Cervejaria Ramiro

Cervejaria Ramiro is a Lisbon seafood institution on Avenida Almirante Reis, in the Intendente and Arroios area north of the Baixa, founded in 1956. A cervejaria is a beer hall that specialises in shellfish, and Ramiro is regarded across Portugal as the benchmark of the format. The food is simple and ingredient-led: shellfish is displayed live in tanks and aquariums at the entrance and is priced by weight, then boiled or grilled and brought to the table with minimal adornment. Typical orders include tiger prawns, carabineiros (scarlet prawns), lobster, spider crab, clams cooked with garlic and coriander, and percebes (goose barnacles), the most expensive item on the menu, which is sold per kilo. The traditional finish is the prego, a small steak sandwich served in a bread roll, ordered after the shellfish to mop up the juices, followed by a sweet course. The dining room is large, bright and noisy, with tiled walls, white tablecloths over simple tables, fast-moving waiters and a constant crowd; it is casual and loud, and the atmosphere is part of the draw. Draught beer and chilled white and green wines from Portugal are the usual accompaniment. The restaurant does not take reservations in the main room, so queueing is expected, particularly at peak lunch and dinner times and on weekends, when the wait can run well over an hour. A ticket system gives each party a number. It is open from noon to after midnight, Tuesday to Sunday, which allows visitors to avoid the worst of the crowd by arriving early or late. Seafood is sold by weight and prices can climb quickly, so checking the per-kilo price before ordering is common practice among visitors. Ramiro appears in most food guides to Lisbon and is popular with both locals and travellers visiting Portugal.