Look out Lima. The restaurant, chef, and food scene in Bogotá, Colombia is booming. So, is this Latin America’s next capital of cuisine? You be the judge. Our guide to the best restaurants in Bogotá, developed after spending weeks eating our way through more than 30 places in the capital city, tells you where to eat in Bogotá right now (and don’t miss our guide to drinking in Bogotá too).
Bogotá restaurant guide: past, present, future
The dining room at Harry Sasson, the chef’s iconic restaurant within the booming Bogotá food scene.
Colombia’s original celebrity chef started his rise in Bogotá decades ago. Today, Harry Sasson is acknowledged as the grand daddy of Colombian cuisine and he’s still going strong with his swanky eponymous restaurant in Bogotá, recently-opened Nemo in the capital, and his first restaurant in Cartagena.
French inflected cuisine is served at Criterion restaurant from the Rausch brothers.
Other stars of the old guard of Bogotá fine dining include the Rausch brothers with their French-influenced cuisine and polished restaurants including Criterion in Bogotá. Read more in our story about the Rausch brothers for The Latin Kitchen.
Restaurants from Sasson and the Rausch brothers are on the elite list of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants. So is Restaurante Leo from Chef Leonor Espinosa. She’s one of the new guard shaping Bogotá’s food future with her commitment to saving and re-interpreting core Colombian ingredients and techniques in elegant, unexpected ways. Read more about her always surprising cuisine in our piece about Leonor Espinosa for The Latin Kitchen.
But it’s not all fancy place settings and tasting menus in Bogotá. You can eat well in hotels in Bogotá (at least at these five hotel restaurants that we recommend) and it’s now easy to find mac ‘n cheese and pastrami sandwiches after a North American comfort food trend took the city by storm.
Things are moving so fast in Bogotá right now that by the time we hit “publish” on this post there are sure to be even more fantastic eating and drinking options in Colombia’s cosmopolitan capital. Now, here are more of our favorite places to eat in Bogotá right now.
Where to eat in Bogotá right now
This salad is just one course on an amazing tasting menu at Restaurante Leo in Bogotá.
Restaurante Leo
Choose one of the tasting menus (there are two) rather than ordering off the a la carte menu to really experience Chef Leonor Espinosa’s passion for and reinterpretation of Colombian cuisine. Tasting menus, including wine, are around US$60 per person and worth every peso.
Tuna tartare, Nueve style.
Nueve
Located inside a two-story house that’s been converted into the home of small shops and restaurants, this 32 seat temple to inventive tapas also has more than 160 wines to choose from, all available by the glass. Owner, chef, and sommelier Pedro Escobar offers delectable and complex small plates that perfectly support the wine.
Seafood is never frozen at 80 Sillas in Bogotá.
80 Sillas
We still think about the salmon tartar with avocado, pomelo, black sea salt, and clipped verbena that we had at this two-level space with a menu heavy on all things that come from the water. Seafood is never frozen and the restaurant is located in the heart of the historic and hip Usaquen neighborhood.
Karen enjoying the heck out of the pastrami sandwich at La Fama Barbecue in Bogotá.
La Fama Barbecue
With a Colombian pit master trained by professionals from the US, this place looks, smells, and tastes like real Southern BBQ because it is real Southern BBQ. Don’t miss the legit pastrami sandwich.
Gordo, a little bit of Brooklyn in Bogotá.
Gordo Brooklyn Bar & Restaurant
This place brings a little bit of Brooklyn to Bogotá and by that we mean an inviting bar with expertly prepared cocktails, a satisfying menu of solid standards, couches for longing, and even a pressed tin ceiling. Get more enticing details in our story about Gordo for The Latin Kitchen.
A dessert that’s almost too good to eat from Salvo Patria. Almost.
