Lisbon’s best pasta place is vegan, but no one believes it

Lisbon’s best pasta might just be found at a tiny Italian trattoria with one big secret: everything on the menu is 100% vegan. At Al Sanpietrino, diners are shocked to discover the creamy “ricotta” and rich ragù have no trace of animal products—because it all tastes just like the real thing.

A taste of Italy, reimagined

Founded by Alex and Kajsa, Al Sanpietrino Trattoria is Portugal’s first fully vegan Italian restaurant. Despite coming from different backgrounds, their shared passion for animals and love for traditional Italian food led them on a mission: to recreate the comforting, homestyle dishes of Italy—cruelty-free.

Armed with a shoestring budget, deep culinary memory, and a few helpful phone calls to Alex’s mama, the duo created what they now call New Traditional Comfort Food—authentic Italian recipes reinterpreted through a vegan lens, using only natural, seasonal, and organic ingredients.

All the flavour, none of the sacrifice

Al Sanpietrino Trattoria

Signature dishes like Eggplant Parmigiana—grilled aubergine, vegan ricotta, basil and “Parmigiano” on sourdough—and Calamarata, a Neapolitan pasta with king oyster mushroom “calamari” and organic San Marzano tomatoes, are packed with flavour and love. Each dish is made from scratch, using no animal products, yet captures the spirit of Italy with surprising accuracy.

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A sustainable mission
 

Italian, vegan, and full of heart—Al Sanpietrino proves you don’t need animal products to enjoy real comfort food.

Alex and Kajsa aim to inspire a shift in how we think about food, lifestyle, and sustainability. Everything, from the ingredients to the cleaning products, reflects a commitment to ethical living. Even the furnishings lean toward second-hand and waste-conscious choices.