Things to do in Southwest Colombia
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LA 14 Supermarket
The best cheap eats in town are in the LA 14 supermarket. It has half-a-dozen small eateries, including its own bakery, which does excellent meat pies (pastel de carne), pizza by the slice, buñuelos (deep-fried doughy balls of curd cheese and flour), pan de bono (bagel-shaped bun with a tart flavor), etc.
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A
Centro Comercial de Chipichape
A typical evening begins at the Centro Comercial de Chipichape, an upscale mall just north of the main drag along Av Sexta. Caleños of all ages come to launch their evening with a cerveza (beer) or two at one of the many outdoor cafés.
From here you might head to a bar or lounge along the Av Sexta corridor.
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Kaiserhaus
This German restaurant prepares its own authentic sausage and sauerkraut. The breezy 2nd-floor balcony is a great spot for a bratwurst and imported German beer. Also does picadas (COP$37,000 to COP$67,000) – mounds of toothpickable sliced sausage, enough for four to six. The pretzels (COP$500) with mustard make a great snack.
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B
Barra de Mayolo
This Spanish tapas bar has some of the best food in Granada. Tapas selection includes fried calamari, Spanish ham and chorizo, as well as sample platters big enough for groups to share. Try the paella (COP$26,500 to COP$35,000), or whole suckling pig (COP$210,000), prepared specially if you give advance notice.
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Los Quingos de Belén
This is the place to come for typical regional specialties, including bandeja paísa (platter of sausage, beans, egg, rice and arepa) and, on the weekends, sancocho and ajiaco. There’s salsa on the stereo, a breezy outdoor dining area to relax on, and cocktails and pizza.
reviewed
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Museo Guillermo Valencia
Museo Guillermo Valencia is dedicated to the Popayán-born poet who once lived here. The late-18th-century building is full of period furniture, paintings, old photos and documents related to the poet and his son, Guillermo León Valencia, who was Colombia’s president from 1962 to 1966.
reviewed
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Bar Oz
Located about a kilometer from the main strip in Menga, down a country road past several small farms, this disco boasts large replicas of the Sphinx, a small pond, bonfires in good weather, and a restaurant (mains COP$16,000 to COP$27,000) specializing in grilled meat. Don’t come if it’s raining.
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Changó
The most famous salsateca in Juanchito, this huge, sophisticated club has candlelit plush booths and a big, smoking-hot dance floor. Most of the week there’s no cover charge (Sunday costs COP$5000), but it’s a COP$10,000, 20-minute taxi ride from town. Sometimes there are dance shows.
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D
Av Sexta Corridor
Whether your taste runs to sleazy discos or sleek cocktail lounges, you'll find what you're looking for along the Av Sexta Corridor. Just wander up and down Av Sexta and listen for the kind of music that puts you in the mood - disco, classic salsa, hip-hop and Latin dance are all represented.
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Club Social Los Amigos
A small, working-class bar, Club Social Los Amigos has two canchas de tejo where you can play a round of this unique Colombian game where you throw a heavy metal disc onto gunpowder, which then lets off a satisfying bang! A taxi here will cost around COP$6000.
reviewed
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Salón Guadalquivir
This cozy cafe serves classic pastuso treats, including quimbilito (a sweet pastry of raisin, vanilla and sweet corn) and tamales de añejo (the Pasto version of tamales). The walls are lined with posters from the annual Carnaval de Blancos y Negros.
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Casa Museo Mosquera
Casa Museo Mosquera is housed in an 18th-century mansion that was once home to General Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, a politician and historian who was Colombia’s president on four occasions between 1845 and 1867. Note the urn in the wall; it contains Mosquera’s heart.
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Tienda Vieja
This happy, well-worn but well-loved Cali institution plays salsa and Colombian crossover. Seating is in small, colorful wooden chairs – they’re not comfortable, but then you came here to dance, right? In the same complex there’s also a good grill restaurant, Rancho de Jonas.
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El Solar
The waiters can be forgiven for being pretentious; the food really is that good. On the menu you’ll find top quality Italian food – risottos, pastas, seafood and steak. Also worth trying is the authentic Peruvian ceviche (raw fish marinated in lime) and lobster (COP$45,000).
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La Merced
This big bustling cafeteria is hugely popular, and does everything from hamburgers to lobster. It offers an everchanging roster of daily specials (COP$12,500 to COP$14,000). The streetside bakery sells the obligatory strawberries ’n’ cream, plus pizzas from COP$15,000.
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San Antonio Pizza
At the top of the park on your left as you walk uphill, it serves pizza by the slice (COP$4400 to COP$6600) and also delivers. The menu boasts a vegetarian pizza, and other creative variations, including pesto pizza and fruit pizza with pineapple, peach and cherry.
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Caffeto
This fancy-schmancy bakery does gourmet sandwiches, omelettes and salads served on unusual crockery. The cakes are stupendous, and it does enormous ice-cream sundaes and serves real espresso coffee. Enough to satisfy even the most jaded traveler’s inner yuppie.
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La Cave
This French restaurant has French food and service to match (that is, the food is good, the service can be a little snooty). It does awesome sandwiches, such as chicken cordon bleu or pork with raisins, and also serves pasta, steak and savory crepes.
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Panteón de los Próceres
Located just next door to the theater is the neoclassical Panteón de los Próceres, which shelters the remains of Popayán’s most illustrious sons, including General Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera and botanist Francisco José de Caldas (1770–1816).
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La Pizzarra
Cartoons with pizza punchlines adorn the walls of this top-notch pizza parlor. Located just outside the colonial center, the low prices represent great value. Try gourmet options such as chicken, olives and sun-dried tomatoes. Delivery is an extra COP$1000.
reviewed
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Blues Brothers
This loud bar is an obligatory stop on Thursday nights, when a live salsa band raises the roof (11:30pm to 1:30am). Staff mix great (if expensive) cocktails, and some nights the bartenders dance on top of the bar and pour shots of liquor down your throat.
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Café y Chocolate
This groovy little cafe at the foot of Parque San Antonio is a hopelessly romantic place to take a date. The mellow lounge atmosphere is perfect for an early evening drink, and you can order nibbles, but no real food. Some weekends it hosts live music.
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Iglesia de la Ermita
Overlooking the Río Cali, the neo-Gothic Iglesia de la Ermita, constructed between 1930 and 1948, houses the 18th-century painting of El Señor de la Caña (Lord of the Sugarcane); many miracles are attributed to the image.
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Donde Richard
This grill restaurant on the road to the Parque Archaeológico does the best food in town. The asado huilense, the local specialty of slow-cooked, marinated pork, is not to be missed. A great spot for lunch on the way back from the park.
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Crêpes y Waffles
What’s Cali without an afternoon sitting on the outdoor patio at Crêpes with a monster ice-cream sundae and some friends? It does excellent salads, and the salad bar is good value. Also serves sweet and savory crepes and, wait for it, waffles.
reviewed