A sandwich that has fed generations of Portuguese workers is getting a rooftop perch in Dumbo. Mr. Bifana, a shop built around Lisbon's iconic marinated pork sandwich, opens Tuesday on the roof of Time Out Market Brooklyn, marking the traditional street snack's arrival at one of the borough's best-known food halls.
The bifana itself is a simple thing: marinated pork tucked into crusty bread, according to Time Out. At Mr. Bifana, founder Fernando Vaz slow-roasts Iberian pork in olive oil, wine, garlic and colorau — sweet paprika — then dips each finished sandwich in an orange-y jus before serving, per the same report from Time Out food and drink editor Morgan Carter. The bread matters too: Vaz sources papo seco, a Portuguese-style roll that's crusty outside and soft inside, from a bakery in Newark, and diners can dress their sandwich with mustard or piri piri.
From a Lisbon Sightseeing Job to a New York Street Cart Dream
Vaz's path to Brooklyn didn't start in a kitchen. He became a tuk-tuk tour guide in Lisbon in 2022, a job that put him in regular contact with American tourists from New York, Chicago, Minnesota and Alabama, the outlet reports. He has visited more than 100 countries, including Australia, New Zealand and French Polynesia, and lists Portugal as his own favorite. Along the way he leaned on Pedro Cardoso of Solar dos Presuntos — a restaurant that has received the title of best restaurant in Europe from the Aurum Europa - Excelência Enogastronómica Awards — to help develop his bifana recipe.
The actual spark for the business reportedly came thousands of miles from Lisbon. According to 24 Notícias, Vaz first conceived the idea for Mr. Bifana while standing outside Manhattan's Grand Central Station, watching a long line form for an Italian prosciutto street cart and wondering why no one was selling bifanas on New York corners. Vaz has said Portugal was once an unknown destination to many people and that Portuguese traditional cuisine remains severely underrepresented worldwide, per Time Out, calling the moment right to bring Portugal to New York.
Bar Pop-Ups Built the Buzz Before the Big Rooftop
Before landing a permanent counter, Mr. Bifana spent 2025 testing the concept the hard way — through New York pop-ups. The brand's first pop-up was held at Tradesman bar in East Williamsburg, with a subsequent stop at Time Again bar in Chinatown, according to Time Out's reporting. Separately, per the Lusa news agency as cited in dossier research, Vaz debuted the concept on Sullivan Street during the Portugal in Soho festival organized by the Arte Institute in October 2025, testing the sandwich directly on local New Yorkers and Portuguese expatriates.
The braising method behind those sandwiches traces back to As Bifanas do Afonso, a famed stall on Lisbon's Rua da Madalena known for slow-braising pork cutlets in white wine, garlic and lard, per Lusa. Culinary historians and regional food guides, including TasteAtlas, trace the sandwich's origin further back to the municipality of Vendas Novas in Portugal's Alentejo region, where taverns first served thin, garlicky marinated pork in crusty rolls to traveling workers. The dish also varies by geography within Portugal: Lisbon's version favors a light white wine and garlic broth with yellow mustard, while Porto's is richer and spicier, seasoned with paprika and piri-piri, according to Flavors of Porto. The sandwich's reach in Portugal runs so deep that McDonald's Portugal has periodically added a McBifana to its domestic menu, per The Portugal News.
A World Cup Boost Ahead of the Brooklyn Opening
Mr. Bifana's momentum got a jolt during the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States. The brand contacted the Portuguese Football Federation about the concept, and the federation went on to connect Mr. Bifana with Time Out Market Brooklyn, Time Out reports. During the tournament, Mr. Bifana partnered with Portuguese apparel brand Escapart to travel alongside the Portuguese National Team, serving fan zones and hosting pop-ups in host cities including Miami, Houston and New York, according to the Escapart Store. Mr. Bifana sold sandwiches on the roof as part of Portugal House, serving Beto, Jorge Andrade, Bruno Alves and Vozinha along the way, per Time Out's account. The brand has also secured a permanent home at Ten Degrees Bar in the East Village.
What's on the Rooftop Menu
At the Dumbo food hall, Mr. Bifana will stock its counter with more than sandwiches. The lineup includes Portuguese espressos and pasteis de nata, along with Portuguese cheeses, fish cakes and canned seafood, including cod, squid and sardines, according to Time Out.
The setting carries its own symmetry. Time Out Market New York opened in May 2019 inside Dumbo's historic 1869 Empire Stores complex at 55 Water Street, a 21,000-square-foot space with a rooftop terrace overlooking the East River and the Manhattan skyline, according to Forbes. The Time Out Market concept itself was born in Lisbon in 2014 before expanding globally, meaning a Lisbon-born entrepreneur is now bringing a Lisbon street food staple back to the company's adopted hometown brand in Brooklyn. Time Out Market has since grown its New York presence further, opening a smaller, 10,000-square-foot neighborhood-format location at Zero Irving in Union Square in September 2025, according to 6sqft.
Mr. Bifana's Brooklyn debut also lands amid a broader wave of Portuguese food concepts opening across the U.S., including an Afro-Portuguese bakehouse headed to Dartmouth and a new pastelaria concept that opened earlier this year in Dania Beach. For New Yorkers, though, the more immediate draw is simpler: a bite of Lisbon, dipped in jus, on a Brooklyn rooftop.
