Prado was the highlight meal of my 2019 visit to Lisbon, and the bread was the highlight of the meal. It was never made in-house, though; it’s from Gleba. I now live in Lisbon, and there is a branch of Gleba within a km walk, so I have been working my way through the breads. They are good (better than what I could get in NYC) but not revelatory. Gleba has expanded a lot recently, and I suspect some changes were made in ramping up production.
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I looked at the Cevejaria Ramiro website and saw that they do take reservations, but looks like you need to pay 25 euros pp to hold the table? Is it worth it to do that? They probably had too many no-shows…
I made a reservation for us, for our first evening in Lisbon. The reservations cost 25 euros per person, but you cancel and get your money back until 24 hours beforehand.
thanks for the rec!
Dave
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Exciting! I’ve only been to his outpost at the Time Out Market, so I’m curious to hear about your experience at the restaurant. Bound to be great, I’ve only had good food at the Market.
a lot of restaurants in Europe seem to do that now. We encountered that in Amsterdam too last fall.
We visited Balçao, the Henrique Sá Pessoa concept on the top floor of El Corté Ingles, in 2018. The food was good, but my feeling is that these food court outposts are limited in what they can achieve. It appears that more of the traditional markets are renovating and adding these kiosks. It may make economic sense, but there may not be much benefit to the diner.
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Alma - Henrique Sá Pessoa - Michelin star (almalisboa.pt)
Had one of the best meals of my life here back in 2019.
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We should have gone to Alma instead of Prado! But we’d already splurged on Sea Me…
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Next time!! 
Oh whoops, I meant to write that I made a reservation for Cevejaria Ramiro. Not Henrique Sa Pessoa.
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Yes, that or a credit card. Most restaurants cannot afford no-shows, and this is happening more and more often. People nowadays book 3 or 4 restaurants and decide at the last minute which one they will go to that day; Most don’t even bother to cancel the unused bookings, leaving the other restaurants with an empty table they cannot re-book at the last minute. I am all for guarantees and honestly, 25€00 is cheap for one of the most thought after restaurant in Lisbon. Try booking a 3 Michelin star in France :o)
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this is definitely becoming common at sought after places. We had a pretty hefty deposit at Alle Testiere in Venice, a tiny place where folks are crammed in very tight and believe me, every one was there at the appointed time and happy to be there. I cant believe what jerks these multibookers are, so hard on the restaurants, it seem like this deposit is a very reasonable way for them to equalize the situation.
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I am getting pretty used to giving my credit card when making my reservation, either directly with the restaurant or on one of the booking sites. Each restaurant has its own policy about how far in advance a cancellation needs to be made and how much the penalty is (how much they’ll change the card) if that deadline isn’t met or if there’s a no-show. At this point, I think I’m asked to do this about 10-20% of the time. I have no problem with this - as Monchique says, it’s a necessary part of doing business given the number of unreliable/uncaring patrons out there.
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Do tell
I just look at one, Oustau de Baumanière, they take a garantee of 150€00 pp unless you cancel 24 hours ahead:
RÉSERVATION :
• Garantie bancaire de 150€ / personne
• En cas de non-présentation ou d’annulation moins de 24 heures avant votre arrivée, cette garantie sera débitée.
Guy Savoy:
We advise that a deposit of €200 per person can be requested to confirm your reservation, for which you will receive a payment link.
In accordance with Restaurant Guy Savoy’s tariff and cancellation policy, we advise that any reservation cancellation requests must be submitted no later than 72 hours before the date and time advised by email
You can just have fun looking them up! And I think they are right, and have no problem paying a deposit…
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This is a little bit different. They’re actually taking a deposit - I think it was 25 euros per person - which they will deduct from your bill after you’ve eaten, but which they will keep if you’re a no-show. I’d say that what you describe happens more often than not, at least here in San Francisco, for nicer restaurants, but as far as taking an actual deposit where they charge your card, I’ve only seen a few restaurants (high end) do that here.
Ohhhh! ok, you’ll love it too!
Agree 100% with this, if someone’s going to spend $$$$$$ on dinner, a 150Euro deposit shouldn’t bother them in the least
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