Short answer: Don’t leave Colombia without eating a bandeja paisa in Medellín, a bowl of ajiaco in Bogotá, an arepa de huevo from a street stand in Cartagena, fried fish with coconut rice and patacones on the Caribbean coast, and a cup of coffee in the coffee region where it grows. Add tropical fruit juices you have never heard of, and you have tasted the country.
Colombia’s food changes with altitude as much as with region. In the cool Andes around Bogotá, potatoes, corn and hearty soups rule; in Antioquia and the coffee region, the paisa kitchen is built on beans, pork, arepas and plantains; the Caribbean coast cooks with coconut, fish and fried snacks; the Pacific coast has its own Afro-Colombian seafood traditions; and the eastern plains are cattle country. Corn arepas come with almost everything, and the country’s markets overflow with fruit. UNESCO has listed the southwestern city of Popayán as a Creative City of Gastronomy since 2005. For the bigger picture, see our Colombia travel guide.
Andean and paisa classics
1. Bandeja paisa
The famous platter of Antioquia and the coffee region: red beans cooked with pork, white rice, ground meat, chorizo, crisp chicharrón (fried pork belly), a fried egg, sweet plantain, avocado and a small arepa, sometimes with black pudding. Colombia’s official tourism site describes it as a dish made to feed coffee pickers working the steep hills. It is a lunch, not a dinner, and one plate can feed two; locals pair it with a fresh fruit juice. Try it in Medellín, where traditional restaurants serve it all day.
2. Ajiaco
Bogotá’s signature soup: chicken and three kinds of potato simmered until the smallest ones melt and thicken the broth, with corn on the cob and the herb guascas, served with cream, capers, avocado and rice on the side. Colombia’s official tourism site names La Candelaria, the historic center of Bogotá, as one of the most traditional places to eat it. It is a lunch dish, perfect for the capital’s cool, rainy afternoons.
3. Arepas
Round corn cakes grilled, baked or fried, eaten at breakfast, as a side or as a snack. In Antioquia they are thin, plain and served with butter and cheese; in Bogotá and Boyacá, thicker arepas are stuffed or topped with cheese; and street stands everywhere sell arepas filled with meat, chicken or cheese. Arepas with cheese are an easy vegetarian snack.
4. Empanadas
Crisp fried pastries of corn dough filled with potato and meat, sold at stands, bakeries and bus stations, and eaten with ají, a fresh, mildly spicy salsa of chile, onion, cilantro and vinegar. They are the classic quick snack between sights. Ask for potato-only versions if you don’t eat meat.
5. Changua
A Bogotá breakfast soup of milk and water with green onion and cilantro, an egg poached in the broth and pieces of stale bread (calado) soaking at the bottom. It sounds unusual but is gentle and warming in the chilly highland mornings. Look for it at traditional cafés and breakfast places in the capital.
6. Tamales
Colombian tamales are steamed in banana leaves and vary by region. The official tourism site notes that Santander uses a corn base and Tolima uses rice, with pumpkin versions in Cundinamarca and Boyacá. The Tolima tamal, with rice, peas, carrot, pork and chicken, is famous. They are a weekend breakfast, often served with hot chocolate and bread.
7. Sancocho
A hearty soup of plantain, yuca and potato, with chicken, beef, fish or a mix, and corn on the cob and cilantro, served with rice and avocado. Every region has its own version; the official tourism site highlights sancocho valluno from the Cauca Valley and describes it as a picnic dish cooked over an open fire by a river or on a beach. It is a family Sunday favorite.
8. Trout from the coffee region
In the cool valleys of the coffee region, rainbow trout is farmed in mountain streams and served grilled, fried or covered in a garlic or creamy sauce, with patacones the size of a plate. It is the classic lunch after a walk in the Cocora Valley near Salento. It is a good choice if bandeja paisa sounds too heavy.
Caribbean coast
9. Fried fish with coconut rice and patacones
The official tourism site recommends pargo frito, whole fried snapper or another local fish, served with coconut rice and patacones (smashed, twice-fried green plantain). Coconut rice on the coast is cooked with coconut until it turns slightly brown and sweet. Eat it at beach restaurants in Cartagena, Santa Marta and San Andrés, and ask the price of the whole fish before you order.
10. Arepa de huevo and coastal fritos
The Caribbean coast’s street snacks are fried: the arepa de huevo is a corn arepa fried, opened, filled with a raw egg (sometimes with ground meat) and fried again until sealed. Carimañolas are cassava fritters stuffed with cheese or meat, and butifarras are small, firm sausages sold from carts. The official tourism site lists these with bollo limpio, a white corn roll. Cartagena’s stalls sell them morning and evening.
11. Seafood cocktails and ceviche
Along the coast, vendors sell cups of shrimp, octopus or mixed seafood in a sweet-tangy pink sauce with lime and crackers, a Colombian take on ceviche. They are a beach and old-town snack in Cartagena and Santa Marta. Choose busy stands where the seafood is fresh.
Sweets, fruit and drinks
12. Buñuelos and natilla
Buñuelos are round fritters of cheese and corn or cassava flour, golden outside and soft inside, sold at bakeries all year. At Christmas they are paired with natilla, a soft, cinnamon-scented custard, and many families make both at home. For other sweets, look for obleas (thin wafers filled with arequipe, the local caramel) and the coconut and guava sweets of the coast.
