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Nearly all the lists about the top ten best restaurants in Lima are packed with Michelin Star restaurants. I’m here to give you the inside scoop on the best restaurants that AREN’T!
Panchita in Miraflores, Lima
When you Google “Best places to eat in Lima, Peru” you will immediately get results that tell you to go to such famed Michelin Star locales as Maido, Central, Rafael, Astrid y Gastón, and others.
While I’m sure they’re great, I like to eat where I'm going to rub elbows with other Limeños (the term for people who live in Lima).
Lima is rated as a top destination for 5 star food experiences but what all these top 10 lists are missing for me are restaurants that you will want to – and can afford to – eat at more than once.
As a Slow Travel advocate I believe in eating locally, sustainably, more economically, and with NO regrets. All the restaurants on this list tick off at least one of these criteria.
So here is my list of 10 amazing restaurants in Lima that AREN’T Michelin Star restaurants!
You can view my list on Google maps as “Lexi’s Lima Restaurant Recs” and save these locations for later! This is my favorite way to keep track of places I want to eat when I go somewhere new. Try it out and let me know what you think!
While I would normally save the best for last Panchita deserves no where else on a top 10 list other than at #1! Panchita is so good that we came to eat a second time and – despite being ravenously hungry – we waited 45 minutes for a table.
Their menu is expansive but don’t let this fool you into thinking the quality of the food is sub-par. Over our two visits, we must have tried six different appetizers and mains from different areas of the menu and each were more perfect than the last. If you pass up on Panchita you’ve truly missed out on THE culinary delight of Lima, Peru.
Favorite dish: Rocoto Relleno
Favorite drink: Chilcano de Kion
Price range: $$
If you go to Lima and you take yourself to Saha, you’re going to walk up and think… Did I get duped into eating at a rooftop bar? Yes. But also no. Before entering, set aside any prior notions you have of rooftop bars that mostly lean on its location to draw in customers. Saha is the place to go for amazing ceviche (the best ceviche I had in Lima in fact), seafood risotto, lomo saltado tequeños, and cocktails!
Favorite dish: Ceviche Mixto
Favorite drink: Passiflora Andina
Price range: $$
“Come on baby light my fire. Try to set the night on FYAHHH!” Oh Fuego, you light my fire. This is the best restaurant in Lima for meat lovers and carnivores! The cocktails were also super fun. Fuego is also located just across the street from Panchita in Miraflores.
Favorite dish: Asado de Tira
Favorite drink: CK
Price range: $$
There are several of these restaurants in Lima but if you’re hanging out in the downtown area, you NEED to eat at the Sangucheria El Chinito located there. You can get a literal platter of meat, sweet potatoes, and sandwich bread for pennies on the dollar soles. This laid back eatery is the perfect lunch stop after a long morning of walking around the city center.
Favorite dish: Combo Qué Tal Trío
Price range: $
If you just hit up El Chinito, or you plan to, you’ll want to get your pre or post-lunch drinks at Museo del Pisco in the central square. Their list of pisco sours are bound to make you a convert if you’re not quite sold on egg whites in your cocktail yet.
If you already love them well… you’re about to be shown a whole new world of flavors. You may even find yourself a favorite like I did. Canela (cinnamon) pisco sours became my go to drink while in Peru!
Favorite drink: Aguaymanto Pisco Sour (pictured) & Canela Pisco Sour
Price range: $
Head to Barranco for a truly special experience at Mérito. While it doesn’t have a Michelin star yet, it may earn one in a few years time. The space is small, quaint, and cozy, though the food is anything but that. The portions are perfect for the price range (no bite-sized tasting menu BS), the taste makes your mouth water between bites, and you will have to resist licking the plate when you’re done
Favorite dish: Panceta glaseada y arepas
Favorite drink: Cinnamon Spice & Mashua Ginger
Price range: $$$
Lima is full of these awesome spaces that house multiple restaurants under one roof and Mercado San Martin has a little of everything you love in one place! There’s a cafe, Mexican, BBQ, Chifa (what they call Chinese food in Peru), and the star of the show – no surprise – is the resident Peruvian place!
Favorite dish: (Peruvian) Casado Plate or Super Lomo (if you’re extra hungry!)
Price range: $-$$
L’autentica Pizza
A little tired of Peruvian? Craving some carbs slathered in tomato sauce and cheese? As someone who lived in Rome for four years, and purports themselves to be a bit of a pizza connoisseur themselves, L’autentica Pizza lives up to its name. That’s because the chef is imported directly from Southern Italy! ;)
Grab a pie and enjoy a slice while sitting on their cozy street-side patio.
Favorite dish: Pizza Inferno
Price range: $$
Manolo
Have you ever just wanted to chow down on a pile of churros? Well, Manolo can make your dreams come true.
If you find yourself wandering past this place at night, grab a cup of hot cocoa and a plate of churros (choose the original or get them filled with dulce de leche or chocolate). Enjoy people watching from the sidewalk-situated tables as onlookers stare at you, jealous, wishing they too had a plate of churros.
Favorite dish: The Churros (duh)
Price range: $
I don’t know why but travel blogs don’t talk enough about the sandwiches in Peru! They’re simple, yes, but amazing.
La Lucha is a chain restaurant but don’t let this deter you. They do an incredible job of combining a perfectly chewable ciabatta bread, savory slices of pork, turkey, or chicken, and fried camote (sweet potatoes) with onions. This is also a good spot to try Chicha Morada, a popular Peruvian sweet drink made with purple corn.
Favorite dish: Chicharrón
Price range: $
Honorable Mentions
These two locations are placed in my honorable mentions section because, while they were pretty dang good, they are attached to tourist attractions. Would I have gone to either of these places were I not already at that attraction? I don’t know. Probably not. Therefore I feel this makes them deserving of a category of their own.
After finishing up your tour of Huaca Pucllana, I really recommend stopping here to continue your admiration of this incredible site while sipping on a foamy Pisco Sour. They were so good and woo-boy were they strong. The food looked pretty amazing too but I can’t speak to it since we didn’t eat there.
The Larco Museum is a must-see stop while in Lima and Cafe Museo Larco is a great place to grab a fancy shmancy glass of bubbly and a couple apps to split with your boo/bff/yourself! This is one place where the vibe was something worth experiencing as much as the food.
That's the list! 12 incredible places to eat in Lima that are authentic, in amazing locations, and serve food that will blow your mind. What do you think? Would you try them?