Where to Eat: Panama City, Panama

Fondas, fine dining, Chino-Panameño & specialty coffee shops.

Yuca tostada con carpaccio de atún at Fonda Lo Que Hay in Panama City. Photo: Nicholas Gill.

Panama City has had Central America’s most vibrant restaurant scene for about a decade now and it’s still going strong. There are several very good contemporary Panamanian tasting menus, dozens of spots for updated fonda fare, great street food, lively markets and specialty coffee shops that are roasting some of the world’s best coffees. Additionally, there is a century culinary diaspora that has brought in dim sum, Greek pastries and, more recently, arepas. While there has also been a surge in international chain restaurants and flashy Miami Beach style rooftop restobars, they don’t get nearly the attention as the things that are happening organically in Panama.

Even through the pandemic, there wasn’t a massive wave of restaurants closing. They did refine themselves, however. Chefs like Jose Olmedo Carles closed fine dining spot Dondé José to focus on the larger and more playful fonda Lo Que Hay. Mario Castrellón continues his expansion with Grupo Maito, which now has a Spanish restaurant, a ghost kitchen for delivery and an expanding footprint in Washington D.C. Veteran chef Fulvio Miranda is set to make a big impact in the near future as his informal Cantina del Tigre transitions into a much larger setting. All in all, things are looking bright in the city of Panama.