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A brief guide on where to eat in Bogotá. With a recent a culinary revolution of sorts, food in Bogotá has become a major draw to the city. Lots of great gourmet restaurants opening up have turned it into a foodie destination. International cuisine as well as traditional Colombian food can be found almost anywhere.
Where to Eat in La Candelaria, Bogotá
Bogotá has decent restaurants serving traditional Colombian food and more in the vibrant historic district of La Candelaria. With a recent a culinary revolution of sorts, the food has become a draw to the city. Lots of great gourmet restaurants are opening up, turning it into a foodie destination.
Where to Try Ajiaco Santafereño
First of all, a must try while in La Candelaria is a Bogotá local specialty, ajiaco santafereño. It’s a creamy stew with chicken, potatoes, capers, and corn. It’s served with rice and avocado. The best place to try it is a one-block restaurant zone on Calle 11 next to Plaza de Bolívar, just to the left of the Cathedral of Bogotá. There are a handful of restaurants serving ajiaco and other Colombian specialties.
La Puerta de la Catedral
Although it’s hard to choose the best ajiaco in La Candelaria, I would have to rate La Puerta de la Catedral as one of my top 2. The restaurants is located in a historic building. Staff is efficient and friendly, and they also offer other traditional Colombian dishes.
Antigua Santafé
The other favorite is Antigua Santafé. It’s literally next door to La Puerta de la Catedral, occupying a space in the same building. The sign claims to have the best ajiaco in the world and it doesn’t disappoint. It’s pretty much on par with La Puerta de la Catedral.
Balcones de La Candelaria
Balcones de La Candelaria, which is on the corner of Calle 11 and Carrera 6, also has decent ajiaco. It was excellent, but it lacked the special something from the two places above. One of the nice things about the restaurant is the view from the windows in the upstairs dining room.
La Puerta de la Tradición
La Puerta de la Tradición is the very first place I tried ajiaco. The price was reasonable and of course the ajiaco was delicious. It’s slightly different but of similar quality as Balcones de La Candelaria. I had mango juice with milk (jugo de mango con leche) to wash it down.
La Puerta Falsa
For breakfast, I visited a very popular café in La Candelaria called La Puerta Falsa, also on “Ajiaco Street”. I had the chocolate completo (hot chocolate, cheese, bread with butter) and arroz con leche (rice pudding with raisins and cinnamon). It was all excellent. They also serve tamales and eggs, and make many sweets that are displayed in the front window.
Restaurante Rosita
Restaurante Rosita at Chorro de Quevedo serves traditional Colombian food. I had the bandeja paisa, which is from Antioquia and the Coffee Region. It usually contains meat, chorizo, chicharrón, rice, beans, avocado, patacón (fried plantain), arepa (flatbread), and a fried egg. It was very good and reasonably priced.
La Hamburguesería
La Hamburguesería has a good selection of juicy gourmet burgers. I stopped in one night and ordered take away. I tried the Red Hot Chili Burger, named after the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It’s topped with cheddar, smoked and caramelized bacon, chipotle sauce, black garlic aioli, lettuce, tomato, and onion. The burger is served with a Peruvian chili pepper and chili con carne. Unfortunately, they didn’t pack the chili con carne.
Edos 65 (Permanently Closed)
On one trip, I stumbled upon Edos 65. If you’re looking for decent Italian, it’s a good option.
Map of Where to Eat in La Candelaria, Bogotá
Where to Eat in Usaqúen, Bogotá
In Usaquén, on the northeast side of Bogotá, there are a multitude of restaurants to choose from, serving traditional fare along with international, fusion, upscale restaurants, and several American chains. This neighborhood is one of the best foodie destinations in the city.
La Mar
First, in the heart of Usaquén is La Mar. This cevichería originating in Lima, Peru, is one of the best restaurants we’ve been to in Bogotá. They serve up a creative variety of ceviches, causas, and other specialties.
We feasted on a ceviche sampler, a full order of a specialty ceviche, grilled octopus, and a causa. The pisco sour is incredible. Don’t pass up a chance to eat there!
Abasto
Abasto, a block east of the plaza in Usaquén, is a restaurant that creates dishes using fresh ingredients sourced directly from small local farmers and producers. We popped inside for lunch and were impressed with the quality of the food and friendly service.
I had the roast beef sandwich, which is served on rye with dijon mustard and honey. Marisol had the encocado de mar, which is a whitefish filet in coconut milk with herbs and shrimp. Our little one had the carrot soup. Everything was delicious.
Colo Coffee Roasters
A half block south of the plaza is Colo Coffee Roasters. You’ll get a decent cup of coffee, good service, and a pleasant atmosphere to chat with friends and family or get some work done. There’s seating outside on the patio or indoors.
Café San Alberto
Around the corner is Café San Alberto, which serves coffee from their farm in the small town of Buenavista, Quindío. They’re the most award-winning Colombian coffee producer on an international level. If you want to get to known their coffee on a deeper level, you can even get a tasting experience there.
Orso Heladería
Looking for something sweet? Across the street is Orso Heladería. They have a great selection of rich creamy ice cream. It’s difficult to choose, so don’t forget to ask for samples!
Teo Estiatorio
We’ve been to Teo Estiatorio a couple times. This Greek restaurant on the ground floor of the Hotel Morrison serves excellent authentic Greek cuisine. It’s run by Theodoros Lykos, a very friendly man originally from Greece who was happy to explain some of the Greek dishes to Marisol.
