Quito’s culinary scene is defined not by quality, but by choice. Situated high in the Andes, the city draws inspiration from all regions of Ecuador – the country’s coast, Amazon, highlands and Galapagos Islands – offering everything from elegant fine dining to tasty eats on a budget.
Here, market stalls sit alongside fine restaurants offering tasting menus, each with their own version of the same story. At the street stalls you’ll find smoke and heat, while the fine dining rooms stand out for their precision and creativity. But what unites them is the possibility of tasting a country that is still revealing itself… one plate at a time.
Addition to our previous “Best restaurants in Ecuador” list, we surveyed our expert sales team for their best places to dine in our hometown. Here are ten of our recommended restaurants in Quito for 2026.
Nuum: A well-executed act of faith For travelers looking for something new, Nuum is the perfect solution. It is a place where the client takes a calculated risk, but the usual gain is high.
At Nuum, you first tell the chef what you prefer, then he brings you dishes based on his own inspiration and the day’s catch. On a good night (and most are), you’ll be served punchy ceviche, elegant textures, good wine and spicy cocktails. But on those rare “less than perfect” nights, when the communication between server and client isn’t as clear, execution fails.
It’s not cheap, the chef controls the speed at which the dishes arrive, the portions are small and the prices are only displayed at the end. But for serious eaters who want precision and surprise rather than predictable dishes, it’s a real treat.
Clara: The beauty of simplicity There’s nothing flashy about Clara, and that’s the point. This is serious cooking – without theatrics. The room is buzzing, the plates are talking. Ecuadorian ingredients arrive familiar, then veer sideways. Sharp tomatoes, pushing textures, pork ears crispy in submission, vegetables that have real weight and sauces that are confident and not decorative. Your comfort is disturbed just enough to wake you up. This is not nostalgic cuisine; it is a memory rewritten by leaders who know how to stop.
As for the space, it feels lived in, conversations overlap, the kitchen lowers its head and works. At the same time, the service is relaxed but alert, like a good host reading the table.
Clara is the kind of restaurant travelers remember because it seems honest; rooted but contemporary, and uninterested in proving anything beyond what’s on the plate. Clara doesn’t follow trends. He refines them, serenely, plate by plate.
Osaka: where Japan and Peru meet in Quito This Quito outpost of a respected Nikkei brand operates with discipline: impeccably fresh fish, tangy sauces, and intentional plating. The story of the merger is not deep. It lies in the way the ingredients interact, sometimes convincingly. Think ceviche with disciplined acidity, rolls that stand out from the usual, and seafood that pops with real presence.
Osaka’s reputation is based on cuisine that respects technique and is not afraid to push the boundaries of flavors. Service aims to guide rather than hover, with wine and cocktail pairings that match the subtle flavor and warmth of the menu.
The space may seem lively and busy – it’s not hushed luxury – but what lands on the plate reflects intention and craftsmanship. For the upscale traveler who wants thoughtful fusion without the pretension, Osaka hits the spot. It’s not fine dining in formality, but it is demanding in execution.
Everything you need to plan your trip in 2026 Meaning “the mountain,” URKO Restaurant takes diners on an astonishing journey through the different regions of Ecuador: the Amazon, the coast, the highlands and the Galapagos Islands. Its owners call it a “seasonal restaurant” because the menu changes entirely every three months.
They believe in respecting the natural seasons of the Earth, because harvest, sowing, fertility and flowering mark the meaning of each celebration, which remains fundamental in the worldview of the Andean peoples.
Currently, URKO’s unique eleven-course tasting menu includes trout, mashua, tzintzo, chillangua, pork, black soursop, cachama (an Amazonian fish) and many other dishes. They also offer drink pairings and tastings of Ecuadorian chocolates with specialty coffees and local liqueurs.
Recognized twice by the World Culinary Awards as the “Best Restaurant in Ecuador,” reservations at URKO are made up to six months in advance – a sure sign of the demand for this unique dining venue.
