Cafeography
Porto · Aliados & Clérigos

Cafés in Aliados & Clérigos

The avenue, the Clérigos tower, cafés from 1909 and 1933, and bakeries open at 06:00.

Photo: Renata Moraes, Pexels License

Avenida dos Aliados is the main avenue of the Baixa, one continuous open space with Praça da Liberdade and Praça do General Humberto Delgado. It honors the Allies of the First World War, and demolition to make room for it began on 1 February 1916.1 To the west, the Clérigos tower rises about 75.6 m over the rooftops.2

More cafés sit here than in any other part of Porto, and they span more than a century: a students' café from 1909, a music café from 1933, a 1950s room on Rua de Ceuta, a dairy shop known for its éclairs, two specialty roasters and pão quente (hot-bread) bakeries that open at 06:00.

Local tip: Before 08:00, cross from São Bento to Café Brasil on Rua da Madeira or walk up to Muralhas do Olival on Campo dos Mártires da Pátria: both open at 06:00 on weekdays, hours before the Guarany and the Ceuta.

At a glance

91Cafés listed
28With opening hours
06:00Earliest opening
02:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Café Brasil, from 06:00 (Mon–Fri 06:00–20:00 · Sat–Sun 08:00–20:00).
  • Closes latest: Arco ao Meio, until 02:00 (Mon–Thu 10:00–00:00 · Fri–Sat 10:00–02:00).
  • Most common features: outdoor seating (26%), bakery café (12%), indoor seating (11%).

Say Cheesecake! & Co.

  • Rua do Almada, 21
  • Mon–Fri 09:00–18:00 · Sat 08:30–18:00 · Sun 08:30–16:00
  • +351919194173
  • Wi-Fi
  • Takeaway
  • Card payment
  • Vegetarian options
  • Partial wheelchair access
  • Toilets
  • Smoke-free indoors
  • Brunch
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Almada Bistrô

  • Rua do Almada, 536
  • Mon–Fri 09:00–20:00 · Sat 10:00–20:00 · Sun 12:00–20:00
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Do Norte By Hungry Biker

  • Rua do Almada, 57-59
  • Daily 08:30–16:00
  • Wi-Fi
  • Takeaway
  • Partial wheelchair access
  • Toilets
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Tendinha da Trindade

  • Travessa das Liceiras, 1
  • Mon–Sat 09:00–21:00
  • Partial wheelchair access
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Coffee chains in Aliados & Clérigos

Arriving at São Bento and Aliados

São Bento station, on Praça de Almeida Garrett, is the terminus for suburban trains and the Douro line, and an underground passage links it to the metro on line D. Its hall is lined with about 20,000 azulejos (painted tiles) by Jorge Colaço, dated 1905–1916.3 Building Aliados metro station, also on line D, led to a redesign by Álvaro Siza Vieira and Eduardo Souto Moura that paved the central gardens in granite around 2006.1

On the square outside the station, Fábrica de Nata fills numbers 7–10, Cafetaria Flor de São Bento is at 12, and Jeronymo opens daily 08:00–21:30.

The tower and the avenue

Nicolau Nasoni, an Italian architect who worked across northern Portugal, designed the Clérigos church, built 1732–1750; the tower followed in 1754–1763 and has 240 steps to the top of its six floors.2 On the avenue, Henrique Moreira's statue Juventude has stood since 1929, and two popes have said Mass there, John Paul II in 1982 and Benedict XVI in 2010.1

Guarany, Piolho and Ceuta

Café Guarany, at 85–89 Avenida dos Aliados, took its present form on 29 January 1933, remodeled by the architect Rogério de Azevedo with marble high reliefs by Henrique Moreira. It is known as the café of music, has paintings by Graça Morais on its walls, and opens daily 09:00–00:00.4

Café Piolho, officially Âncora d'Ouro, opened on 26 June 1909 on Praça Parada Leitão, and students and teachers of the University of Porto still meet there. Nobody knows for sure where the nickname, "louse", came from; one theory blames a small room packed with students. It opens Monday to Saturday 08:00–02:00.5

Café Ceuta on Rua de Ceuta opened in July 1953, designed by Carlos Neves, with three stained-glass windows of Portuguese troops leaving for Ceuta in 1415. It opens 09:30–00:00 and closes on Tuesdays.6

Éclairs, roasters and early starts

Leitaria da Quinta do Paço, a dairy brand from Paços de Ferreira dating to 1920, keeps its shop on Praça Guilherme Gomes Fernandes; its chantilly éclair dates from 1960, when the founder came across it in Switzerland.7 The shop opens daily at 09:00 and closes at 21:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, at 20:00 otherwise.

Fábrica Coffee Roasters, which started in Lisbon, opened its first Porto bar in 2018 and added a second on Rua de José Falcão.8 That one, at number 122, opens daily 09:00–17:00, and SO Coffee Roasters serves at 119 Rua de Sá Noronha, Monday to Saturday 09:00–17:00 and until 13:30 on Sundays.

The earliest openers are Muralhas do Olival, a pão quente confeitaria at 121 Campo dos Mártires da Pátria, from 06:00 Monday to Saturday, and Café Brasil at 242 Rua da Madeira, beside São Bento, from 06:00 on weekdays. Café Aliança, at 152 on the avenue, follows at 06:30, and Chafariz da Trindade stays open until 02:00, Monday to Saturday.

Sources

  1. Avenida dos Aliados, Wikipédia, accessed October 2026
  2. Clérigos Church, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. São Bento railway station, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  4. Café Guarany, Comércio com História (DGAE), accessed October 2026
  5. Café Âncora d'Ouro – Piolho, Comércio com História (DGAE), accessed October 2026
  6. Café Ceuta, Comércio com História (DGAE), accessed October 2026
  7. 100 anos de Leitaria da Quinta do Paço: éclairs, mudanças e muito chantilly, Observador (March 5, 2020), accessed October 2026
  8. 11 Great Coffee Shops in Porto, 2foodtrippers (updated October 18, 2026), accessed October 2026
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In Aliados & Clérigos, also browse: Esplanadas Wi-Fi Pastelarias Open late Brunch Open by 6am

FAQ

Aliados & Clérigos cafés: questions

When did Café Guarany on Avenida dos Aliados in Porto open?

Café Guarany took its present form on 29 January 1933, when the architect Rogério de Azevedo remodeled it, with marble high reliefs by the sculptor Henrique Moreira. Known as the café of music, it stands at 85–89 Avenida dos Aliados, has paintings by Graça Morais on its walls and opens daily from 09:00 to midnight.

Why is the café on Praça Parada Leitão near Clérigos in Porto called Piolho?

Nobody knows for certain. Café Piolho, officially Âncora d'Ouro, opened on 26 June 1909, and one theory says the nickname, meaning louse, came from its small room packed with students. Students and teachers of the University of Porto still meet there; it opens Monday to Saturday from 08:00 to 02:00.

How many tiles are in São Bento station near Aliados in Porto?

About 20,000. Jorge Colaço painted the azulejo panels in São Bento's hall between 1905 and 1916. The station, on Praça de Almeida Garrett, is the terminus for suburban trains and the Douro line, with an underground link to the metro on line D. Café Brasil, beside it on Rua da Madeira, opens at 06:00 on weekdays.

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