96 Best Restaurants in Colombia

If you're in Salento, head out to the Cocora Valley, where restored fincas now serve as country-style restaurants and guesthouses. The Bosques de Cocora is the pick of the bunch, offering sumptuous dishes of the local delicacy, trout, and set against a cloud-forest backdrop. At the restaurant, inquire about accommodation in their guesthouse, Finca San José.

This restaurant's main attraction is its location on Plaza San Pedro Claver, since some tables have beautiful views of the eponymous church. Although it serves Colombian fare with a particular focus on seafood, this restaurant's eclectic menu also includes dishes from Thailand, Italy, and Japan. In the evenings there are few better spots for people watching if you manage to grab one of the outside tables for a drink or dinner.

Reminiscent of a 1960s-era diner, this unpretentious neighborhood favorite in La Candelaria serves a good selection of sandwiches. Stop here for a typical Colombian breakfast—hot chocolate with cheese and bread.

Specializing in masterfully prepared seafood and white-glove service, Casa San Isidro would be worth the trip for the location alone. Perched 2,000 feet over Bogotá on top of the Cerro de Monserrate and accessible only by cable car, you'll dine fireside as a pianist provides the soundtrack. The French-influenced menu includes plenty of local dishes---a wide range of ceviches, Amazonian yellow catfish, and tropical blue crabs---to keep things interesting. Be sure to leave by midnight, Cinderella, before the last cable car returns to the streets below.

Offering typical Colombian dishes, Casa Vieja is known for the quality of its ajiaco, a hearty Andean potato stew with chicken, corn, cilantro and a local herb called guasca. Dinner in this Belle Époque–style restaurant is accompanied by antiques and artwork from Colombia's colonial past. Beyond this location in the Candelaria, there is spot in the Centro Internacional, and another in Usaquen.

Time slips gently by at this 18th-century fortress-turned-restaurant by a marina in the Manga neighborhood, not far from the walled town. Fish is a focus, and the restaurant prides itself on its wine list. It's easy to linger on the waterfront terrace in the shade of a giant fig tree, and the refreshingly calm ambience has played a large part in making Club de Pesca a local favorite. The food, though fresh, doesn't stand up to other high-end offerings around town.

This unique chain of Latin American–Spanish restaurants serves—surprise!—crepes and waffles, as well as a delicious selection of ice-cream desserts. There are locations all over the city, but this trendy new branch in Zona G has taken the concept to a more refined, healthier level, without losing the guilty-pleasure angle. It's great for breakfasts, when you can get a pumpkin pancake with artisanal granola and Greek yogurt accompanied by a freshly squeezed juice. Later in the day, plunge into the ever-changing range of savory crepes that are stuffed with everything from portobellos and asparagus to chicken curry or beetroot marmalade, goat cheese, and sprouts.

Perfectly located in the heart of the Zona T, this beloved Italian restaurant serves up pitch-perfect pastas and pizzas, stellar seafood dishes, and daily blackboard specials. The outside terrace is a lovely spot to dine. Reservations are essential.

Set right on South West Bay beach, with tables under the trees, this is exactly the place one hopes to find on a Caribbean holiday. Niño's serves fabulous dishes like lobster in a garlic sauce or grilled fish of the day, which should be washed down with cold beer and fresh juices. Avoid peak lunch hours as service tends to dip considerably when it gets busy.

This tiny restaurant on a quiet, flower-filled street of one-story houses in the San Diego section of the historic town serves up impeccably fresh, creative ceviche and other seafood dishes. With six or seven basic tables—and the kitchen just behind them all—space is at a premium, but the food is worth the squeeze. Empanadas are stuffed with crab, coconut milk, lemongrass, and chimichurri; the cebiche coco comes with squid, shrimp, and conch, along with coconut milk, cilantro, and sweet peppers. Fried plantain chips are a perfect accompaniment, and cocktails are available. You have to love a place where, during a late lunch, the owner's child may be playing underfoot. Reservations are recommended for dinner.

With El Cileo, chef Juan Manuel Barrientes brings a highly conceptual, contemporary tasting menu to Medellín in a clean space with bare wooden tables that become the canvas for the 13 courses he calls "experiences;" a meal here is equal parts theater and dinner. The small portions are Colombian at heart, with an array of curious local ingredients. The experience won't appeal to all, but for those it does, expect quality avant-garde cuisine at a bargain prices. Look for branches in Bogotá and Miami.

Generous portions draw locals to this second-story restaurant where waiters in Panama hats serve you on a balcony overflowing with plants or in the large dining room with terra-cotta floors. This is a great place to try a range of traditional Antoiquian dishes, especially the monstrous bandeja paisa, a dish heaped with beans, finely ground beef, fried pork chicharron, sausages, egg, and arepas. Come in a group so you can sample various local hits, like the sopa de guineo (plantain soup) or the cazuela (stew) before sinking your teeth into lomito (tenderloin). Finish your feast with brevas con queso (figs with white cheese). There's also a branch in Las Palmas, near the Intercontinental Hotel, which is more rustic and has fabulous views of the valley.