Salvo Patria
Everything about this place is great. It’s located in the hip Chapinero Alto neighborhood and offers a homey setting with mismatched chairs, shared tables, and romantic nooks. The wine list is fantastic, the prices are more than reasonable, and the food, turned out by Chef Alejandro Gutiérrez, makes the most of Colombian ingredients. Order up a rich pork belly sandwich, tender grilled octopus, rabbit ragu, or anything else on the stylish menu. Every dish is a winner. Their daily set lunch meal is a gourmet bargain. Insider tip: there’s a private chef’s table for special reservations just off the kitchen. Also, look for an even tighter menu in 2019, driven entirely by what Alejandro and Juan Manuel can get fresh and local.
The name is a joke. The food (and drink) is serious.
Ugly American Bar & Grill
The name is tongue in cheek, but the food is deadly serious at this ode to North American comfort foods (wings, mac ‘n cheese, ribs, beignets, and a burger that locals can’t get enough of). The bar is massive and inviting and brunch is an event.
Bruto
This multi-story bohemian space has a Spanish-inspired menu and live music. The food is fantastic and built to share. Best with friends whether you come for a full meal or just for drinks at the large, lively bar.
Bistro el Bandido nails French bistro fare. Don’t miss the coq au vin.
Bistro El Bandido
Opened in 2009, this beloved place nails French bistro food, the French bistro vibe, and the French bistro look but at a fraction of the price you’d pay in Paris. The coq au vin is to die for.
Pizza made with traditional ingredients in a wood burning oven from a chef who spent nearly a decade with Mario Batali. THIS is pizza in Bogotá.
Pizzeria Julia
Created by a Colombian chef who worked with Mario Batali in New York for years, this expanding micro chain has classic recipes, real wood-burning ovens, and a nice wine list. Don’t bother with the many pizza pretenders in Bogotá.
Executive chef Antonuela Ariza works his magic at Mini Mal.
Mini Mal
The dining room is pleasingly haphazard and casual (tin plates, mismatched chairs) but the food digs deep to surprise. Biche (fermented sugarcane juice typical in coastal Colombia) is used to make a margarita, stingrays are smoked with coconut husks and herbs then stewed to perfection (ask for the Calzado de Raya if you don’t see it on the menu). After more than 14 years in the business, the owners’ enthusiasm shows no sign of flagging.
Osso bucco at Tabula.
Tabula & Donostia
Thank goodness being a musician doesn’t pay. Colombian chef (and bass player) Tomas Rueda started cooking to make money to support his music career (he’s still in a band). He found that he loved it enough to study the culinary arts around the world and work hard to develop his own perspective on cuisine. Essentially, that perspective revolves around his fear of boredom. The good news for diners is that they’re never bored either. Donostia, a minimalist, sexy restaurant, opened more than a decade ago, offers polished but approachable plates (trout cooked in jungle leaves, for example). A few years later Rueda opened Tabula, Donostia’s more raucous sibling, right next door. Order the remolacha (beet) served warm and drizzled with yogurt and honey to experience a dish that Chef Rueda believes encapsulates his culinary ambitions.
Gourmet versions of Colombian (and international) breakfast favorites are the calling card of Diana Garcia.
Diana Garcia
Most hotels in Colombia include at least a rudimentary breakfast in room rates. Do yourself a favor and duck out for a restaurant breakfast at either of the two restaurants opened by caterer Diana Garcia. She only serves breakfast and lunch and the breakfast menu is expansive, including North American favorites and a litany of Colombia’s most beloved breakfast options. Bottomless coffee too.
Brunch at Abasto draws a crowd.
Abasto Market
Breakfast and brunch at Abasto is a Bogota ritual, but for our money, the smart move is to skip the lines (and sometimes surly service) at the various Abasto cafes around the city in favor of Abasto Market in the Usaquen neighborhood. Part restaurant/part market, this place is just as delicious without the hassle and you can pick up a fresh bread or other treats on your way out.
Art. Live music. Plenty of meat. Even more booze. That’s the recipe for fun and food at Andres Carne de Res.
