Most good restaurants in Medellin can be found in upscale neighborhoods like Laureles or Poblado. Finding an actual good meal in downtown Medellin is like finding a needle in a haystack. However, the good, classy restaurants do exist. Here’s where:
La Pizzeria
Calle 57 #41-57 (Argentina)
Offers stunningly good and creatively flavored pizzas made in a brick oven on wood fire. The service is impeccable and the music ranges from 1930’s blues music to 1960’s cool jazz.
Mar y Cuba
Calle 53 #42-13 (Maracaibo con Cordoba)
Typical costeño restaurant with tasty consomé de pescado (fish soup) and a wide variety of fish dishes. The service is informal and friendly and the music is all about old-school salsa.
Palazzeto D’Italia
Calle 54 #43-102 (Caracas con El Palo)
Legendary Italian restaurant that is impossible to find because it’s almost invisibly located on the second floor of just another street corner. The service is formal and friendly and the food may just be the best Italian in Medellin. The restaurant looks like you’re in someone’s living room and the music resembles most what you hear in elevators.
Nuquí
Calle 55 #45-83 (Peru)
Excellent fish restaurant located in a beautiful colonial building. Both the fish soups as fish plates are delicious.and the service is formal. The setting is colorful and kind of tacky Pacific, but the absence of music and the existence of separated rooms guarantees a quiet meal.
