Bela Lisboa Restaurant

As a 100% Portuguese-American, I was very surprised to find a Portuguese restaurant in Chattanooga because there isn't much of a Portuguese population in TN. However, I am always up for eating at Portuguese restaurants since they're hard to come by. I was hesitant to how good the food would be, but this little joint did not disappoint! We had the bacalhau fritters which if not done right, can be soggy and greasy, but they're prepared to perfection! My husband gobbled them all up. If octopus is on the menu, I'll order it...and it was one of the best I've had since Greece. Perfectly grilled with no chewy weird texture, and the olive oil, garlic and pepper flakes it sat on made the entire dish. I asked for bread to soak up the olive oil - I didn't care about my gluten allergy! My husband had the special - rabbit paella, which he devoured, and I loved as well. The service was great; the chef came by to say hello and provided me with the name of the olive oil, and the Portuguese wine recommended was perfect. I finished the night off with the Portuguese Espresso which has port wine and whipped cream on top. So stuffed and content - walked out of there with a huge smile on my face, with much pride of the delicious meal prepared by the Portuguese!

This was my first visit to this unique restaurant and well worth it. Now parking is alittle tricky with having a restaurant in a building complex right of a main road in north shore Chattanooga but here is the scoop. Facing the restaurant two the left is a big lawyer parking lot. Don't park there ever you will be ticketed or towed. The same law firm has another parking lot directly across the street from the restaurant you can use. If this lot is full there is parking in the back of the building complex but good luck finding how to get up and around with out a hill or obstacles. To the right of the building is a one way street with single file parking is the best play to park and how to get to the back lot too. I did not have a reservation but the friendly staff accommodated me with a minimal wait time. The experience was unique from the white wood shelving like a nook in a corner in your on home feel at each table on the right as you come in the front door. I actually used the shelf to store my salad plate. 😁 Two the left is a bar 🍸 with a full bar to prepare the vast menu list of drinks with lots of wine venue. I was seated to the right at a table towards the back. After looking over the menu and asking lots of questions I decided to get the salmon with cooked vegetables. I was alittle disappointed with them not having a gluten free pasta would have been nice but the salmon with the fig jam right in front was delicious and I loved the combo. The cooked vegetables were done just right too. The salad was huge and the dressing was delicious and homemade. The salad was not a typical tasteless iceberg lettuce but up scale romaine. The fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp was very delicious as well I was told but not gluten free so I did not try it. The whole experience was great from the time I walked into the restaurant to the last bite of me salmon. I was disappointed they did not have gluten free dessert but I went down the street to Clumpies. 🤗 I highly recommend this restaurant and tell them I sent you. Cheers 🍻