13. Tropical fruit and juices
Colombia has an astonishing variety of fruit: lulo, maracuyá (passion fruit), guanábana (soursop), mango, tree tomato, granadilla, mangosteen and many more. Juices are made with water or milk (en agua or en leche) and come with most lunches. Bogotá’s Paloquemao market is a famous place to taste fruit, and many cities have market fruit tours.
14. Coffee
Colombian coffee needs no introduction, but drinking it where it grows is special. The Coffee Cultural Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2011, covers coffee country in Caldas, Quindío, Risaralda and the north of Valle del Cauca, and Colombia’s official tourism site describes farm visits where you can pick coffee and taste it fresh. Base yourself in Salento for farm tours. A small black coffee is called a tinto, sold everywhere for a small price.
15. Aguapanela and hot chocolate with cheese
Aguapanela is hot water with melted panela (unrefined cane sugar), often with lime, drunk hot in the mountains and iced on the coast. In Bogotá, hot chocolate comes with a slice of fresh cheese that you drop into the cup to melt, plus bread or almojábanas (cheese rolls). It is the classic afternoon snack, called onces.
Where to eat: Bogotá and beyond
Bogotá. Bogotá has one of the best food scenes in Latin America, from ajiaco in La Candelaria to modern Colombian restaurants in the Zona G and Usaquén. The Paloquemao market is the place for fruit and flowers, and Usaquén’s Sunday market adds food stalls.
Medellín and the coffee region. In Medellín, try bandeja paisa, arepas and fresh juices; the Laureles and El Poblado neighborhoods have plenty of restaurants. In the coffee region around Salento, farm tours, trout and coffee are the highlights.
The Caribbean coast. Cartagena‘s old city and Getsemaní have street stands for arepas de huevo, fruit and seafood cocktails, plus many restaurants. Santa Marta, the gateway to Tayrona National Natural Park, is good for fried fish and coconut rice, and San Andrés adds Raizal island cooking such as rondón, a coconut seafood stew.
Popayán. The white colonial city of Popayán in the southwest, a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy since 2005, is known for its regional cooking, including empanadas de pipián (small potato and peanut pastries) and its traditions around Holy Week.
Food etiquette and tipping
The best-value meal in Colombia is the menú del día or almuerzo corriente, a set lunch of soup, a main plate with rice, beans or salad, and a drink, served at midday. Restaurants usually suggest a 10% tip on the bill as a propina voluntaria; it is voluntary, and you can accept it, change it or ask for it to be removed. Our tip calculator does the math.
Colombians are courteous: greet with buenos días or buenas tardes, and say buen provecho to people at nearby tables. Useful phrases: ¿qué tiene el almuerzo? (what’s in the set lunch?), sin carne (without meat) and la cuenta, por favor (the bill, please); our phrase cards have more. According to the UK government, tap water is safe to drink only in Bogotá, so drink bottled or filtered water elsewhere.
Eating on a budget
Colombia is good value for food. Our cost guide puts the set lunch at about COP 18,000–30,000 ($5.50–9) in Bogotá and Medellín and COP 20,000–35,000 in Cartagena, street snacks such as an arepa de huevo or empanada at about COP 4,000–8,000, and a bandeja paisa at a traditional Medellín restaurant at about COP 30,000–45,000. Eat your big meal at lunch, snack from street stands and markets, and keep Cartagena’s old-city dinners for a special night. For daily budgets, see how much a trip to Colombia costs. Coffee farm, market and street-food tours are easy to book through our tour finder.
Plan your trip
Fit your meals into the bigger plan: our top places to visit in Colombia shows where each regional kitchen lives, the Colombia itinerary links Bogotá, Medellín, the coffee region and Cartagena into a route, and the best time to visit Colombia covers the dry and rainy seasons, coffee harvests and festivals. Or let our AI trip planner build a day-by-day plan with food stops included, and check the Destination weather tool before you pack.
Frequently asked questions
What is the national dish of Colombia?
Colombia has no single official national dish, but bandeja paisa from Antioquia and ajiaco from Bogotá are the two most often named. Sancocho, in its many regional versions, is the soup that unites the country.
Is Colombian food spicy?
No, Colombian food is generally mild. Heat comes from ají, a fresh salsa of chile, onion and cilantro served on the side, which you add to empanadas, soups and rice to taste.
What do people eat for breakfast in Colombia?
Arepas with cheese or eggs, scrambled eggs with tomato and onion (huevos pericos), tamales at weekends, hot chocolate with cheese, and coffee. In Bogotá, changua is a traditional breakfast soup, and on the coast, arepas de huevo.
Is Colombia good for vegetarians?
Yes, in the big cities. Bogotá, Medellín and Cartagena have many vegetarian restaurants, and arepas with cheese, cheese empanadas, buñuelos, patacones, rice, beans and fruit are everywhere. In set lunches, beans and soups may contain meat, so ask, and say sin carne.
What is a tinto in Colombia?
A tinto is a small cup of black coffee, often sweetened, sold in cafés and by street vendors with thermoses. It is not red wine, which is vino tinto.
Where can I visit a coffee farm in Colombia?
In the Coffee Cultural Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage site across Caldas, Quindío, Risaralda and northern Valle del Cauca. Salento and the towns around Manizales, Pereira and Armenia are the usual bases for farm tours with coffee picking and tasting.