Emily Eats Everywhere

After living in Santa Marta for over 2 years, here are the best places you must eat when you visit.

📌 TL;DR

🐟 Best Seafood: Karey (Rodadero) 

🥙 Best Mediterranean: Ouzo (Santa Marta) 

🍔 Best Burger: Playa Alta (Taganga) 

🍨 Best Ice Cream: Crepes & Waffles (Zazué Plaza) 

🌮 Best Tacos: Dealer Taqueria (Santa Marta)

🍕 Best Pizza: Pizza & Pasta Rodadero (Rodadero)

🥩 Best Meat Dishes: Quile (Santa Marta)

🍲 Best Traditional Colombian Food: Tranquilandia City (Santa Marta) 

🍽️ Best portion sizes: Mil Carnes (Santa Marta) 

☕ Best Brunch: Lulo (Santa Marta) 

After two years of searching for flavor, quality, and (quite frankly) food safety in Santa Marta, Colombia (and boy was it a search), these are the 10 best restaurants in the city. 

From seafood to ice cream to authentic Colombian food, this list has something for every foodie. In a city where finding good restaurants can be a challenge, these ones will not let you down.

After two years of searching for flavor, quality, and (quite frankly) food safety in Santa Marta, Colombia (and boy was it a search), these are the 10 best restaurants in the city. 

From seafood to ice cream to authentic Colombian food, this list has something for every foodie. In a city where finding good restaurants can be a challenge, these ones will not let you down.

Karey: The Best Seafood Spot in Rodadero 

The best place for quality seafood is hands down Karey. Lobster tail, grilled octopus, fried fish, seafood platters, fantastic paella, coconut shrimp—it’s a seafood-lover’s dream come true. 

I recommend the Parrillada de Mariscos, a seafood platter with fried calamari, grilled octopus, shrimp, clams, and fried fish. It’s all delicious, and you get to try a little bit of everything. The Paella is also 10/10. Served with warm bread, it’s juicy, perfectly cooked, and full of flavor. 

If you want to try a more traditional Colombian seafood dish, order the Mojarra Roja, a fried fish that comes with coconut rice and fried plantains. With a squeeze of lime juice on top, it’s no wonder it’s a costeño favorite. 

No matter what you order to eat, promise me you’ll try the limonada de coco. This typical, creamy, frozen coconut-limeade drink is one of the best in the city. They’re popular all over the Colombian Caribbean Coast, but the ones from Karey are my personal favorite. 

Karey is a must try—in addition to the fantastic food, it has a prime location right on Rodadero beach. What better way to enjoy your seafood than while watching the palm trees sway and the waves kiss the sand on the beach? We would come here at least once a month—and every time family came to visit, this was one of the first places we would take them. 

👉🏼 Karey’s Information

Address: Cl. 9 #1-19, El Rodadero, Gaira, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/restaurantekarey/

Average Cost Per Person: $15 – 20

Ouzo: Mediterranean Food in the Center of the City 

This place is highly-recommended and is both a local and tourist favorite. Smack dab in the middle of the busy historical center of Santa Marta, Ouzo has a fantastic menu of delicious Mediterranean food. 

They have gyros, pastas, greek paella, seafood galore, and pizza. The bruschetta here is the perfect appetizer, and for the main dish, I recommend the Orzo de Mar: delicious, juicy green pesto orzo pasta with octopus, garlic shrimp, pepperoncinis, mussels, and cherry tomatoes piled on top. It’s an explosion of flavor and the perfectly cooked seafood combines fantastically with the risoni.

And the drinks here are divine! We loved the artisanal sodas—a delicious mix of pineapple, strawberry, and basil—and the corozo lemonade.  

👉🏼 Ouzo’s Information

Address: Cra. 3 #19-29, Comuna 2, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ouzo.santamarta/

Menu: https://qr.precompro.com/?vendor=ouzo

Average Cost Per Person: $25 – 30

Playa Alta: Burgers With a View

These aren’t just the best burgers in Santa Marta, they’re some of the best burgers in the country. This place made the winning burger in the 2023 and 2024 Burger Master competition. Playa Alta’s burgers are truly one of a kind. With a unique combination of classic burger ingredients and unique Colombian ingredients, these burgers are surprising, savory, and oh so delicious.  

And, this place has a VIEW. It’s located on a mountainside in Taganga, a small fishing town neighboring Santa Marta, and from this balcony restaurant, you can get a spectacular shot of Taganga bay, the surrounding mountains, and the blue ocean below. 

Check out the full review of Playa Alta here. 

👉🏼 Playa Alta’s Information

Address: Vía Sta. Marta – Taganga, Taganga, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playaaltaburger/

Menu: https://menupp.co/playaalta/

Operating Hours: 5pm – 11pm

Average Cost Per Person: $15 – 20

Crepes & Waffles: The Classic Favorite  

Crepes and Waffles might just be the best chain restaurant in all of Colombia. Their menu is so big you’ll probably need at least 30 minutes to read through it all. And, with so many fantastic options of both savory and sweet crepes, deciding what to order is a challenge. 

These are our favorites: 

• Tomatina — This is the best appetizer on the menu. Layers of fresh mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and pesto sauce are heated in the oven until soft and warm then accompanied with arugula salad and balsamic vinaigrette. Uff. Delish. 
• Pollo al Curry — If you like curry, you’ll love this crepe with chicken curry combination. 
• Camarones Rosario — This crepe is served with chipotle sauce and avocado, and shrimp. It’s got a spicy kick and it’s a popular favorite. 
• Baby Doll — If you’ve got a sweet tooth, this is for you. This crepe has banana, chocolate, nuts and whipped cream. It’s simple but fantastic. 

