America Is Finally Catching on to Portuguese Food

In the newly trendy Cypress Park in Los Angeles. the intimate Barra Santos — surrounded by Mexican eateries and coffee shops — quietly flies Portugal’s flag. On the walls are blue-and-white tiles that evoke the old-world charm of azulejos in Lisbon. And on the menu are old-country highlights, like crispy cod croquettes and meaty bifana sandwiches. For co-owner Mike Santos, whose family hails from both Lisbon and the city of Viseu three hours north, opening Barra Santos in March 2023 comes at a time when Americans are becoming much more familiar with his ancestral home.

“While I've been involved in various projects, Barra Santos is my first restaurant that’s focused on Portuguese dishes,” he says. “Ten or 15 years ago, there just wasn’t as much interest in exploring Portuguese cuisine in a dedicated way [in Los Angeles]. Today, though, there’s a broader understanding that Portugal has its own culinary identity beyond the Mediterranean umbrella.” 

As the world becomes more globalized, previously under-represented cuisines in the United States are beginning to pop up all over the country. But the timely growth of Portuguese-inspired restaurants might have a more tangible source: tourism to Portugal. It’s no secret that the country has become a more popular travel destination in recent years, but the number of Americans heading there is rising at a massive clip. It’s been reported that between January and June 2024 alone, over 1 million people from the United States — double the amount from 2022 — visited destinations like Lisbon, Porto, Douro Valley, and Comporta. And when these Americans return home, they’re seeking out the meals they had on vacation.

“Many Americans are returning from their trips with a newfound love for Portuguese food and wine,” Santos says, adding that “beyond tourism, though, I think it’s a larger trend in dining where people want a more authentic, immersive experience with specific regional cuisines — and Portuguese food, with its fresh, vibrant, yet comforting flavors, fits right into that.”

On the other side of the country in New Jersey, David Viana opened Lita — named after his mother Rosalita — in a strip mall in Aberdeen Township in April 2023. Though the menu as a whole is called modern Iberian, Viana’s Portuguese heritage was a massive point of reference for most of the dishes, like rissóis de camarão (a type of fried pastry stuffed with shrimp) and a garlicky bowl of Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato, or clams cooked in white wine. He says that recently, while doing table rounds at the restaurant, he often meets diners who are eager to talk about traveling to Portugal.

“I don’t think a week goes by without one of my guests having just returned from Portugal or without someone asking for my recommendations about where to eat in Lisbon or Porto because they just booked a trip,” he admits.

Now whether Portugal’s red-hot travel bonafides are fueling a demand for Portuguese cuisine stateside is hard to prove, but it can’t be ignored that there is a notable uptick in recent openings. Five-star hotel Raffles Boston debuted in September 2023 with first-generation Portuguese American and 2001 F&W Best New Chef George Mendes as its executive chef.

On top of overseeing the property’s entire culinary program, he also helms the kitchen at Amar, a fine-dining restaurant inspired by Portuguese food. Mendes, who is based in New York City, has operated successful Portuguese venues before, including Michelin-starred Aldea from 2009-2020, but a luxury hotel launching a dining room dedicated to Portuguese cooking? That’s a much rarer proposition, especially when compared to hotels touting French, Italian, and Japanese restaurants.

And on October 23, 2024, Emeril Lagasse opened his first project in New Orleans in eight years: 34 Restaurant & Bar honors the iconic chef’s Portuguese heritage and his late mother Hilda, who was originally from the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal in the north Atlantic. Instead of chunky muffuletta or spice-forward gumbo that Lagasse is famous for, the menu at 34 promotes comforting dishes like Porco Alentejana, a hearty stew of pork and clams, and arroz pato, a for-the-table platter of rice with duck plus chorizo and lardo.

In Seattle’s Pike Place Market, there’s Lonely Siren. In Chicago, Cadinho serves Portuguese pastries and desserts. Michelin-starred Adega, which shuttered in December 2023, has reopened in its original space in San Jose, California. And Eleven Madison Park alum Colin Wyatt is set to open seafood-focused Douro in Portland, Maine, any day now.

And it’s not just US-based chefs who are making their mark on the national dining scene. Even Portuguese chefs are getting in on the action. In March 2024, Henrique Sá Pessoa, the man behind Lisbon’s two-Michelin-starred mecca Alma, landed in Miami’s Coconut Grove with Sereia, a bright, glamorous dining room with an Iberian-inspired menu. To Sá Pessoa, whose restaurants can also be found in London and Amsterdam, the growth of tourism in Portugal has been helpful in helping create this global presence.

“I see the impact of tourism to Portugal firsthand in the dining room and kitchen,” he explains, noting that in Alma, nearly half his clients are Americans. “We often hear guests talking about their favorite dishes and restaurants from their trips, and they express a desire to relive those culinary experiences.”

And at Sereia, they can expect to find a lot of classics: peixinhos da horta (battered and deep-fried green beans), pica pau (seared strips of beef with pickled vegetables), and arroz de carabineiro (a large-format rice dish with scarlet prawns). These are the types of dishes that you were likely to find in Portuguese communities around the U.S., like in Newark, New Jersey, or in Massachusetts.

But in Miami, Sereia might be it. And for Viana, who grew up in New Jersey, this moment, though exciting, is unexpected. “I never imagined a world where great Portuguese restaurants would exist from coast to coast,” he says, “especially when in my youth they were all confined to one city, Newark.”