Café Santiago

Café Santiago (Rua de Passos Manuel 226)

The francesinha house locals point to first

⚠ Closed Sun; lunch queue

Hours

Mon-Sat 12:00-22:45, closed Sun (official site)

Budget

About €13-16 per person

Address

Rua de Passos Manuel 226, Baixa

When there's a queue under a red awning, you've found Café Santiago. White bread is stacked with mortadella, fresh sausage, linguiça, a beef steak and ham, sealed in cheese and drowned in a peppery, beer-tinged sauce. Add the fried egg on top and the yolk runs into the sauce and the fries the moment you cut in. One plate is more than a meal, so plenty of diners split one between two with a bowl of soup. Santiago F at number 198 is the family's offshoot, a fine fallback when the original's line is long.