This beloved family-owned Portuguese restaurant from Miami opened a spot in Aventura

Old Lisbon has always been a part of Carlos Silva Jr.’s life.

The story of his family’s restaurant began in 1991, when his father Carlos Silva famously stumbled across a not-yet opened Portuguese restaurant at Coral Way and 17th Avenue just after arriving in Miami. The owner invited him in, and he ordered grilled bacalhau and cold vinho verde and was instantly transported to his native Portugal. He was, in fact, the restaurant’s first customer, paying $20 for the privilege.

A few years later, Silva bought the restaurant. Then in 2010 he opened another location in South Miami. And so his son, who remembers these days fondly, grew up helping his family introduce Miami to the savory delights of Portuguese cuisine.

“I had to work one weekend day every week,” Silva Jr. remembers. “My father discussed the business with me as a kid, so it was really easy for me to see myself become part of this business.”

Now, the younger Silva has his own piece of the Old Lisbon legacy: he and his father have opened a new location of the restaurant in Aventura, one Silva Jr. will manage, carrying on a Miami family tradition.

The new restaurant may be located in an unassuming small strip mall east of the Aventura Mall, but the Silvas have taken great pains to use every part of the space to reflect the Portugal they love. The look, from a Portuguese design team, is modern but also classic, with hand-painted columns and a marble-topped bar. The dining room seats 64 diners, with space for 28 outside.

When you walk in, you come face to face with a stunning 120-year-old olive tree imported from Portugal, which symbolizes longevity and tradition, two elements Old Lisbon embraces.

“What makes us different is that we try to be a true Portuguese restaurant,” Silva Jr. said. “That’s why we partnered with a design firm from Portugal — no designer here knows what a Portuguese restaurant should look like.”

The menu, he said, is more or less the same as it is at the original restaurant: an emphasis on seafood and steak entrees, with traditional Portuguese starters and wines.

“We’ve taken a different approach with presentation,” he said, referencing the new custom-made plateware. “We had to take a step up to match the atmosphere we created.”

A familiar menu means that you can order the beloved bolinhos de bacalhau, codfish croquettes served atop a mound of black-eyed peas, a unique and well-matched pairing. You can also indulge in flavor-packed sausage croquettes as well. Also on offer are flaming Portuguese sausage and lightly fried and tender octopus served in garlic and olive oil, as well as grilled shrimp with garlic or a spicy sauce and clams in white wine and lime consommé.

Bacalhau is the star of the menu, naturally, with several different choices of codfish filets and shredded codfish specialties like the creamy Bacalhau com Natas (shredded codfish with cheese, onions, cream sauce and potatoes) and Bacalhau à Brás (shredded codfish mixed with onions, scrambled eggs and thinly sliced fried potatoes).

There are also meat dishes like the Bife à Old Lisbon, a New York strip steak with a fried egg on top, and rack of lamb with broccolini and punched potatoes.

Silva Jr., who lives in Sunny Isles Beach, is excited about the new location, which shows off Old Lisbon to a new clientele in the northern part of the county. The new design, he said, will be something of a model for the other restaurants.

“We want to take this innovation and apply it to our other restaurants,” he explained.

Don’t worry, though: The codfish croquettes aren’t going anywhere. And neither is Silva Jr.

“My father built a really great tradition,” he said. “Many contributed to that mission. I’m proud to be part of it now, and I’m happy to have his trust to do what we’re doing.”

Old Lisbon

Where: 2960 NE 199th St., Unit 5, Aventura

Hours: Noon-11 p.m. daily

More information: oldlisbonrestaurants.com/aventura or 305-974-5142