Alcides

Where can you go where 2 adults can enjoy succulent steaks with all the trimmings, 3 glass of wine (total) and dessert for $ 33 USD? Here! They prepare their Azorean (grass fed, free range) beef in «traditional» style, which I wasn’t sure we would like, but it is delicious. Roasted garlic and a red bell pepper are seared with the steak and the result is a marvelous gastronomic trio.

Our guide recommended Alcides, and we are glad he did. This is one of those places where you look around to see what everybody else is ordering, not just because those dishes might be interesting, but also because you might want to get an idea of the size before ordering. I ordered their meat plate, which included beef, pork and lamb, and ended up walking out grabbing my stomach. Scrimp on portions they don’t.
Now, nothing I had or saw was charting new territory. In fact, the menu was similar to that of many surrounding restaurants. However, Alcides’ dishes were usually excellent, and as a bonus, on the cheap side. That might surprise you when walking in, as many of the locals are dressed up, and we looked like a couple of tourists who had been out and about, which we were. But looks as everybody knows, are deceiving, and Alcides is nice enough to dress up a little, but laid back enough to where they won’t really care, provided you aren’t walking through the door in a speedo.

If you want «real steak» that is cooked to order, this is definitely the place. Most places in the Azores overcook meat and when you say «medium» it’s always well-​done. This is a place known for meat quality and doing it right, so kudos for that!
I deducted one star here because they allow smoking INSIDE!!! While I understand the Azores have a lot of smokers it’s utterly disgusting to eat in what feels like an ashtray with all the smoke. I’ve been living here almost two months now and have found numerous restaurants that effectively separate non-​smoking from smoking sections. Owners, please take note and separate the smokers;-)
I deducted another star here because while the dish was incredible, it was waaaay too salty! You couldn’t take a bit without combining the meat with (thankfully unsalted) fries.
Otherwise the service was great — should be for a place that is double or triple the typical meal cost… and the décor in traditional arches was beautiful.

Excelente
O serviço muito simpático a começar pelo pessoal (formidável) e a acabar no patrão (fora de série).
Já para não falar no bife, um (ou o) dos melhores de S. Miguel, tem também o melhor peixe frito da cidade.
Único problema o estacionamento
Mas vale a pena ir e voltar… Várias vezes

O espaço é muito agradável, com um boa decoração, simples e acolhedora. As entradas são a clássica cesta de pão acompanhada por queijos e queijo branco (que pode vir com orégãos ou com pimenta da terra — aconselho a conjugação com esta última). O bife é fantástico, temperado à boa maneira dos Açores, muito alho e, uma vez mais, pimenta da terra.
Apesar do preço um pouco elevado, é um restaurante que vale a pena. O serviço é bom, é-​nos transmitida muita simpatia e tem a mais valia de estar localizado no coração da cidade de Ponta Delgada.

First, they bring you bread and cheese without asking and charge you 4.50 € for it. They don’t tell you this.
Then, our entrees came and everything was insanely salty. We are Americans, so we know salty food and this was crazy salty. Way too salty. I ordered the steak with grilled pineapple. It was okay, although quite salty, and the pineapple came out about 5 minutes after the steak. The fries were okay. Also, they brought melted butter as a dipping sauce… for steak. My boyfriend got the mixed grill, which consisted of two unidentifiable pork items and a piece of the same steak that I got. Again, the steak was okay, although the salt was not cut with pineapple in that instance. The pork was basically inedible. I tasted it and had a hard time getting it down. He liked the salad that came with the meal, but I didn’t care for it (no apparent dressing and it was covered with unidentifiable seeds of some kind; also the tomatoes were underripe).
Up to that point, it was 2 to 2.5 stars. But then, the waitstaff became extremely slow. They took 15 minutes to bring a dessert menu, then another 10 minutes to take our dessert order, and left so quickly that my boyfriend was unable to order the coffee he wanted. The desserts took about 5 – 10 minutes to come out, which was unwarranted, because they weren’t very good. He got the pavlova with loquat syrup, which was very sweet (too sweet) and not very flavorful. I got the chocolate mousse, which was only okay. Then they took so long to bring us the bill (after we asked three times, during the lengthy waiting period) that we finally just went up to the counter and asked to pay up (not at the table). The waitstaff also became progressively more rude.
Overall, it was a very negative experience and I would wholeheartedly recommend that travelers skip this restaurant.

Dinner service begins with a selection of four local cheeses and bread. You are charged approximately 3.50 € for the bread and cheese which isn’t communicated up front, but I was aware of this going in as I had read other reviews. I liked their flagship entrée, the Azorean-​style steak; the pomme frites were a little soggy. The pineapple-​roasted sirloin was good, although a little underseasoned. The atlantic swordfish was too dry for my taste.
One weird thing was that the salad and pineapple side that went along with the sirloin was brought to the table after the entrée was; not sure if the waitress just forgot about it earlier but it definitely wasn’t the normal order. Overall the food and ambience was good and I would come here again.