40 Best Restaurants in Colombia

You'll find the city's most iconic dinner experience about 40 minutes outside of Bogotá. This multisensory, multilevel restaurant is part Burning Man, part roadside barbecue joint---think vibrant colors, music, people, energy, and great food. The menu, which reads more like a book, focuses on beef and all things grilled, with plenty of local dishes from arepas to ceviches. Try La Trapa, a salted, muslin-wrapped tenderloin grilled directly on the fire.

The entire complex encompasses 2½ miles, with 11 seating areas that fit about 2,000 diners served by hundreds of staff. Every inch is decorated with found objects and memorabilia, like gloriously gaudy neon lighting and stylized bric-a-brac. Any empty floor space usually becomes a dance floor with the party extending well into the night. Arrive before 6 pm on Friday and Saturday to avoid the cover charge (10,000 pesos Friday; 15,000 pesos Saturday). If you can, spend the night in one of Chia's B&Bs; it's much more pleasant than ending the night with a long taxi ride (a taxi costs around $80).

One of the forerunners of Medellín's gastro boom, Carmen serves fresh, inventive cuisine in one of the city's best settings, where clever design integrates the surrounding garden with the dining areas, and wood and exposed brick complement the green, airy style. Choose a seat in the glass conservatory, on the soothing patio with its central water feature, in the modern formal dining room, or in the upstairs salon, which has a clear view of the open kitchen. The dishes, while Colombian at heart, have plenty of Asian influence and contemporary flare---try the 12-hour cooked pork belly with a tamarind-and-cane-sugar glaze, sweet-potato puree, and charred Szechuan-style green beans with ginger and wild Colombian "mint" vinaigrette. Reservations are encouraged, and arrive early to grab a first-rate cocktail like the Purple Pussy (with violet-and-apple-infused gin), or the Too Old Fashioned (with whiskey, brandy, and apricot bitters).

Set in an almost cavernous space with double arches reaching up to the 15-foot-high ceiling, the warm and welcoming staff at this 18th-century fort turned restaurant serves great drinks and a solid Italian menu. Quality is paramount here—pizzas are thin and wood fired and pasta is handmade with freshly prepared sauces.

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Unobtrusively tucked away in a typical Chapinero home, the quietly cool Nueve has floor-to-ceiling wine racks that reflect more than 14 countries, a passionate and knowledgeable waitstaff, and strikingly modern tapas that reinvent traditional Spanish bites with local flavors and ingredients. Try as many little dishes as possible, like the local creole potatoes tuned into patatas bravas (stuffed with spicy Basque sausage) or the fried burrata with a guava-and-black-olive paste. Come early to try one of the spot-on classic cocktails, like a fine old-fashioned, at the adjoining Prohibition-era-style bar. Reservations are recommended.

Considered one of El Poblado's most stylish joints, Ocio's high-end kitchen whips up refined, bistro-style comfort food with a meat-loving paisa heart. Tall, vertical gardens, stenciled walls, and plenty of low-hanging Edison bulbs suit the young and trendy crowd that regularly fills the place. Chef Laura Londoño delivers a short but serious menu that focuses on slow-cooked meats. Star dishes like short ribs and ham hock are cooked for over 12 hours before being crisped under the broiler. The starters are creative and modern, using plenty of local rarities and often have an Asian touch---think a ceviche with avocado, local gooseberries, and cured jalapeños, or a green mango salad with thinly sliced beef and a tamarind vinaigrette. Reservations are advised.

From its prime position on the Parque de los Novios, Ouzo serves up tasty Mediterranean food with deftly applied Greek influences that make for a refreshing change from the norm. The high-ceilinged interior is kept cool by whirring fans and the pleasant ambience, which is somewhere between Greece and colonial Colombia. In the evenings, a table on the balcony or plaza can't be beat. Try as many of the appetizers as possible, and don't miss the wood-fired pizzas or house specialties like Greek paella or Makaronia me Keftedes (Greek meatballs) if available. Reservations are advised.

The frequently changing, local-produce-inspired menu at this Chapinero home turned restaurant hits all the right spots, with starters like grilled octopus with corn and chorizo or smoked trout with cassava and a berry compote, and comforting mains that include slow-cooked roasts and the famous chicken curry with roast carrots. There's also a great wine and cocktail list, as well as expertly made coffee. The weekday lunch special is a bargain, offering a starter and main of the day. It's popular, so come early.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The sister restaurant to 80 Sillas, Horacio is equally well designed, with a great staff and a menu that focuses on simple ingredients. You can't go wrong with anything porcine or slow cooked---the crispy pork belly and homemade pâté are spot-on---and the wine list is filled with quality choices. Upstairs, overlooking a tree-filled patio, is the best place to dine.