Meeting People in Porto: Where to Go

Meeting people in a city is easier when you attend a recurring event: chess on Tuesday, board games on Thursday, a supper club once a month. You see the same faces again, and a stranger quickly becomes someone you know. This guide only lists events that the organiser describes on its own page.

The options at a glance

Name	Area, venue	Format	When	Price (year)	Signing up
Rosa et al	Cedofeita, Rosa et al Townhouse, or other venues	The Supperclub, friends and strangers at one table	Almost every month	Tasting menu from 55 €, wine pairing from 20 €, according to the website (undated)	Reserve online, book early
LOOK.Sharp Meaningful Meal	Rua de Cimo de Vila 41	Conversation dinner	Irregular dates, see Meetup	22.50 € for an earlier dinner (2026), check each event	Pay in advance, no tickets at the door
Timeleft	Restaurants and cafés, venue in the app	Dinner or coffee with four to six strangers	Dinner Wednesday and Friday 8 pm, coffee Saturday 3 pm	Subscription, plus food and drinks (2026)	In the app, up to 13 hours before
LOOK.Sharp Social Boardgames	Rua de Cimo de Vila 41	Board games	Thursday or Sunday, depending on the date	3 € entry, plus a required purchase at the venue (2026)	Ticket through LOOK.Sharp, limited places
Portal	Portal Board Game Cafe, Rua de Álvares Cabral 420	Board games and role-playing games	Several evenings, dates on Meetup	3 € for a listed board game evening (2026)	Meetup, limited places
Nope Bar	Rua de Miguel Bombarda 316	Social Chess Games, all levels	Tuesday, 7 pm	Not stated	Meetup
Batalha Quiz	Batalha Centro de Cinema, Praça da Batalha 47	Film quiz in the café-bar	Last Tuesday of the month	Free (2026)	No sign-up
Porto Drawing Club	Venues vary	Life drawing, all levels	Regular dates, see Linktree	Minimum donation of 5 €, according to the sign-up forms (undated)	Through the club's Linktree
Porto Internationals	Starts at The Box Porto	Pub crawl for internationals and locals	Friday, 10:30 pm	Free (2026)	WhatsApp group linked on Meetup

"Not stated" means we found no price, not that it costs money.

Sharing a table

The Supperclub at Rosa et al (Cedofeita)

Rosa et al holds The Supperclub almost every month, at the Rosa et al Townhouse in Cedofeita or at other venues, and invites you to eat with friends and strangers at one table. The tasting menu costs from 55 €, with an optional wine pairing from 20 €, according to the website (undated). You reserve online, and the organiser recommends booking early. The Supperclub at Rosa et al

LOOK.Sharp Meaningful Meal (Rua de Cimo de Vila)

LOOK.Sharp, at Rua de Cimo de Vila 41, also runs the LOOK.Sharp Meaningful Meal, a conversation dinner meant to help people make new connections. It takes place on irregular dates; check Meetup for the next one. An earlier dinner ran from 7:30 to 10 pm and cost 22.50 € including the menu (2026), so check the price of each dinner. You pay in advance through LOOK.Sharp; there are no tickets at the door. The page does not say which language is spoken. LOOK.Sharp on Meetup

Timeleft (restaurants and cafés)

An app that brings you together with four to six people you don't know yet. In Porto, there are dinners on Wednesdays and Fridays at 8 pm and coffee meet-ups on Saturdays at 3 pm. You can book on your own, up to 13 hours beforehand, and the app shows you the exact venue shortly before. You need a subscription, whose price depends on the plan and is shown before you pay, and you pay for food and drinks separately (2026). timeleft.com/porto

Playing

LOOK.Sharp Social Boardgames (Rua de Cimo de Vila)

LOOK.Sharp Social Boardgames are board game evenings at LOOK.Sharp, Rua de Cimo de Vila 41, on a Thursday or a Sunday depending on the date. Casual and experienced players are welcome, and you can come on your own. Entry costs 3 € per person (2026), and you must also buy something at the venue; you buy a ticket through LOOK.Sharp, and places are limited. LOOK.Sharp Social Boardgames on Meetup

Open game nights at Portal (Rua de Álvares Cabral)

The Portal Board Game Cafe, at Rua de Álvares Cabral 420, hosts open game nights with board games and role-playing games. According to its Meetup group, newcomers and experienced players are welcome. The board game evenings are listed on Meetup, with limited places; a listed board game evening cost 3 € (2026), so check the price of each event. Portal on Meetup

Social Chess Games at Nope Bar (Rua de Miguel Bombarda)

On Tuesdays at 7 pm, Nope Bar, at Rua de Miguel Bombarda 316, holds Social Chess Games: chess for all levels, and bringing your own board is optional. You sign up on Meetup. The page gives no price and does not say which language is spoken. Nope Bar on Meetup

Batalha Quiz (Batalha Centro de Cinema)

A film quiz in the café-bar of the Batalha Centro de Cinema, Praça da Batalha 47, on the last Tuesday of the month. Entry is free, and you don't need to sign up (2026). The page does not say which language the quiz is in. Batalha Quiz

Drawing

Porto Drawing Club (venues vary)

PiKi founded the Porto Drawing Club for regular, accessible life drawing sessions. The sessions take place regularly at changing venues, among them Sonoscopia and a venue on Rua de Miguel Bombarda. All levels are welcome. According to the sign-up forms, there is a minimum donation of 5 € (undated); if you cannot pay it, the club asks you to send it a message. You sign up through the club's Linktree, which also links the current sessions and a newsletter. Porto Drawing Club on Linktree, PiKi Porto

Going out

Porto Internationals (from The Box Porto)

Porto Internationals describes itself as a group for expats, locals who have lived abroad and locals who are looking for international contacts. On Fridays at 10:30 pm, it organises a pub crawl that starts at The Box Porto and moves on to other bars in the city. According to the group, it is free (2026); you register through the WhatsApp group linked on Meetup. The page does not say which language is spoken. Porto Internationals on Meetup

Going alone

A shared activity makes it easier to start talking, because it gives you something to talk about: the game, the chessboard, the film question, the drawing. The first evening is often the most awkward, and each time you come back, you are more likely to see familiar faces. At a shared dinner, such as the supper club or the Meaningful Meal, you are likely to sit next to people you don't know yet, which makes a first conversation easier.

Good openers are deliberately ordinary: "Is this your first time too?", "How did you find out about it?", "Do you know this game already?" Ask one follow-up question and listen to the answer.

Making plans to meet again

A good conversation does not turn into a second meeting on its own. Before you leave, suggest something concrete: "Are you coming to the chess again next Tuesday?" or "I'm going to the board games on Sunday, want to come?" A specific suggestion is easier to answer than "We should do something sometime".

Try it this week

• Pick one format from the table above
• Put the date in your calendar and check it on the organiser's page
• Arrive five minutes early and talk to one person
• Before you leave, suggest a specific plan to meet again

For organisers

If you host evenings like these, you know the moment: people get on well and then lose touch. before is a web app for organisers. Guests check in at the door with a QR code in their browser, without installing an app, and anyone who likes takes a selfie. The day after, the afterparty is open from 10 am to 8 pm. Anyone who shared a selfie sees everyone else who shared one there and can press the button for meeting again for up to five people. At 8 pm everyone finds out at the same time who wants to see each other again, and only then does a chat open. One-sided wishes stay invisible, and nobody receives a rejection. Nobody needs a profile. More on the page before for organisers.