The Best Restaurants in Salento, Colombia

Salento is undoubtedly the most popular destination in the coffee region of the Colombian Andes. As a result, there is no shortage of food options around town. Here are our picks for the best restaurants in Salento.

Whether you need a huge meal to replenish your energy after hiking the beautiful Valle de Cocora or perhaps you’re searching for a quick snack to keep you going as you do some shopping around this chill town – you might as well eat the best food Colombia has to offer!

We recently returned to revisit some of our favourites and explore even more great Salento restaurants. This updated guide has a bunch of phenomenal additions ranging from an epic breakfast to incredible cafes, cheap eats, and local specialties. You will have no problem eating well during your visit.

Brunch de Salento – Best Breakfast in Salento

Wildly popular with backpackers, Brunch is the hippest restaurant in Salento. The vast menu features everything from Colombian staples to classics like wings, burgers, pasta and salads — and, of course, an extensive breakfast menu. Though unlike many gringo menus you’ll encounter, the food here is perfectly executed and over-the-top tasty.

We don’t often eat out for breakfast, but when a restaurant is named Brunch, how could we not check it out? Steak and eggs, and a corned beef set us back nearly 40,000 pesos — but the portions were so massive that we didn’t eat again until supper.

They also offer quite a few vegetarian and vegan options, as well as packed lunches for those long bus trips to Bogota and Medellin.

Cumana Bistro – Venezuelan Food in Colombia

Cumana is a tiny, four-table restaurant that specializes in Venezuelan cuisine. It’s hugely popular with both locals and visitors, so expect to wait a bit for a table. That said, it’s worth waiting for.

The staff are all proud of their culture and food, and will passionately explain the dishes to you. On the menu, you’ll find a range of smaller snacks, typical Venezuelan meals and traditional specialty dishes.

One such dish is the ‘Christmas Pig’. Pork is roasted with pineapple and passionfruit and served with Venezuelan bread stuffed with bacon and olives. It’s a combination of flavours as eclectic as it is delicious.

They also have a vegan-friendly option and 100% natural juices with no milk or water added.

Christmas Pork: 25,000 COP

Juices: 5,500 COP

Donde Laurita – Best Bandeja Paisa

This rad little place is filled with vintage furniture, vinyl records on the wall and antique phones hanging on the shelves. The eclectic surroundings suggest that it’s dressed up for tourists.

However, they’re certainly not overcompensating on quality – the food is outstanding. It’s a pricier spot than others in town but it’s also the most like a real restaurant that we encountered, at least when it comes to service, but it was the food that really stood out. Huge portions of typical Colombia fare, all incredibly well done.

We stopped at Donde Laurita after returning from the Cocora Valley hike. Famished, we ordered their epic Bandeja Paisa and were more than happy to pay 22,000 for the delicious platter of awesome. Considering the meal was large enough to feed us both, the price was worth it.

Acaime

On the western edge of town, along the road towards the coffee plantations, is Acaime. Their extensive menu has something for every taste with vegetarian options, steak and local specialties.

Acaime also functions as a tourist information centre, so it can be easy to miss at first glance. But it also makes a great place to visit when you first arrive. While you wait for your food, you can browse some of the activities they offer or simply admire the creative use of recycling to furnish the place (the tire chairs are shockingly comfortable).

Prices are a little higher than others on this list, but portions are sized well and quality is bang on. On our first visit, we had bandeja paisa and one of the many trout options. We loved it so much that we returned a few days later, this time sharing the loaded patacón. Everything was incredible.

Bandeja Paisa: 19,000 COP

Fried Trout: 17,000 COP

Bambino’s Pizza

Pizza is one of those hit-and-miss foods that, especially in Colombia, takes those to extremes. And Bambino’s is definitely a hit.

This tiny take-out spot is our favourite cheap snack in Salento. Grab a slice and eat it at one of the few stools inside or take it with you. They open at 5pm and typically have 2 different pizzas in the window changing styles regularly.

We grabbed a few extra slices for our next-day bus to Bogota and they were just as tasty when eaten as leftovers.

