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Ashley Metcalfe
June 13, 2024
Are you looking for a brunch spot in Lisbon with good food, beautiful decor and an overall great vibe?
Look no further than Dear Breakfast Lisbon!
This chic cafe has become a Lisbon brunch staple and a favorite place for people to start their days. It’s so popular that some people will even go straight from the airport to Dear Breakfast with their luggage in tow, or they will visit after they check out.
Matthew and I spent a month living in Lisbon. Brunching every weekend morning became something of a tradition of ours and Dear Breakfast was at the top of our list to check out! The best thing about Dear Breakfast Lisbon is that they’ve got their aesthetic on point – so much so that even their merch has become popular. I can’t tell you how many times I spotted a Dear Breakfast tote bag around the city!
Here’s our review of Dear Breakfast Lisbon, where we share what it’s like to dine there, the wait times, menu options, the staff, prices and the overall experience of brunching at one of their cafe locations. We are also including more brunch options that we loved at the bottom.
Let’s get into it!
Brunching At Dear Breakfast Lisbon
If you’re after a brunch spot that has:
- Good coffee
- Expansive food menu (to satisfy most diets)
- Beautiful decor
Then Dear Breakfast is for you! This charming cafe has become one of the most popular brunch spots in Lisbon, growing to 4 locations across the city.
It’s a great place for breakfast with your partner or a group of friends. Each cafe is pretty spacious, making it a great place to have brunch with your loved ones! Dear Breakfast Lisbon also has a huge variety of brunch options to suit every kind of diet (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, etc), making it easy to accommodate everyone!
But does Dear Breakfast Lisbon really live up to the hype?
Well…here’s everything you need to know about brunching at Dear Breakfast Lisbon.
Dear Breakfast Lisbon Locations
Where is Dear Breakfast located?
As this trendy cafe has grown in popularity, they have expanded to 4 locations across Lisbon:
The most central location to visit as a tourist would be Chiado or Alfama. Matthew and I visited the Alfama location which was a very popular location as it’s very spacious. They have two big rooms where brunch-goers can sit. The Chiado location has a cute little balcony overlooking a street where trams come through which is quite unique (but you might have to be quick to be seated there!). To be fair, they are all pretty central but if you want to be within walking distance, these two are the best options.
The Bica location is the original location, I believe. This location had a nice, modern design inside the cafe. Although if there’s a waiting list, unfortunately, you will be waiting outside on the slope of a hill. The Alfama location is more flat! But that’s Lisbon’s hills for you.
I believe the Santos location is the newest one and it seems like this whole neighborhood has become way more popular in recent years. There’s a lot of good brunch spots located in Santos.
Opening Hours
Dear Breakfast Lisbon makes it really easy to remember their opening hours because they are the same no matter which location you decide to brunch at.
Here are the opening hours for Dear Breakfast Lisbon at each location:
- Dear Breakfast Bica: 9am to 5pm
- Dear Breakfast Alfama: 9am to 5pm
- Dear Breakfast Chiado: 9am to 5pm
- Dear Breakfast Santos: 9am to 5pm
So when’s the best time to visit Dear Breakfast Lisbon?
We highly recommend going pretty early (if you don’t have a reservation). The wait times can get pretty long – up to 1.5 hours if you visit during peak hours. Matthew and I arrived at Dear Breakfast at 10am exactly (1 hour after opening) and we were seated immediately. By 10:30am, it had filled up inside and there was a queue starting to form outside.
Like most breakfast spots in Lisbon, it’s best to arrive early or later – essentially making sure you avoid peak brunch hours (which are 10:30am to 12:30pm).
I feel like their busiest location is the Bica one – we always saw a line out the door. The Alfama location is also very popular as it’s in the heart of a tourist area in Lisbon. Simply go early or make a reservation online the day before (especially if you have a bigger group of people).
Brunch Menu
The brunch menu at Dear Breakfast Lisbon is carefully curated by their chef, Steve Brown.
They create tasty breakfast dishes that are beautifully plated. It’s more than just having breakfast…you have locally sourced ingredients which make each dish super fresh. They take the most simple brunch staples like an eggs benedict and add their own twists and design to the dish.
Here are some of the menu items at Dear Breakfast Lisbon:
- Pancakes (Sweet or Savory)
- Avocado Toast
- Healthy Rancheros
- Sausages
- Salmon Bagel
Matthew ordered the Sausages and I ordered the classic Avocado Toast. We are pretty simple brunch people who love the classics but they do have other cool items on the menu like a croque madame or a beef bitoque.
You know, Dear Breakfast offers a cool menu option: “The Full Breakfast“. This costs €14.50 ($15.30 USD), and for that, you get a croissant or pain au chocolat, granola, eggs (your way), tea or coffee and a juice or smoothie. It’s a great deal if you want to try a little bit of everything!
The menu at Dear Breakfast Lisbon has plenty of variations and a variety of food. It’s best to check the latest version on their Instagram or website. You can order something gluten-free, vegetarian or vegan. There’s something for everyone here and that’s why it’s a great place to go with friends. They also have the menu available on their website in both Portuguese and English so you know exactly what you’re ordering!
Ambiance
The atmosphere of Dear Breakfast Lisbon is great, with a good amount of people buzzing in and out of the cafe! It gives off your classic brunch vibes, with chill music in the background that puts you in the mood for a fun weekend brunch!
The decor at Dear Breakfast varies based on which location you visit (but not too much). It’s always very beautiful and contemporary with a natural aesthetic. At the Alfama location, we felt like it was more boho chic with the white and beige rattan chairs, while the Bica location looks a lot more modern with lots of clean lines.