Andres Carne de Res
Skip the newer locations within the city limits and head to the original in the nearby city of Chia to see why this enormous restaurant attracts thousands of meat and party lovers every week. It looks like a chic junkyard, tons of meat are consumed (along with gallons of booze), and if you don’t have a festive time here there’s something wrong with you. We’re not saying it’s the best restaurant in Bogotá, but it is the most extreme. Learn more about Colombia’s craziest restaurant in our story about how to survive Andres Carne de Res for The Latin Kitchen.
Homey food in a homey atmosphere at El Comedor Comfort Food.
El Comedor Comfort Food
As the name would imply, it’s all about comfort food at this homey restaurant including a wide range of soups, spaghetti with oven-roasted tomatoes, hamburgers, chocolate lava cake, and more. The star dish is the slow-cooked, salt-encrusted whole chicken which is served with roasted potatoes and avocado salad (must be ordered in advance).
Ciengramos is the ambitious anchor restaurant of the Click Clack, the hippest hotel in the city.
Ciengramos
Located inside the Click Clack Hotel (the hippest boutique hotel in the city), this restaurant serves creative, satisfying dishes in 100 gram (3.5 ounce) portions that encourage guests to share. The lengthy menu includes sandwiches, risottos (including inventive takes like a dish called Ciebeles which features cubes of tender beef and strawberries), meat dishes, and plenty of seafood (including salmon marinated for 14 hours in sake and soy). Don’t miss the Vieja al Centro de la Tierra which is a combination of light potato salad, seasonal vegetables, and octopus served in a ceramic flower pot then dusted on top with mushroom crumbs that resemble soil and spiked with pea shoots which suggest a sprouting plant.
Kampai Wings at Osaki, a delicious ode to all things Asian.
Osaki
There are a few of these Asian-inspired restaurants around the city. There are two menus, one for sushi and another listing all kinds of other types of Asian food including build-your-own ramen bowls. Do not miss the succulent and enormous Kampai Wings. Use your hands.
Prime cuts, homemade sausage, and more all cooked in a wood-fired oven at Horacio Barbato.
Horacio Barbato
If you like meat–particularly pork–this is the place for you. The excellent chorizo sausages are made in-house. A wood-burning oven is always stoked and is used to cook nearly everything on the menu. And the soundtrack (Bill Withers, Nina Simone) is fantastic. UPDATE: this restaurant is now closed.
18 flavors of gelato made by an Italian using imported machines.
La Creameria Italiano
Premium homemade gelato made from scratch by an Italian on imported machinery in 18 flavors. Got it?
Best new restaurants in Bogotá
Tomodachi Ramen, a tiny, traditional, and tasty newcomer.
Tomodachi Ramen Bar
Opened in late 2015, this is the fourth restaurant in Bogotá for Colombian chef Daniel Castano who spent weeks eating Ramen throughout Japan as part of his pre-opening research. He returned to Bogotá with a Japanese woman who trained his Colombian chef before Tomodachi opened. It’s a tiny, classic space with a menu to match.
La Condesa Cocina y Mercado Artisenal has expanded from one lovely Italian trattoria to two.
La Condesa Cocina y Mercado Artisenal
This place has been a neighborhood favorite in the Soledad/Teusaquillo area of the city since 2012. In late 2015 a second location opened in Zona T. Both locations serve up simple, classic Italian trattoria food at wonderful prices. The setting is simple and showcases the owner’s woodworking skills including handmade tables and chairs. Pastas are homemade (except the macaroni and the bow tie pasta), the beef carpaccio was melt-in-your-mouth tender, the lime pie was light and fresh, and Colombian craft beers and a nice selection of wines are available.
The gourmet cuisine at Hippie will make you forget all about tofu and granola.
