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Villa de Leyva is one of the best towns in Colombia for food. While it may not have the culinary creativity of Bogotá or the unique gastronomy of Popayán, there are plenty of options to eat well. I’ve written about each place we tried in Villa de Leyva’s historic city center except for Comida Coreana, which is covered in a separate post.
Mercado Municipal
Mercado Municipal is a great restaurant located just a block off Plaza Mayor. They serve delicious food using fresh local ingredients, and also have some great desserts. We walked in on a Friday night and sat on the outdoor patio.
I tried the pizza which was cooked in a wood fired oven. It was excellent. A friend had the chicharrón and enjoyed it. Another friend had the fish and chips made from pirarucú, which is from the Amazon region. I couldn’t resist and had a bite. It too was amazing.
El Rincón Gourmet de la Villa
El Rincón Gourmet de la Villa is a restaurant and piano bar serving Spanish food. We were very happy from the beginning when the owner greeted us and enthusiastically went over the menu with us.
We started with two appetizers. The octopus was excellent while the meatballs cooked in sherry were also very good.
For the main course, I had a steak with blue cheese sauce and Marisol had shrimp. Both were wonderful, and we left the restaurant satisfied. In the end, it cost us quite a lot after drinks and tip, but the price wasn’t bad considering the quality of the meal. We considered this the best meal we ate by far in Villa de Leyva.
El Rincón Argentino
Next door to El Rincón Gourmet is El Rincón Argentino, which serves Argentinian cuisine. I took a couple of friends there.
We all tried an empanada which was huge and delicious. For the main course, I had a choripán which was good but not what I expected. My friend Abe had the pinchos (skewers) while his grandson Matthew had the churrasco. They were both satisfied.
Pastelería Francesa
Pastelería Francesa is a bakery owned by a French man. It’s only open from Thursday to Sunday and has some of the best pastries and breads you’ll ever try. It’s located a couple blocks past the hospital. Beware, he does close unexpectedly. It took a second trip to Villa de Leyva to finally try the pastries everyone raved about. The best are the almond croissants.
Casadulce
If you like coffee, try Casadulce, which is located on Plazuela del Carmen. They make excellent coffee and also have amazing sweets. I had an orange poppyseed cake and Marisol had a chocolate mousse. When we arrived, almost every table was full and there were several people huddled around the counter.
San Cayetano
While walking through Villa de Leyva we spotted San Cayetano, which is a Spanish restaurant located inside Casona La Guaca. We saw the sign outside for paella and were immediately drawn in. We had an octopus starter, which was excellent, and the paella. The paella wasn’t authentic and was so-so. Service was very slow but friendly. Overall, we wouldn’t eat there again.
Tacuba 16
Tacuba 16 is a Mexican restaurant in Casa Quintero, just off Plaza Mayor. This was one of the worst Mexican meals I have ever eaten. We started with guacamole, which came out yellow and tasted strongly of vinegar and spoiled avocado.
For dinner, I had tortilla soup, which tasted absolutely nothing like the real thing. Marisol had flautas which were covered with almost frozen cheese. We were both extremely dissatisfied with our meal and the slow service.
Casa Blanca
Our hotel recommended Casa Blanca for breakfast. We both had eggs and orange juice, and were happy with the quality. Because of our long hike at Iguaque, we also ordered two sandwiches to go and ate them on the hike.
Later that evening, we had two orders of ajiaco from Casa Blanca delivered to our hotel. It was very expensive for what we ordered, but it didn’t matter because it was one of the best ajiacos we have had in Colombia.
Buen Sabor
On our final morning in town, we didn’t think we could do worse than the breakfast at Asadero La Villa. We were wrong. We found a small restaurant near the edge of town called Buen Sabor and ordered eggs. Marisol’s eggs had rotten wood that had fallen from the ceiling cooked into them. I was lucky and didn’t have that problem. The breakfast was reasonably priced but we were upset they charged us for an extra piece of bread after the problem with the eggs. Hopefully the health department will shut this place down soon.
Asadero La Villa (Permanently Closed)
One morning, we had breakfast at Asadero La Villa. Service was slow but the breakfast was decent and cheap. You can definitely find a better breakfast elsewhere.
Museo del Chocolate
Finally, another place to satisfy your sweet tooth is Museo del Chocolate. They have two locations just off Plaza Mayor. One is a store full of chocolates and the other is a museum and restaurant.
