Yes, had a good chuckle when Fall River and tourists were mentioned in the same breath!
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My latest shopping cart from one of my favorite places in the state:
In addition to terrific canned fish and the equivalent of a bacalhao sommelier, they also have an extensive Portuguese wine collection and some hard-to-find bottles of liquor.
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I have a good friend whose family is Cape Verdean, and his family cooks a lot of Portuguese food and incorporates a lot of Portuguese ingredients. He told me about this place a few years ago and he said this place is a must for his family and friends. Definitely not just a tourist stop.
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Excellent! Wish I had known about this sooner.
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There were locals having desserts and fine coffee at the small tables, and older Portuguese men shopping, and women picking up prepared food for later at home. Didnāt seem like tourists to me. In fact, we were probably the only tourists there that day! And weād only come for lunch and the shopping at Portugalia. I think the locals are probably proud and delighted to have this in their area and carrying items that they may have been missing from home.
Letās encourage more of this type of reporting on Hungry Onion: ethnic markets, great food finds, and new or old places to find interesting foods.
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Double wow! Since falling in love with Saltie Girl weāve been on the prowl for good tinned fish. Looks like the jackpot is in Fall River.
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I imagine you know this, but if youāre a fan of luxury tinned fish, haley.henry wine bar in DTX does really beautifully composed plates of it with good accompaniments (and was doing it before Saltie Girl).
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Believe me, I sat back and looked at her text and my brain said āWTH is she talking about?ā LOL
And thx, @SuzieCK for confirming what I had figured was the set-up for Portugalia: a locals place with others from āoutsideā who have discovered the delights of Portugalia.
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Aware, but have yet to try. My SO and daughter gravitate more toward Copley Square and Newbury Street. Iām hoping to use a visit to the ballet or theater to steer my girls toward DTX and haley.henry.
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This made me really chuckle. I think we all have had a similar experience with non-food oriented family and friends of getting some off the wall objection to a food-related expedition. I remember dragging my sister and her family immediately pre-pandemic to a burger place I had heard about maybe 30 minutes from their house, my BIL complaining vociferously every two minutes as we drove past a McDs or Carlās Jr. (āwhy donāt we just get a burger there?ā). Two bites into his burger he admitted heād happily drive there again but I know it will not stop him complaining the next time. I have become really good at ignoring it.
I hope you will be undeterred about stopping at Portugalia during your planned antiquing trip!
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Iāll be driving down to her neck of the woods to go antiquing, so thereās no issue with me NOT going to Portugalia! LOL
And to clarify - she LIKES food and enjoys trying different things while dining out. She doesnāt, however, like cooking all that much (or at least nowhere near as much as me) - so a place like this to pick up various items to try at home is not on her radar.
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After this lively discussion, you know weāre gonna need to hear your observations about Portugalia if you do make that trip. 
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B and Spring Onion are in Fall River as I write this (while I am stuck inside working). They just had lunch at JJās Coney Island Hot Dogs are now headed to Battleship Cove. I have a feeling that it will be difficult to convince SO to check out Portugalia afterwards, but B will try.
Edited to add: Speaking of Portuguese-leaning food, we had a very disappointing lunch yesterday at Jackās in Warren, RI. I had heard good things. I donāt like posting negative reviews, which is why Iām burying a mention here. Nice people, though.
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Okā¦the guys spent 3 hours at Battleship Cove. B was exhausted after spending 3 hours at the Providence Childrens Museum in the morning. So Portugalia was not in the cards today. Weāll make it there in the near future. 
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My husband loves naval stuff of all kinds. We love Rhode Island. I have three joint replacements and did not explore Battleship Cove with husband and son. I stayed in the car. They loved it! Son was younger then, and shorter. Heās 6ā5" now so wonāt be a repeat visit for him.
When he was younger, we enjoyed the childrenās museums so much. Boston, Providence, Portland, Actonā¦there are many we all loved. Itās worth checking out memberships because there are reciprocal privileges for some. They can be exhausting for both parent(s) and child, but rewards are, perhaps earlier/easier bedtime for all, and they are often near good food destinations.
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For a split second I read "naval"as ānasalā and thought āwhat?ā But itās all clear now. Carry on.
(We, too, enjoyed the Childrenās Museum when our daughter was young, but had an opposite problem from you with your lanky son. Sheās petite, and she once got stuck in the middle of the two-story 3-D maze they had there. We had to send in a tall child to rescue her.)
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Sorry to hear this. I have fond memories of Jackās. It was a favorite of my dadās: http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/2015/04/they-demolished-hilltop-but-they-cant.html
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If I may mildy and respectfully observe, I do think that pointing out the shortcomings of a place serves a very useful function. People who read food sites (which includes us posters but many more readers) look to whatās written here for guidance.
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I feel the same way. I totally see @fooddabblerās point, but I just donāt like remembering and writing up the bad experience.
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One can always do it kindly and with grace, qualities that I might lack but which you and @digga have in abundance. Iād also argue that you do the restaurant a favor by pointing out where they might improve. Were I running such a business, Iād rather I knew what I might be doing wrong, than simply watch customers silently vanish. (This assumes, of course, that restaurant owners read food boards, and it isnāt clear to me that many of them do.)
