12 Best Restaurants in Colombia

We've compiled the best of the best in Colombia - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.

Cafe del Mural

$ Fodor's Choice

A draw for serious coffee lovers, this tiny, charmingly rustic and colorfully cluttered café is the perfect place to delve into the wide world of Colombian coffee. Owner, roaster, and barista David is passionate and knowledgeable and with no pretense or frills. He offers an impressive array of modern methods of preparation—from Chemex, Aeropress, and cold brew to traditionally (and impeccably) prepared espresso—but also a mad genius edge by offering coffee from machines from as far abroad as Germany or Vietnam. The café also offers a wide variety of cold coffee, fruit drinks, and creamy caffeinated cocktails. Go when you have some time to sample beans from various regions around the country, or just sit at the wooden beam bench outside and watch a Getsemaní afternoon pass by. However, it's only open from 3 pm to 8 pm.

Empanadas Obelisco

$ Fodor's Choice

Although you can dine inside, try to snag one of the tables across the street on the bank of the Río Cali. Here, a tiny restaurant serves up the best empanadas in the city, some say, in the entire country. Get your empanadas with a lulada, a classic caleño drink made of crushed lulo fruit.

Gelatería Tramonti

$ | Centro Fodor's Choice

There are few things more welcoming in the tropical Cartagena humidity than cold, creamy gelato, and this tiny corner offers the best in town, outshining the competition with quality ingredients, creative flavors, and friendly service. Owners Davis and Mateo have not only succeeded in bringing the true taste and texture of Italian gelato from their homeland, but they also offer a range of flavors based on local fruit, including lulo and guanabana, that surprise and delight.

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La Cevichería

$$$ | Centro Fodor's Choice

Lively and colorful, this is what a cevichería should feel like. Choose from the tables outside, white wrought-iron stools at the kitchen bar or small wooden tables in a small but festively decorated space marked by its blue-and-white chequered floor and plenty of nautical details. Besides an excellent rendition of a classic Peruvian ceviche, also be sure to try the Douglas ceviche with mango, shrimp, lemon, and red onion, or splurge on the tropical paella.

Mora Castilla

$ Fodor's Choice

Popayán is famous for its local delicacies, and you'll find the best of them here, like the salpicón poayense (a drink of crushed ice and fresh blackberries) or empanadas de pipián (fried empanadas with a potato filling served with a spicy peanut sauce). Portions are small, so try a bit of everything.

Beiyú

A tiny café that is easy to miss on one of Getsemaní's main streets, Beiyú provides a welcome respite from all things fried and heavy (which dominate local cuisine) with a selection of healthy wraps and juices. There is a small but good breakfast menu at bargain prices, but it's the juice and smoothie menu that will bring you back time and again. A huge variety of fruit is available, and more exotic jungle superfruit like acaí and copuacú offer a cool, energizing kick to keep the tropical heat at bay.

Bosques de Cocora Donde Juan B

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.

El Altillo del Sol Cafe

Charming and plant filled, this quaint little coffee shop makes a great escape from the rush of the Sunday-market streets. Visit on a quiet day to relax, sip a coffee, and have a go at some of the dangerously tasty cakes. The Spanish hot chocolate is thick enough to stand a spoon up in, and is beastly good.

Empanadas Argentinas y Algo Mas

Marked by it’s faded green door and small flag, this tiny kiosk brings a slice of Argentina to the streets of Usaquen, complete with a faded Quilmes beer sign on the wall. Great empanadas grace the menu, as well as a few other treats like a sandwich de milanesa (an Argentinean beef schnitzel sandwich) or alfajores de maizena (a layered corn-flour cookie with a dulce de leche filling and coconut sprinkles).

Home Burgers

Sometimes you just need a good burger, and that is the simple premise behind Home Burgers, a modern diner-style salon with a fast-food counter. The burgers are quality beef, perfectly grilled to your liking, and the fries superb. There’s also an excellent veggie-burger option. Come early if you want to get a table—both Chapinero branches fill up quickly.

Masa

An artisanal bakery and coffee shop, this spot is the perfect place to feed your midafternoon snack attack. The bread is top-notch, and there are plenty of sandwich options for the savory minded. This is also a haven for sweet tooths; try the decidedly Parisian almond croissant or monstrous ice-cream sandwich.

Pasteleria Francesa Restaurant

Under the watchful gaze of the myriad black-and-white photos of Parisian life, the display cases of the village's favorite breakfast spot are heaped with sweet and savory delights like flaky almond croissants, chocolate éclairs, blackberry pasties, and savory quiches---the mustard-and-tomato quiche is a winner. Pair a treat with a cappuccino that comes topped with a mountain of frothed milk. Get in early for breakfast—doors open at 8 am—as the place fills up fast.

Colombia

Colombia

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