Hippie
We’d love Hippie, opened in mid 2015, even if we weren’t friends with chef/owner Paula Silva. Located in a renovated two-level home, Hippie is a welcoming temple to artfully prepared “pure food” made with whole, local, and organic ingredients whenever possible and seasoned with no refined sugar (just honey and panela) and no refined salt (just sea salt). Dishes are ambitious and delicious and though vegetables are lovingly represented on the menu, meat and seafood lovers will be satisfied as well. Get more details in our story about Hippie for the Bogotá Post. UPDATE: this restaurant has closed and chef Paula Silva is now part of the growing trend of clandestine pop-up dinners.
Complexity and creativity from the 25-year-old chef/owner at Mil 9.
Mil 9
The Cordon Bleu-trained Colombian chef is 25 years old. It’s his first restaurant. He kind of blew our socks off with dishes like shrimp in passion fruit bitters with peas and shaved coconut. You should go. UPDATE: this restaurant has closed.
Diners now have Misia, a more casual way to enjoy the cuisine of Colombian chef Leo Espinosa.
Misia
Colombia’s most unpredictable chef, Leonor Espinosa, knows that her anthropological approach to saving and re-inventing Colombian ingredients and techniques at her lauded restaurant Restaurante Leo (#33 on the 2015 list of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants) is off-putting to some local diners. After all, she offers not one but two tasting menus (as well as a la carte) in a country where tasting menus are still rare. In 2015 she opened Misia for the timid, offering meticulously made but casually presented plates of Colombia’s most beloved everyday foods like bandeja paisa and empanadas (the main location is at Transversal 6 #27-50 but Misia’s are springing up around Bogotá). Get full details in our story about Misia for TheLatinKitchen.com. UPDATE: there are now multiple locations of Misia around Bogotá.
Cantina y Punto, from a Michelin-starred chef, has brought inventive yet authentic Mexican cuisine to the city.
Cantina y Punto
The most newsworthy newcomer in Bogotá is this authentic Mexican restaurant which opened in September of 2015. The place is helmed by Mexican Chef Roberto Ruiz from Punto MX in Madrid which is the only Mexican restaurant in Europe with a Michelin star. Tortillas are all made by hand, his guacamole recipe is a secret, he’s getting Mexican chilies from a Mexican farmer near Medellin and he’s turning out high-end creatively authentic Mexican food including tuna chicharron tacos. The restaurant bar is also slowly amassing the city’s best selection of mezcals (8 so far) and tequilas which you can enjoy under a retractable roof.
One big disappointment
Trattoria de la Plaza – This place, located on the second floor of a building near the sprawling 7 de Agusto market, was enjoying serious buzz when we were in Bogotá as a great place to get authentic Italian food at decent prices. Wrong and wrong. The artichoke hearts ala Romana were out of a can, the ravioli (the ONLY pasta on the menu that was homemade) was so undercooked it was almost inedible and the side of spaghetti that came with the mediocre chicken parm was so salty it was inedible. Just skip it.
Still want more? Don’t miss our post about where to eat in Bogotá Part 2. If you really want to get into the Bogotá food scene plan to be at the annual Bogotá Wine & Food Festival, which just keeps getting bigger and better. And here’s our post about where to drink in Bogotá.
Complete your Bogotá, Colombia trip planning with our city travel guide about what to do in Bogotá, and our city travel guide covering hotels in Bogotá.
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Colombian food is amazing, and set to break out in a big way. More to the point of your post, Bogota has an awesome dining scene judging from this … I though Medellin was where it was at … guess I might be wrong!
There are a handful of really remarkable places to eat in Medellin, but nothing like the food scene in Bogota.
All of these sound fantastic, but the salmon tartar sounds especially good. Now, I have even more of a reason to visit Colombia!
Can’t believe you missed El Agave Azul – the best margaritas in town and amazing modern Mexican cuisine. Absolutely beautiful.
We didn’t intentionally miss Agave Azul, we just ran out of time!
and canoa taberna japonesa? the best sushi in town!!
That’s news to us! Thanks for the tip!