Cartagena | Eating and drinking in Colombia’s favorite party city

If I could use one word to describe Cartagena it would be: fun. And after fun would come colorful, lively, beautiful, charming. For all those reasons Cartagena is also touristic. But! Definitely not any less enjoyable.  

Epoca espresso bar & coffee roasters
Hmm… How to best describe this bar? Let me just start with saying that they serve excellent coffee here. And cocktails. And they do food too! Anyway, we really liked it and if you like good things like we do make sure to stop here in between sightseeing in Cartagena.

La Cocina de Pepina
This tiny Colombian restaurant is found outside the wall in Getsemani. It feels a bit like going to someone’s house for food. The tourists have definitely found this place. But we still very much enjoyed our meal here. The menu consists of really tasty regional classics.

Éspirito Santa Restaurante
The Holy Spirit restaurant is big! It reminds me a bit of a cafeteria even though you do get service. But this Colombian lunch place is not for lingering. Come here to get fueled up for the rest of the day.

Demente
We liked this place so much it was hard to get away from it. It’s in Getsemani just a five-minute walk from the old town and absolutely buzzing. A friend of mine recommended this place to us. The roof in the bar slides off and at the back is an open-air restaurant where they serve pretty terrific pizzas.

 

 

Alquímico
Whatever you do when you visit Cartagena do not miss this very very very cool bar. It is quite a big place with three floors, all very stylishly decorated in a 30’s style. But then there is the rooftop bar, murals, lights and cool cocktails, that kind of thing.

Café Havana
This place is one of those ‘must-see’ places when you are visiting Cartagena. It’s been there forever. Hillary C. has been here too apparently. There is live music, lots of salsa dancing and strong drinks. What is not to like? Maybe the salsa dancing in Nick’s case. His hips do lie.

 

Nick’s thoughts on Cartagena: It seems like there is just as much going on outside the old town as in it. So make sure you explore this part of Cartagena. Ps. this place is medium sweaty.

If your heading to Bogota, check out our tips on where to eat drink here.