Porto · Portugal
Café Santiago
A practical guide to Café Santiago in Porto: the city's most famous francesinha, what to order, what it costs, what time to arrive to skip the line and which rivals to try next.
Yes, it's worth it for your first francesinha: according to locals it isn't the best in Porto, but it's the most representative. Get there early and come hungry.
Café Santiago is the francesinha house Porto locals send first-timers to. It’s a simple café on Rua de Passos Manuel, five minutes from São Bento station, with a sauce recipe the family won’t share and a price that stays at €12–14 despite the fame.
Our experience
It was our first lunch in Porto. We got off the Alfa Pendular at Campanhã at 11:48, took the urban train to São Bento, saw the station’s azulejos, and at 12:35 walked the 350 meters to Café Santiago.
That’s why we put it there: it was the famous francesinha closest to the station, and since it doesn’t take reservations, arriving before 13:00 was the way to avoid the line. We ordered the Francesinha Santiago without egg, with its fries and a fino. From there we walked down Rua das Flores to drop our bags in Miragaia. The full day is in our arrival in Porto.
A bit of history
Café Santiago opened in 1959 as a neighborhood café: coffee, beer and sandwiches. The Pereira family arrived in 1978 to run the café’s tobacco shop, bought the whole building in 1993 and decided to focus on the francesinha, which every café back then made its own way. Time Out Porto named it the best in the city in 2011 and 2014, and in 2015 it won a public vote. Café Santiago F opened next door in 2011, and Santiago da Praça in 2017.
The francesinha was born in 1953. It was invented by Daniel David da Silva, a Portuguese man back from France and Belgium who adapted the croque-monsieur at A Regaleira, on Rua do Bonjardim. He added Portuguese cured meats, more bread, cheese over the top and a beer-and-tomato sauce no other European sandwich has. For more plans in the city, see our Porto guide.
What to see, in order
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The Francesinha Santiago
Wood-fired bread, ham, fresh sausage, linguiça, green-pepper mortadella and a thin steak, all covered in melted flamengo cheese and sauce. The hand-cut fries are included.
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The sauce
Beer and tomato, a little spicy with a touch of acidity that cuts through the cheese and meat. The recipe is a family secret. If you want more, ask "Mais molho, por favor"; it's free.
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With or without egg
The house serves it with a fried egg on top for about €1 more. We ordered it without egg to taste the sauce on its own; half the reviews defend the egg. Either choice is fine.
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The fino
A 200 ml draft beer, almost always Super Bock, Porto's beer. It's what you drink with a francesinha. In Lisbon the same glass is called an imperial.
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The room
Fluorescent lights, formica tables, soccer on the TV and the espresso machine going nonstop. It's a neighborhood café, not a restaurant, and the francesinha is served as working people's food.
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The two doors
The original is at number 226 on Rua de Passos Manuel, and Café Santiago F, run by the same family, is at 198, 30 meters away. Same recipe. There's a third one, Café Santiago da Praça, on Praça dos Poveiros.
Tips we wish we’d known
Tips
- Take one or two photos and eat. In 15 minutes the cheese sets and the bread gets soggy.
- Here the fries come with the plate. If another café in the area charges extra for fries, you're at an imitation.
- If they offer starters, the francesinha is plenty of food: "Só a francesinha, obrigado".
- Tap water is safe and free: ask for "uma água da torneira".
Do
- If the line at 226 is long, try 198 or walk five minutes to Santiago da Praça, which hands out turns through an app and is usually calmer.
- If you have a second francesinha in Porto, compare it with Bufete Fase or with Brasão Coliseu, across the street, which finishes it in the oven and takes reservations.
- Keep your wallet in front while you wait on the sidewalk.
Don’t
- Don't follow the man in an apron who walks the line offering "a room upstairs with no wait": he takes you to a different restaurant, 60 to 80% more expensive. Santiago's staff never pull people out of the line.
- Don't eat a francesinha at the photo-menu cafés on Rua de Santa Catarina: they charge €18–22 for a worse plate.
- Don't order the chicken francesinha or wine: chicken can't stand up to the sauce, and a fino is cheaper and a better match.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a reservation at Café Santiago?
You can't make one. It's first come, first served; when it's busy, you put your name on a list at the entrance.
How much is a francesinha at Café Santiago?
Between €11.50 and €13 for the regular one, about €13–14 with egg and €14.50–15.50 for the especial, always with fries. With a fino, between €12 and €18 per person.
With egg or without?
It's a matter of taste. Without egg you taste more of the sauce; with egg it's richer. If you want the egg on the side, say "ovo à parte".
What day is it closed?
Sundays. Monday through Saturday it's open all day, with no afternoon break.
Is it the best francesinha in Porto?
Time Out Porto named it the best in the city in 2011 and 2014, and in 2015 it won a public vote. Many locals now prefer Bufete Fase or Brasão Coliseu, but for a first time it's still the most representative.