Restaurants of Cuenca We Frequent

Although we cook quite a bit at home, we also eat out quite a bit. Cuenca has many restaurants, some good, others much less desirable. If you're on a quick visit here, you really don't have the time to decide what might be good or bad. Mick and I sat down and thought of the places that we frequent so they're listed in the order of which we thought of them.

The California Kitchen
Owned and operated by the Evans family, the California Kitchen is located at the corner of Sanguarima and Borrerro. The Kitchen offers comfort food which includes steak sandwiches and the best burgers in Cuenca. Lunch is served Tuesday – Saturday. Seafood specials are offered on Thursday night with a different special on Friday night. Gringo Night is Friday at 5PM with Happy Hour specials and full bar service. Breakfast is served on Saturday mornings with a weekly breakfast special, country sausage, Virginia ham, biscuits, and gravy. If you’re missing home cooking from the States, come to the Kitchen. George and Carol are always happy to see you. If you’re new in town, it’s a good place to meet others. Each week, Carol and Susie send an email with their weekly specials if you'd like to receive the email, let them know. To contact them, it's carolinecuador@hotmail.com .

The Coffee Tree
Located at the corner of Calle Larga and Borrerro, the Coffee Tree offers outside seating and excellent coffee. It’s a good place to people watch. There is a complete food menu and bar menu. Open from 9AM – midnight.

La Esquina
La Esquina is so named because it is located on the corner of Calle Larga and Hermano Miguel. Fabian Spahr, owner/chef, prepares various dishes “al disco” in the Argentine style. The tiestos have delicious sauces. The setting is small and cozy and reservations are a good idea. Food is similar to Tiestos, only better. Fabian was the professor of Juan Carlos of Tiestos. It is evident who was the teacher. For reservations, cal 07-2845-344.

Good Affinity
Good Affinity is a vegetarian restaurant at the corner of Gran Colombia and Capulies. Yes, I said vegetarian, which we are not, but the food is so good with an Asian flair that we frequent it regularly. Open only for lunch, the lunch combo which includes juice, soup, and either fried rice or lo mein is $3.

Mangiare
Mangiares , located at the the corner of Estival Toral and Simon Bolivar, has good Italian food, service, and coffee. The risotto is great! It’s a beautiful restaurant.

La Parillada de Hector
Located on the autopista 300 meters south of Mall del Rio, the Argentine style restaurant sits up on a hill with a great view of the city. Service is good, the lomo fino tender.

Chicago Pizza
The pizza is the best you can get in Cuenca in MY opinion. Located on Gran Colombia near Santo Domingo, the pizzas are large, inexpensive with good quality ingredients and a tasty crust. I find this to be superior to Pizza Hut. Mick disagrees with this one.

La Herraduras, La Parillada, La Che Pibe
I clumped these three together because there is no distinguishing qualities among them. They are all parillas in essentially the same areas and the food is comparable in quality and price. El Che Pibe is at Remigio Crespo 2-19. La Parillada is at Remigio Tamariz 2-25 y Federico Proano. La Herradura is at Av. Remigio Romero 3-57 y Remigio Crespo.

El Rincon de Lucas y Truus
On Ordonez Lasso across from La Palerma, Lucas has the best hot dogs in town. They cost $1 and come with chili., If you're going for the dogs, bring your own chips. Papas are not served in any shape, form, or fashion. We also take sauerkraut for the dogs. He offers a nightly special and is only open in the evenings. It has the air of a neighborhood restaurant.


Fogo
Fogo is located on the way to Turi on top of the gym. It has a spectacular view, with balcony seating with heaters and good steak sandwiches and nachos.

KFC
KFC is basically the same as in the US. Other items are offered such as menestra and soft serve ice cream. If you order the bucket, you may or may not get white meat, if you ask specifically for white meat, it still means nothing. They use what they have cooked until they run out. If you want to be assured of white meat, order the pechugones, which are large chunks of breast, cooked as needed, or alitas, the wings. KFC can be found at Millenium Plaza, Mall del Rio, Miraflores Shopping.

Burger King
If you need a fast food burger fix, you can dine with the king. This is the same as the US. Millenium Plaza and Mall del Rio have BK.

Pizza Hut
Mick and I disagree on pizza in Cuenca. He prefers Pizza Hut. The menu is more extensive and better than the ones in the US. It is easily accessible on Remigio Crespo y Federico Proano, with plenty of parking.

El Jardin
El Jardin is on the bottom floor of Hotel Victoria on Calle Larga. It is owned by the Ventimilla family, is a beautiful restaurant with a marvelous view. The food is good and reasonably priced.

Kookaburra Café
Chris and Jenny are always welcoming at their café on Calle Larga between Padre Aguirre and Benigno Malo. Excellent coffee, they serve breakfast and lunch, Thursday – Sunday. This is a good place to meet other gringoes.

The Chinese Restaurants
Chifa Asia, Chifa Casa China, Chifa Fortuna, are all on Remigio Crespo, and Chifa Dong Fang on Unidad Nacional y Gran Colombia are all about the same. The wonton soup is good at all of them, but it pretty much ends there. They all seem to be light on the soy sauce and seasoning.

Nori Wok
Nori Wok has a limited Asian menu of stir fried dishes, but all are tasty. Reasonable, nice setting, and located on Luis Moreno Mora y Cornelio Merchan.


The Red Crab
The Red Crab is the best seafood place in the city. They offer a variety of innovative seafood dishes in a beautiful setting with excellent service. It is on Luis Moreno Mora across from Los Cebiches de la Ruminhui.

Mansion Alcazar
This is the place to celebrate that special occasion. The gardens are magnificent and the ambiance beyond reproach. The executive chef, Clayton Carnes is from Florida. They trip over themselves as they take care of your every need. The food is excellent, but a little pricey. It is located on Bolívar 12-55 y Tarqui.

Villa Rosa
This is another special occasion restaurant. It is also famous for its "fenestra" which is the soup eaten around Easter. Owned by the Vintimilla family, the food is quite good, ambiance is running out the door. Located at Gran Colombia 12-22, it is a great place to go for lunch also.

Raymipampa
Located on Luis Cordero across from the square, this is definitely a tourist place. Go in and have a bowl of locro criollo, the potato soup. It is excellent.

La Terrace
This is a nice restaurant with easy parking located at the stadium. The food is good and there is a terrace and smoking is allowed.

Zoca
Zoca, very contemporary in appearance, is on Miguel Cordero. The Ecuadorian restaurant has delicious entrees (Mick, Hank, and Sherry all had the special which was lomo fino in a mushroom sauce with langostinos that was yummers). Despite the great entrees, the coffee was undrinkable and the desserts were lacking. So if you're going to skip coffee and dessert, it's a good place to go.

Nikita Bistro
This restaurant is also at Millenium Plaza. It has patio seating and a varied menu. Everything we've had has been good.

Remember, this list is our opinion and you know what they say about opinions. If you find that some are missing, we've probably been there, given it a fair chance and no longer go there for some reason or other. Bon appetit!

Until next time,
Mick and Kathy