6 Best Places to Eat in Quito
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Quito’s food scene runs from centuries-old market stalls to serious tasting-menu restaurants, and both ends are worth your time.
Casa Gangotena
This fine-dining restaurant occupies a restored early-1900s mansion right on Plaza San Francisco, deep in the old town. It’s the splurge option here, best booked ahead for a dinner that pairs the setting with the view.
Zazu
Zazu has built a reputation on contemporary Ecuadorian cooking with a strong wine list, and it’s a solid choice for a proper sit-down dinner that isn’t trying to be traditional.
Urko
Urko focuses on Ecuadorian ingredients and traditional techniques reworked into a more modern format, drawing on Andean, coastal, and Amazonian produce in the same kitchen.
Nuema
Nuema is one of the city’s more ambitious tasting-menu restaurants, worth a look if you want a single memorable meal that showcases Ecuadorian ingredients at their most refined.
Café Mosaico
Come to Café Mosaico for the view over the old town from its hillside terrace as much as the food itself; it’s a reliable spot for a sunset drink or dinner with the Centro Histórico spread out below you.
Mercado Central
For the opposite experience, Mercado Central is a working market hall where you can get a full almuerzo (set lunch) for a few dollars alongside Quito residents rather than tourists.
Dishes worth ordering wherever you land
However you fill your six meals, look for hornado (slow-roasted whole pork, usually with hominy and avocado), fritada (fried pork with mote), llapingachos (cheese-and-potato patties, often served alongside a fried egg), and locro de papa, a potato soup finished with cheese, avocado, and often a slice of avocado on top. Encebollado, a fish-and-onion soup, doubles as the national hangover cure. Order ceviche here expecting something genuinely different from the Peruvian version: Ecuadorian ceviche is tomato-based, more like a cold soup, usually built around shrimp, and doesn’t use the citrus-cured “leche de tigre” style Peru is known for. Cuy (roasted guinea pig) shows up on more traditional menus as a matter-of-fact Andean staple rather than a novelty. To drink, try canelazo, a warm cinnamon-and-naranjilla drink often spiked with aguardiente, especially on La Ronda in the evening. If you’re visiting around November 2nd, look for colada morada (a thick spiced fruit drink) served with guaguas de pan, bread shaped like small figures, for Día de los Difuntos. Ecuador also produces some genuinely world-class chocolate; look for bars from Pacari or República del Cacao to bring home.
For where to stay near all of this, see the Quito travel guide .