can change the dining experience from one person to another. There are also constant changes in the restaurant industry so it is always important to check information for yourself! This is my own personal experience with these restaurants but you should still do your own research before eating anywhere since things can change, always communicate your needs with your waitstaff and ask clarifying questions about their allergy protocols, and judge for yourself whether you feel comfortable eating at a specific location.
Gluten Free Porto
You can check out my Porto Collection on the Find Me Gluten Free app to see all of the restaurants I saved there. (If you want to get $5 off of a Premium membership for the first year you can sign up HERE).
This is a restaurant I absolutely recommend checking out if you are in Porto. We had an excellent meal here our first night in town, and then ended up back here again our second night after we couldn’t get reservations at Ribeira Square Restaurante. It’s a really cute spot tucked into the hills near the river that seems like a hit with locals and tourists alike. It is extremely well rated on the Find Me Gluten Free app and when we visited I heard a several other tables of English speakers (both American and British) talking to their waiters about needing gluten free so it seems like something this restaurant is very well known for.
The first night I really wanted something light since we had been eating out so mcuh so I got the salad with chicken skewers, and my husband, Zach, tried the famous local dish Franceshina. We also tried a glass of the local Vino Verde which was so good and I absolutely recommend getting. The salad I had was excellent with some of the best marinated chicken I’ve ever eaten and a really nice dressing, and Zach really enjoyed his dish too. We finished that meal with a delightful gluten free chocolate cake! The second night I ordered mussels since I wanted to try some seafood because that is something the area is known for and they were so good and came in a yummy, lemony herb sauce.
One of my top recommendations for a perfect evening in Porto would be to walk down to the river through the winding, hilly streets and explore along the riverfront, then head up to Tasquinha do Bé for dinner, followed by heading to the top of the Luís I Bridge just in time to enjoy the sweeping view of the city at sunset. We did this our first evening in Porto (completely by accident!) and it was so lovely and one of our favorite evenings of our entire trip!
This 100% gluten free bakery and cafe is tucked away in a little courtyard in the heart of Porto. The day we went there was a cute little market happening in the courtyard, which I think is a regular occurrence if you want to check that out too. Com Cuore had lots of options for pastries at the counter as well as a menu for things like sandwiches and paninis that you could have for a meal. I got a ham and cheese toast and that was good and easy to take to go with us. (I also got no pictures here because I was at a point where my blood sugar was too low and I was grumpy and just couldn’t be bothered 😅). The one thing to note about this restaurant is that it is cash only, but there is an ATM located outside around the corner if you need it. This is an easy spot near the heart of town to grab a quick lunch or pastry from if you are in the area.
One of the mornings in Porto we headed over to this cute spot to grab breakfast, which is another 100% gluten free spot! They have an excellent breakfast/brunch menu with pancake stacks, toasts, bowls, and fun drinks like coffee, juices, and smoothies. I wasn’t feeling well that morning so we wanted to take the food to go so I could go back to the hotel, and the server let us know they only allow take out when the restaurant wasn’t busy. Fortunately for us there was only one table eating there at that time so we were able to order and get my pancakes in a to-go box. I got the Hula pancakes and they were really yummy with fruit, granola, and agave syrup on top. I wish I had been feeling well enough to eat at the restaurant because their juices and coffee options looked so good too! This spot was a great find and definitely worth checking out!
One thing I absolutely recommend doing if you go to Porto is do a Port wine tasting and tour. We had a wonderful experience at Taylor's which is one of the oldest port wine company's in the world. They have an audio guide tour which we all enjoyed since liked that we were each able to go at our own pace and listen to the things we were interested in and skip the other parts. It was such a cool experience and you end the tour with a port tasting out in their lovely garden tasting area. Luckily all of their ports are gluten free even though it is a fortified wine so I was able to try all of them! I have to admit, I like Vino Verde a lot better than port, but it was still such a cool experience and one you can't miss.
Didn’t get to:
These are some of the spots that were at the top of my list of places I wanted to try in Porto that we just weren't able to make it to.
Ribiera Square Restaurante
This place had such great reviews and everyone said the food was amazing and they were so good at accommodating gluten free but unfortunately with a group of 5 we were not able to get a reservation. We didn’t realize how popular this restaurant was and since we were in Porto over the weekend the dinner spots were already full by the time we arrived and tried to go there. If this is a spot you are interested in I would find a way to make a reservation ahead of time so that you can try it out! It also may be less busy during the week if you are there on a weekday.
The photos for this restaurant on FMGF look so yummy! The only reason we didn’t eat here was this restaurant ended up being too far away from where we were at dinner time both nights we were in Porto. But the reviews and options both look good for this place.
This bakery looked like a wonderful, fully gluten spot but we didn’t make it that far into Vila Nova de Gaia. If we hadn’t been traveling with family we definitely would have made a point of getting over there, but it would have been too complicated with what we ended up doing.
Final Thoughts on Eating Gluten Free in Porto
We had such a wonderful time visiting Porto and would absolutely recommend going there! It is such a unique and picturesque city and there are so many interesting things to do. As a Celiac it felt pretty easy to find safe, gluten free options for food, you just may have to walk a ways to get to a specific restaurant since a lot of the places we ate at were pretty spread across town. I wish we had been there for another day or two so we could have seen more of the city and gotten to try a few more restaurants!
Have you ever been to Porto?! Share your GF food recommendations below for any other must try spots while visiting. Happy travels, friends!
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