Cochabamba Restaurants

  1. Búfalo's Rodizio

    This all-you-can-eat Brazilian-style grill has smart waiters bringing huge hunks of delicious meat to your table faster than you can pick up your fork. There's a large salad bar, but let's face it, it's designed for the carnivore. It's on the second floor of a shopping arcade; take the lift.

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  2. Café Frances

    This intimate and popular option serves excellent coffee, tea, cakes, quiche and both sweet and savory crêpes in a Paris-like setting.

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  3. Casa de Campo

    A Cochabamba classic, this loud and cheerful partly open-air restaurant is a traditional spot to meet, eat, and play cacho (dice). There's a big range of Bolivian dishes and grilled meats; the food is fine (and piled high on the plates), but the lively, unpretentious atmosphere is better.

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  4. Casablanca

    Both restaurant and bar, this spot is popular with both locals and visitors and always has a busy buzz. As one might expect, there are dodgy Bogart murals on the walls. The place also offers a large range of international dishes, and drinks until late. Service is very poor.

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  5. Co Café Arte

    A relaxed café with wooden tables and repro art on the walls. The cordial owner does decent coffee, juices, and a few snacks.

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  7. Cochalita

    There's tasty street food and snacks all over Cochabamba, with the papas rellenas (potatoes filled with meat or cheese) at the corner of Achá and Villazón particularly delicious. Great salteñas and empanadas are ubiquitous; for the latter, try Cochalita, which has a range of delicious fillings and also does ice creams. Locals swear by the anticuchos (beef-heart shish kebabs) that sizzle all night at the corner of Av Villaroel and Av América.

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  8. Cristal

    Cristal serves a range of things throughout the day, from breakfast pancakes to bland but decent burgers and main dishes, and is particularly popular for a late-afternoon ice cream and coffee.

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  9. Dumbo - Ballivián

    The jumbo-size Dumbo serves a range of things throughout the day, from breakfast pancakes to bland but decent burgers and main dishes, and is particularly popular for a late-afternoon ice cream and coffee.

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  10. Dumbo - Heroínas

    The jumbo-size Dumbo serves a range of things throughout the day, from breakfast pancakes to bland but decent burgers and main dishes, and is particularly popular for a late-afternoon ice cream and coffee.

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  11. Espresso Café Bar

    Just behind the cathedral, this wins the 'best coffee in town' award. It's an attractive, traditional-looking place with pleasant staff. It also serves good juices. A word of advice - don't order a 'large' espresso unless caffeine is more of a compulsion than a pleasure.

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  13. Ganesha Comida Vegetariana

    Popular lunchtime vegetarian spot just off Plaza Colón, with a range of tasty choices that diminish the later you get there.

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  14. Globo's

    Globo's is a real fun palace for small children, with balloons, helados (ice creams), juices, and kid-friendly meals - it's got the lot.

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  15. Gopal

    This friendly vegetarian place has a great setting at the end of a quiet arcade; the terrace is a tranquil spot. The location is better than the food, which includes soy-based conversions of traditional Bolivian dishes and a few curries.

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  16. Kabbab

    A thousand and one variations on Persian kebabs served in an intimate space adjacent to the Palacio de Portales. Highlights include clay-oven flat bread, Turkish coffee and decent baklava.

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  17. La Cantonata

    This classy Italian place is one of the city's better places to eat. The cozy interior has a roaring fire, and there's a long menu of fresh pasta dishes and plenty of wine choice. The meat dishes are particularly tasty; the starters are a bit more hit-and-miss.

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  19. La Estancia

    One of a knot of spacious restaurants just across Río Rocha in Recoleta, this Argentine-style grill is a fine place. There are thick, juicy steaks (it's worth upgrading to the Argentine meat), ribs, and kidneys, as well as fish and chicken, all sizzled on the blazing grill in the middle. There's also a decent salad bar and very good service.

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  20. Markets

    Markets are cheap for simple but varied and tasty meals - don't miss the huge, mouth-watering fruit salads. They're also the cheapest places to find coffee - and the tasty local breakfast specialty, arroz con leche (rice with milk). Watch out for bag snatchers and pickpockets though.

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  21. Mosoj Yan

    This attractive, light, and airy café is a very pleasant spot, and as well as serving delicious desserts, decent coffees, and cheap lunches, your bolivianos go to a good cause. It's part of a support centre for teenage prostitutes; the girls run the place and make the food; they also create some of the handicrafts in the shop next door. There's a decent book exchange here too.

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  22. Paprika

    One of the 'in' spots, this is a block removed from the roar of Avenida Ballivián, and is a quiet leafy place popular for its food - both Bolivian and international, including tasty baked potatoes and fondues. Later, it becomes a trendy spot for an after-dinner drink, and is a good place to meet young Bolivians.

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  23. Restaurant Marvi

    This decent family-run place offers one of the best typical almuerzos (set lunches) around. At dinnertime, solid plates of comida criolla (criollo food) are served.

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  25. Rodizio Grill Americano

    Steak-oriented Rodizio is a carnivore's delight, but also serves great soups and has a full salad bar for vegetarians. It serves three meals daily, including good-value almuerzos .

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  26. Sabor Limeño

    This quiet spot is tucked away on an alleyway behind the cathedral, and boasts a very pleasant enclosed terrace. The food is mostly Peruvian - including a decent ceviche.

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  27. Savarín

    This popular, well-established barn on Ballivián has a wide streetside terrace where people congregate for filling almuerzos and, in the evening, for a beer or two.

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  28. Sole Mio

    The best pizzas in Cochabamba are to be found here. The owners, encouragingly, are from Napoli, and import the ingredients for their robust wood-fired pizzas - thin crust, light on the sauce. Soft opera music, rich Italian wines and excellent service make this a comfortable place to linger over a meal. They also serve a range of meat and pasta entrees.

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  29. Sucremanta

    These two cheerful daytime locals offer traditional Sucre food; hearty soups and meat dishes, including mondongo (pork ribs) and menudito (pork, chicken and beef stew). Good for both traditional almuerzos and à la carte dishes.

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