For An Affordable Tour Of Portuguese Cuisine, Just Head For New England

One of travel's greatest delights, besides discovering breathtaking vistas and captivating cultures, is savoring the local cuisine. Some would even see food as the opening dialogue for connecting with a culture, which is how Anthony Bourdain always finds the best local restaurants while traveling. The Iberian Peninsula's westernmost country, hugging the Atlantic Ocean, Portugal, is no exception — it's even included in UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage for its Mediterranean diet. However, you don't have to save up a costly airplane ticket to visit this rising culinary destination. Surprisingly, New England has been home to a burgeoning and thriving Portuguese community for over a century now.

Portuguese cuisine doesn't immediately come to a foodie's mind when compared to some of its more famous Mediterranean cousins like Spain and Italy. However, it is certainly beginning to appear more often, as Lisbon is considered one of the best foodie destinations, per Rick Steves. Due to its great legacy as explorers and seafarers, as well as a pastiche of many cultures that have informed the country's national identity, the Portuguese flavor profile is far from being insular. Modern-day Portuguese cuisine is a veritable mosaic of ingredients — the Roman empire introduced wheat, onions, and olives, while explorers in the 15th century brought back cinnamon and curry powder from Asian countries. 

Portuguese immigrants have been trickling steadily to the northeastern shore of the United States from the 1800s up until the 1990s. With every new wave, they have brought with them family recipes and regional delicacies. As such, the area is great for exploring Portuguese cuisine at affordable prices. Enjoy shopping for traditional foods and tasting delicious dishes in Fall River and Boston in Massachusetts, or head to East Providence, Rhode Island, for a local hub of authentic Portuguese culture.

Fall River is a quaint destination in Massachusetts, known for having a haunted B&B that is the perfect Halloween getaway, but its Portuguese cuisine is to die for. The unassuming Avo's Feast is rated 4.6 stars on Google, and this local gem boasts a wide array of Portuguese signatures that can be found at any typical family dinner table. The eatery is known for its delicious sandwiches on freshly baked rolls, which are beyond reasonably priced at $8.

The city's Portugalia Marketplace is the perfect destination for you to fill up your pantry with all the locally made or imported goods imaginable. This 20,000-square-foot space will make your eyes wander, offering staples like tinned sardines, tea from the Azores, and the cornerstone of Portuguese cuisine, salt cod. It may not be the tasy and historic Bolhão Market in Porto, but you'll be able to taste authentic ingredients without crossing the Atlantic.

As a thriving cultural hub, Boston has plenty of Portuguese options. Deemed the city's Best Portuguese Restaurant in 2024 by Boston Magazine, Baleia certainly changed the pace and setting of traditional Portuguese fare. Enjoy the venue on a budget by the bar, with Portuguese-only wine and bolinhos (salt cod croquettes). In the neighboring city of Cambridge, Casa Portugal certainly combines a familial feel with a simple, polished restaurant experience. With a perfect rating of five stars on Restaurant Guru, the affordable lunch menu is served Monday through Friday, with an ample selection of cod fish cakes, shrimp, and squid; at the time of this writing, no item is above $16.

Over the border in East Providence, Rhode Island, you will find the largest Portuguese community in the state, numbering around 10,000, so it's reasonable to assume a few good establishments cater to the populace. In the heart of the city, you can find O Dinis, a third-generation, family-owned restaurant that offers dishes focused on tradition and simplicity, as if they were cooked by a Portuguese grandmother at home. With a diverse menu spanning culinary influences from Goa, Macau, and Africa, it embodies the global mosaic that has shaped Portuguese cuisine over centuries. You can find them on Warren Ave, one of the main streets where many fellow Portuguese restaurants have dropped their anchor.

Just down the road from O Dinis, you can enjoy a genuinely old-fashioned setting at Phillips Street Restaurant. A tell-tale sign that this restaurant is a true hidden gem is its disproportionately high reviews on Google, with a 4.5-star rating at the time of writing, and no fancy website. The menu is on a single page, listing all the traditional classics, including an 8-ounce Sirloin steak with egg priced at under $10.