There is so much great food in Porto. We’d even go as far to say it’s a bit of an underrated food destination. If you’re visiting Porto, you can’t leave without sampling the city’s food scene. The Time Out Market offers all of Porto’s best food in one place. The Time Out Market for us, makes experiencing the food scene much easier with having a 2 year old.
From classic Portuguese cuisine to dishes we hadn’t heard of, the market is home to 11 brilliant restaurants and two bars. It’s the best of the city under one roof. The time out market’s motto is to showcase the best chefs, the best drinks, the best cultural experiences, gathered from across the city into one essential destination. They launched Time Out Market Lisbon in 2014, and its success has led other cities to follow suit: New York, Cape Town, Boston, Chicago, Dubai, Montreal and now Porto, in 2024.
Time Out Market Porto is in the south wing of São Bento railway station, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s in Porto’s historic centre and nearby is Porto Cathedral, Avenida dos Aliados, and the lively Rua das Flores.
No table reservations are needed here. It has a very casual atmosphere. We did visit several times during our stay in Porto and at various times of the day. We never had any issues finding a seat. There are lifts up the top floor. These are hidden away at the far end of the market.
The upstairs of the market was much quieter than downstairs. There was only two restaurants open, one was a burger restaurant and then on the other side was a pizza restaurant, Okra. We absolutely loved the top floor. You can watch the trains leave and depart from Sao Bento Station. We did also watch a huge group of people who unfortunately missed their train!
At all of the restaurants we visited within the time out market, we were provided with a buzzer to let us know once our food and drinks were ready. This is really handy as it allows you to order from other restaurants as well whilst you wait. There were never any long queues to place the orders. The food would normally be ready within around 10 minutes of ordering.
Outside of the Market you will find ice cream and an aperol spritz Bar. We did share a pistachio ice cream between us and it was gorgeous! We tried a variety of food at the market, from home comforts such as Pizza to Octopus salad, which was one of our favourites of the trip. We also tried two different Francesinha here, which were completely different to each other.
The Time Out Market is a great addition to Porto. For us, the market was perfect as it allowed us to experience high quality restaurant food but in a relaxed atmosphere where Ted could enjoy himself as well. He tried our food as well and he loved it!
Time Out Market Porto is open daily from 10am to midnight.