3 Best Restaurants in Beja, Évora and the Alentejo

This rustic restaurant with red-and-white-check tablecloths and cork carvings adorning the walls serves authentic Alentejan dishes. The atmosphere is rustic, with long wooden tables for boisterous families and intimate little two-seaters tucked behind huge clay wine jugs. The house wine—literally cheaper than the bottled water—is a wonderful value and complement to any meal.

This Beja institution, which first opened its doors in 1893, serves great coffee and conventuais, sweets made according to recipes from local convents. In a pedestrian-only area just outside the city walls, it's conveniently located next to a few hotels and offers far better breakfasts, including delicious torradas (simple white toast with butter). Don't be surprised if you're the only tourist in the ground-floor dining room; the friendly barman may try his (rusty) English on you.