As for ice cream, you really can’t go wrong—we love the lemon, brownie, banana, mint, arequipe, and vanilla flavors best. Their seasonal flavors like paraiso tropical—with white chocolate, pineapple, and coconut—are absolutely fantastic too. If you just come for ice cream, I won’t judge (we would come for ice cream here at least once a week). 

In Santa Marta, there are now two Crepes & Waffles locations, one in Zazue near Playa Tortuga and the other in the Buenavista shopping center.

👉🏼 Crepes & Waffles’s Information

Address: Carera 7 # 116A – 40, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crepesywaffles/?hl=en

Menu: https://qr.precompro.com/?vendor=crepescosta

Average Cost Per Person: $5 – 18

Dealer Taqueria: The Best Mexican Food in the City 

If you’re looking for fantastic Mexican food—or if you mistakenly thought tacos were served in all of Latin America—well, you’re in luck because Dealer Taqueria has got you covered.

With classics like birria and al pastor to chicken and brisket meats to choose from, a variety of menu options, and delicious spicy sauces, Dealer is the perfect late night stop. Order some tacos, quesadillas, burritos, fries, or nachos—or the Chuck Norris or Vato Loco combos to try a variety of items. 

They even have birria and chicken ramen, churros, bowls, and brisket burgers. Located right in the historic center of Santa Marta, this is a great option while you’re out on the town after dancing the night away. 

👉🏼 Dealer Taqueria’s Information

Address:  Cl. 18 #4, Comuna 2, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dealertaqueria/

Average Cost Per Person: $10 – 15

Pizza & Pasta Rodadero: Authentic Italian Pizzas in Rodadero

Surprised to find authentic Italian pizza in a small town on the Colombian coast? Yeah, I was too. But, this pizza is the real deal.

The service here is top-notch, their deliveries are almost always super fast, and the pizza is absolutely fantastic. It’s thin crust pizza cooked to perfection in a wood burning oven. My all-time favorite is the Quattro Formaggi, a cheesy blend of mozzarella, parmesan, blue cheese, and other cheese (although their classic pepperoni with the spicy olive oil drizzled on top is also a favorite). 

It’s only open for dinner (from 5:30 to 10pm) and they also have a delivery option for almost anywhere in Santa Marta. 

👉🏼 Pizza & Pasta Rodadero’s Information

Address:  Cl. 19a #4-28, Rodadero, Santa Marta, Gaira, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pizzaypastasantamarta/?hl=en

Average Cost Per Person: $10 – 20

Quile: The Meat-Lover’s Favorite 

If you’re looking for a steak, this is where you should go. They have all sorts of meat cuts, traditional Colombian food, and great limonadas de coco (frozen coconut limeades). Quile has a few different locations in Santa Marta—we would always go to the one on Avenida del Ferrocarril, it’s sports bar style and always has soccer on. 

They have beef, pork, and chicken options, normally served with fries and a salad (with a really delicious vinaigrette dressing). And, if you come with a big group, they also have great sharing options—with a lot of meat. 

👉🏼 Quille’s Information

Address:  Avenida Del Ferrocarril # 26A Esquina, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quilesantamarta/?hl=en

Average Cost Per Person: $15 – 20

Tranquilandia City: Affordable Colombian Caribbean Coast Food

Tranquilandia City is a local favorite that’s super affordable; I’m talking around $6-$8 per person for a full meal. They serve traditional costeño food like sancocho—a soup with corn, potatoes, meat, yuca, and banana—and mojarra frita: fried fish with coconut rice and fried plantains. 

This place is always full of locals, since it’s bueno, bonito y barato. It doesn’t have air conditioning, so come prepared or order your food to go (they also have great delivery options as well).

👉🏼 Tranquilandia’s Information

Address: Cl. 22 #20-20, Comuna 4, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia

Average Cost Per Person: $5 – 10

Mil Carnes: Elegant Dining and Huge Portions 

An upscale, elegant version of Quile, this restaurant has all the meats, seafood, rice, pasta, and grilled meat combos. This is where I tried my first bandeja paisa in Colombia. And wow—an impressive presentation, huge portion sizes, and lots of flavor (and it was so much food I had to take half of it home). 

A very photogenic restaurant, this place has something for everyone. If you’re looking to try costeño food and want to do it with a picture-perfect background (and air conditioning), this place is for you. 

👉🏼 Mil Carnes’s Information

Address: Cl. 22 #13A – 04, Comuna 4, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/milcarnes/?hl=en

Average Cost Per Person: $10 – 20

Lulo: A Great Brunch Option

This cafe bar is named after a typical Colombian fruit, the lulo (which is fantastic in juices). Their menu is a costeño twist on your classic favorites—surf and turf, but piled on arepas, coffee, but coconut limeade style, and quinoa bowls, but with ahuyama, a colombian pumpkin in puree—just to name a few. 

They also have a lot of vegetarian and vegan options, if you’re into that. Their two locations in the city center and near Zazue shopping center are cute, hip, and colorful—great for photos. 

👉🏼 Lulo’s Information

Address: Carrera 3 # 16-34, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lulocafebar/

Menu: https://menu.wifire.me/lulo-bar

Average Cost Per Person: $10 – 20

Colombian Food and More! 

From sweet to salty and Colombian to Italian to Mexican, these ten restaurants will send your taste buds on a rollercoaster ride of flavor. Make sure to try the most famous dishes of the Colombian coast while you’re in Santa Marta, and enjoy the fresh blend of seafood, tropical fruits, and new flavors during your trip.