El Rincon de Lucy – Best Cheap Eats

This one should be no surprise to anyone who’s spent any time checking out where to eat in Salento. El Ricon de Lucy ranks high on every list, for good reason. Not only one of the simplest concepts of any restaurant we’ve visited in Colombia but also some of the tastiest and cheapest. It’s without a doubt our favourite spot in town.

You grab a seat at one of the five or six tables and the server comes to take your order, without a menu. You’re simply given a few choices. First, you pick your meat – pork, chicken or trout. Next, your sides – mashed potatoes, vegetables, beans or lentils. With the sides, you can mix and match a little. That’s it, now you wait.

Within a couple of minutes, your feast arrives. Along with the choices you made, your meal comes with an arepa, corn fritter, fried plantain, salad, soup of the day and a cool glass of juice. All of it is absolutely delicious. This is truly one of the best Salento restaurants.

The whole thing costs 8,000 COP or roughly $3 USD.

Shalem – Delicious Local Trout

The restaurant has a similar selection to others around town in regards to local dishes but we came here for one thing in particular. As mentioned in our Jardin post, this region of the country is known not only for their coffee but also for the delicious river trout.

We’d been asking around as to where the best restaurant in Salento to enjoy this treat and Shalem seemed to be the spot. After ordering the food, we sat there sipping our beer while pan-flute covers of 80’s power ballads played in the background.

Soon, our meal arrived and our expectations were more than met. The fish was cooked perfectly, pan seared and basted with a plentiful amount of garlic butter. Along with the trout came a giant, crispy fried plantain chip and a nice salad to cut through the richness.

For 18,000 pesos, it was a perfect lunch.

El Cacharrito

There are a few burger joints in Salento, but El Cacharrito is the best.

They don’t mess around with a complicated menu here. From the simple, classic cheeseburger to bacon, blue cheese, and a few really tasty vegan options, they do burgers right.

Another reason this place stands out is its fantastic selection of local brews. The cooler is stocked full of all kinds of beer from breweries all across Colombia.

And considering the quality of the burgers, the prices are tough to beat. We devoured a bacon cheeseburger (13,000 pesos) and a vegan lentil burger (8,000).

Coco Bowl – Best Vegetarian

Coco Bowl is the best vegetarian restaurant in Salento — hands down. It’s a bright, colourful cafe that specializes in vegetarian and vegan food with a focus on using organic, locally-grown produce.

From smoothies and coffee to veggie bowls and burgers, if you’re looking for something light and healthy, this is the place.

Speaking of burgers, the Coco Burger is where it’s at. Black bean patty, brioche bun, topped with American cheese, onions, mushrooms, and beet hummus with sesame honey. I can say with confidence that this is the best vegetarian burger I have ever tried.

They also have a selection of unique tea lattes, flavoured and coloured with exotic spices and flowers.

Black latte – activated charcoal, cocoa, milk and spices. Eliminates toxins: 6000 COP

Blue Latte – Thai blue flowers, milk and spices, rich in antioxidants, relieves stress and stimulates the brain: 7000 COP

Cocktails in Salento

We can’t have a menu without a cocktail list now can we?

First, a Colombian classic: Limonada de Coco. This can be found in many different restaurants around town including the fresh fruit carts in the town centre. Sweet and refreshing limeade is mixed with real coconut milk to make a delicious and refreshing treat. Rum is optional but always encouraged.

To warm you up on those rainy days, head to La Fonda de los Arrieros in the main square, and sit down with a Canelazo. I challenge you to find a more Colombian cocktail. This tasty beverage begins with a base of warm panella, an unrefined cane sugar, with a hint of cinnamon and spiked generously with Aguardiente – a Colombian anise-flavoured liquor. Served at most Salento Restaurants, as well as restaurants around Colombia.

Eat Well in Salento

So there you have it, no excuses to starve or suffer through bland meals. Let us know what you think if you get a chance to try any of these suggestions, and please tell us of any unique finds of your own!

Heading to Bogota next? Fi how to get there and how to spend one amazing day in Bogota.

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