Lagos has fed travelers since Phoenician galleys anchored in its natural harbor three millennia ago. The town's compact old quarter, ringed by honey-colored defensive walls commissioned by Manuel I in the sixteenth century, became the provisioning hub for caravels bound for West Africa and Brazil. Dried fish, Algarve almonds, and fortified wine left from these quays, while spices, sugarcane, and enslaved people arrived—a brutal exchange that left its mark on Portuguese cuisine and conscience alike. Today the same warren of lanes that once supplied expeditions now shelters family tascas, pastelarias turning out custard tarts by the hundred, and market stalls piled with percebes and octopus hauled in at dawn. The best food tour Lagos options trace this layered history through taste. A walking route typically begins at the Mercado Municipal, a whitewashed modernist pavilion where fishmongers arrange gilt-head bream on crushed ice and vendors sell medronho distilled in the Serra de Monchique. Guides lead small groups past Praça Infante Dom Henrique, where a bronze statue of Prince Henry the Navigator presides over the square that launched the Age of Discovery, then duck into tile-fronted bars for petiscos—Portuguese tapas—and a pour of vinho verde. The Algarve's signature dishes appear in succession: cataplana de marisco, a hinged copper pot of clams and prawns; piri-piri chicken, its heat inherited from African chili peppers; and arroz de lingueirão, razor-clam rice cooked until the grains drink the broth. Lagos food tours often include a stop at a bakery for pastéis de nata, the caramelized custard tarts perfected by monks at Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon and now ubiquitous across Portugal. Some itineraries incorporate a hands-on baking session, where participants roll dough, fill molds, and watch the tarts blister under high heat. Others pair tastings with wine from the nearby Lagos or Lagoa DOC appellations, where sandy soils and Atlantic breezes yield crisp whites and structured reds. The format blends sensory pleasure with narrative: guides contextualize each dish within Portugal's maritime legacy, Moorish occupation, and contemporary Slow Food movement. By the time groups disperse near the marina, they have eaten their way through eight centuries of trade, conquest, and adaptation—all within a two-hour radius of the old town's golden ramparts.