It can get pretty crowded at some Dear Breakfast locations. Some people have found that the chairs are a little too close together. This isn’t great as it might be too squishy, but just look for the bigger locations – we found the Alfama one to be a bit more spacious!
Food
Whenever we try a new brunch spot, Matthew and I like to order brunch classics. Which is what we did when we went to Dear Breakfast – Matthew got the sausages plate and I ordered a simple, delicious Avocado toast.
The dishes were presented beautifully – I mean my avocado toast looked like a piece of art with the smeared beetroot (I think? Not too sure what it was!). Unfortunately, Matthew doesn’t like black beans too much and didn’t think it would be all over his dish but alas, it was the base for his sausages. It was almost like a soup of black beans with 2 sausages on top — not really ideal, for him at least.
As for my avocado toast, it seemed really fresh and I loved the pickled onions that gave it that juicy crunch! While the avocado toast was decent, it wasn’t the best one I had in Lisbon.
It was a little disappointing as we know there’s a lot of hype around the food at Dear Breakfast Lisbon. After our initial disappointment, we didn’t find ourselves going back to this brunch spot and so we didn’t try other things on the menu. Give it a try for yourself – you might enjoy the food as do loads of other people! Just not us, this time.
Drinks
The drink selection at Dear Breakfast Lisbon is great! They have a wide variety available such as:
- Coffee
- Tea
- Juice/smoothies
- Kombucha
- Cocktails, beer or wine
Whether you are the coffee/tea type or you want to have a boozy brunch – Dear Breakfast Lisbon has you covered! Matthew and I love a good specialty coffee, especially in Lisbon. The coffee at this chic cafe is very good – Matthew recommends getting the flat white! I love my iced drinks and opted for an iced americano which was a little strong for me, but of course it was!
Reservations
Want to know the best thing about brunching at Dear Breakfast Lisbon?
You can make a reservation online! Lisbon’s restaurant/brunch scene is notorious for long lines because they usually do walk-ins only. You hear stories of people waiting up to 2 hours to get seated. And if you’re a big group? Forget about it! The queues definitely got to us at the end and it’s one of the cons of living in Lisbon we experienced – constantly waiting or being turned away! But not at Dear Breakfast…
Simply head to their website, choose a location, a date, a time and the number of people. It’s as simple as that and you can walk straight through! We highly recommend booking in advance if you want to visit Dear Breakfast Lisbon on a weekend (Saturday or Sunday), they are usually the busiest days.
Price
What’s it cost to dine at Dear Breakfast Lisbon?
We found it was fairly reasonably priced! It was just slightly higher than other brunch spots but the portions were pretty generous. Here’s the prices (at time of publishing) for some menu items to give you an idea of how much you’ll pay:
- 🍳 Eggs Benedict: €11 ($11.65 USD)
- 🥞 Savory Pancakes: €11 ($11.65 USD)
- 🥯 Salmon Bagel: €8.50 ($9 USD)
- 🥑 Avocado Toast: €10.50 ($11.10 USD)
The cost for drinks is pretty similar to other places. A coffee usually costs around €2 to €3.50 ($2.10 to $3.70 USD) depending on what you order. You get the best value for money if you get the combo deal – “The Full Breakfast” for €14.50 ($15.30 USD) or the “Brunch Set” for €22 ($23.25 USD). With the “Brunch Set” you get a pastry, granola, a choice of tea or coffee, a plate of eggs or pancakes and a juice or drink (with one refill).
Take your time to look at the menu and see what’s best for you!
Staff
What’s the staff and service like at Dear Breakfast?
Unfortunately, this is where Dear Breakfast Lisbon doesn’t really deliver for us. When we went, we found the service was quite slow, especially when we wanted to order or pay our bill. It also just seemed like the staff were just grumpy and possibly overwhelmed (which is fair enough – it gets very busy).
We saw some people sneak in and take a seat, skipping the line outside. The staff weren’t so attentive with this and it’d be hard to watch them order if you were standing in line waiting. The friendliness and speed can definitely be improved — at least with our experience dining at Dear Breakfast.
Our Personal Experience Dining at Dear Breakfast Lisbon
We loved having brunch at Dear Breakfast Lisbon! It is one of those places that you just have to visit because it’s listed on every “top brunch spots in Lisbon” list.
We enjoyed the buzzing atmosphere, the boho-chic decor and the beautifully-plated dishes. Unfortunately, the food just wasn’t the most amazing we have ever had! It was decent, but maybe we needed to try other items on the menu.
The service was also quite slow and the waitstaff weren’t very attentive. This is one of the downsides we found visiting Dear Breakfast – it seemed like the staff were a little too overwhelmed to be friendly with customers. That’s just our experience, it’s best to try it for yourself!
5x More Breakfast Spots In Lisbon Similar To Dear Breakfast
Looking for more brunch recommendations in Lisbon? We got you!
Matthew and I went to brunch every single weekend we were in Lisbon so we have tried our fair share of spots. But these 5 breakfast spots stand out to us:
Brunching in Lisbon was better than we expected! There are just so many cool, trendy cafes to check out. We found it hard to select the spots we would go to. Our favorites were definitely Heim Cafe or Seagull Method Cafe – we went to both multiple times! So try them out and enjoy your weekend brunch in this beautiful city.
Final Thoughts: Is Dear Breakfast Lisbon Worth A Visit?
Oh yes! Dear Breakfast Lisbon is an iconic brunch spot that you have to try at least once.
This chic, trendy cafe has a good range of menu items, decent coffee and a great atmosphere. The only downside for us was the service. But it’s best to experience it for yourself – it could be different!
Dear Breakfast has 4 locations across the city, making it easy to visit at least one of them. And don’t forget: You can make reservations in advance online. Avoid the long weekend brunch queues here!
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