The dishes we’ve tried include moussaka, saganaki, Greek salad, fried zucchini, grilled octopus, and skordalia. There’s also a meze platter with gyros, fried zucchini, keftedes, souvlaki, dolmades, souvlaki, spanakopita, tiropita, and fries. For dessert, we had an excellent baklava.
Where to Eat in El Chicó, Bogotá
El Chicó is an upscale neighborhood that takes up parts of the districts of Chapinero and Usaquén. There are some good restaurants mixed in.
Masa 105
Masa 105, in the Chicó Navarra area, is one of the locations of Masa you’ll find in Bogotá. This amazing bakery offers phenomenal breads and pastries and serves excellent breakfasts, sandwiches, soups, and salads. When we visited, the line was around the block and we had to wait about 45 minutes.
We had breakfast, starting with a flaky almond croissant that’s as good as you’ll find anywhere in Europe. The shakshuka and masa sandwich, which is egg, cheese, and bacon on an English muffin, really hit the spot. It was truly one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in Colombia.
Hatsuhana
Hatsuhana is an excellent Japanese restaurant just north of Avenida Calle 100. The menu includes traditional Japanese dishes and sushi as well as teppanyaki cooking. We went for a teppanyaki dinner and were treated to a wonderful show by our chef.
For the first part of the meal, we watched the chef make fried rice. He turned the griddle into a canvas, creating figures of a fish and cat out of the rice.
Preparation of the main course was equally enjoyable to watch, with the chef showing off more of his skills. He creatively accompanied our selection of meats and seafood with an onion ring volcano. As for the food, it’s delicious, and the fruit drinks are as well. Overall, we had a memorable and enjoyable experience.
Toshiro Robatayaki
We visited Toshiro Robatayaki near Parque El Virrey for dinner one night. We were drawn in for the fact they had won a recent contest for the best sushi roll in Colombia. Unfortunately, we found it to be largely disappointing. The sushi was fair at best, including the winning roll. We ordered a five different rolls expecting different flavors from each, but they all tasted similar and were on the bland side. To top it off, the place was completely empty and service was slow.
Where to Eat in Chapinero, Bogotá
Chapinero is an affluent district of Bogotá that’s home to the Zona G, which is the city’s gourmet restaurant zone. I don’t have a whole lot of experience there, but I have a long list of restaurants I’d like to try on my next trip.
Masa 70
Masa 70 is the Zona G branch of Masa. It’s much smaller than Masa 105 but equally delicious. We stopped in for lunch and were fortunate to get the only table available, outside on the patio.
I had the steak sandwich on miche, topped with cheddar, avocado, and caramelized onions. Marisol tried the turkey sandwich, with bacon, avocado, cheese, and romesco sauce on raisin nut bread. Both sandwiches came with a side of fries. Our toddler had a vegetable soup. Everything was incredible as expected.
Libertario Coffee Roasters
A block north is Libertario Coffee Roasters, which promotes small-scale coffee producers in Colombia. We sat down for a Chemex, which was excellent. The space is pleasant and service is good.
Where to Eat in Teusaquillo, Bogotá
We’ve visited a handful of restaurants in Teusaquillo, which is north of Santa Fe and runs northwest towards the airport.
Fairuz
For lunch, we tried Fairuz, a Lebanese restaurant. We shared a combo plate. The food was excellent and reasonably priced.
Rico (Permanently Closed)
Also in Teusaquillo is Rico, which serves traditional Colombian food, and, as the name suggests, the food was “muy rico”. I had the ajiaco. It was a little watery for my taste but delicious. Try the fresh fruit juice combos.
Wok Star
We tried the Centro Comercial Gran Estación branch of Wok Star, an Asian restaurant. The first night, we tried sushi and spring rolls. We loved the menu so much that we came back the next night to try phad thai and sesame chicken.
Hornitos
Hornitos has a few locations around Bogotá. It’s a bakery that serves some delicious breakfasts. My desayuno gringo (gringo breakfast) was pancakes and eggs with bacon and fruit and it tasted almost like what I would get at a diner in the States.
Crepes & Waffles
Crepes & Waffles is also all over the city and Colombia, for that matter. They serve up, as the name suggests, both sweet and savory crepes and waffles as well as soups and salads, desserts, and other specialties. We sat down for lunch in the La Esperanza branch near the US Embassy. I had a Mexican-inspired shrimp crepe while Marisol ate a Caribbean shrimp dish. Both were incredible.
We each had a dessert with our meals, which consisted of ice cream and a sauce. They were an amazing way to finish off lunch.
Bogotá Beer Company
BBC is a Colombian microbrewery with locations all over the city. We ate at the Salitre branch just outside the Teusaquillo district. They have a simple menu of your typical greasy fried bar food as well as a few sandwiches and burgers. The sandwich I had was excellent, but we weren’t too crazy about the fried shrimp Marisol ordered. We both loved our beers and will be back to try more.
Where to Eat in Santa Fe, Bogotá
In the Santa Fe district, which is north of La Candelaria, my experience is a bit limited.
Alitas Colombianas
We tried the Centro Internacional branch of Alitas Colombianas near the National Museum. They serve baskets of 8 or 16 wings with fries. They’re decent but I’ve definitely had better. They only have a few sauces to choose from.
Sahara
Sahara, near Journalists Park (Parque de los Periodistas), serves authentic Moroccan and Middle Eastern cuisine. Try the couscous dishes or the combo mixto árabe.