Banh Mi: From Hanoi to the Andes Forget sanitized fusion. At Banh Mi, you get unapologetic Asian flavors in a city that rarely attempts them so bravely. The namesake sandwiches crack with texture, herbs and pickles that hit hard against the smoked pork or tempura shrimp, riffing on tradition with confidence.
For travelers looking for honest food foreign to the Andes, this is one of Quito’s most rewarding stops. The menu is loosely inspired by Southeast Asia with a Quito sensibility: bold, unfiltered and generous. The portions are generous without being sloppy. Forget beer and soda. The drinks here are designed with a purpose, intended to stand shoulder to shoulder with the food.
In a dining scene that loves white linens and empty ceremonies, this place opts for honesty. The room remains bustling with locals, visitors, and overlapping voices during another round. It’s relaxed, loud, a little brutal and quietly unforgettable.
Pez Bela: Quito’s seafood statement Walk into Pez Bela and you feel like you’ve touched a vein of pure marine intention. The concept at Pez Bela is simple: respect the ingredients and push them beyond all expectations.
Nobody comes here for the performance. You come because chef Isabella Chiriboga is inspired by the tradition of Ecuadorian ceviche and takes all the possibilities from it. Simple seafood becomes unpretentiously sophisticated, from passionfruit-kissed salmon to lemon-tiger milk oysters. Plus, Tuna Ceviche with Coconut and Avocado might just reset your standards. There’s also a terrace for afternoon wine, surrounded by a constant buzz of real tables, real people eating real flavors.
Quito is full of seafood restaurants, but few grow this far inland with this level of craftsmanship.
Nuema: A new language of Ecuadorian cuisine Nuema is a confluence of everything that is unique about Ecuador. This is a cuisine obsessed with the country’s striking biodiversity, pushing forgotten local produce into high-impact tasting classes.
Naturally, he has become a standard-bearer for the country’s culinary scene. It’s a restaurant where they serve a seven-course tasting menu blending local ingredients in surprising ways, like bone marrow with black clam fudge, while Chef Salazar makes desserts using Ecuadorian herbs, flowers, and unique ingredients like sacha inchi and u’kuisi, an Amazonian fruit that they use as natural food coloring.
In 2020, Nuema in Quito became Ecuador’s first-ever entry among Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants, and a year later, Nuema was recognized for the first time on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
In the ever-changing global culinary landscape, Ecuador may be “a hidden gem of Latin American gastronomy,” but thanks to Nuema, it’s stepping into the spotlight.
Restaurant 3500: “The taste of memory” Opened in 2017, 3500 owes its name to the altitude at which the restaurant was first located, at the foot of a volcano in the Quito region. Since its beginnings, the restaurant’s cuisine has been respectful of the ancestral cuisine of the Ecuadorian mountains: austere and deeply personal.
Today, the restaurant, with a team of around thirty people, offers its signature cuisine based on local ingredients and collective memory. They do not aim to reproduce traditional recipes but to honor them.
The menu is called “The Taste of Memory”, in reference to what Ecuadorians tasted: when they were children. What they do at 3500 is deconstruct recipes from the past and then reassemble them with a contemporary perspective,” explained chef and owner Alejandro Huertas.
An example of this philosophy is his ceviche with clams, cherimoya and pangora tostadas. Likewise, their drinks are inspired by native plants, the wines are paired with purpose and presentation that respects substance. None of this is kitsch: these are fearless reinterpretations of regional staples.
For travelers who combine authenticity and rigor, this is one of Quito’s most daring destinations.
Shibumi: Quito’s study of modern Japanese cuisine Shibumi is that kind of place that you might not even notice if you’re passing by, but that unpretentious simplicity is part of the reason you go.
Unpretentious, warm and welcoming, the intimate dining room makes a compelling case for enjoying refreshing sushi in the capital. The place is run by chef Junior Córdova Galarza, who spent two decades under the tutelage of a Japanese sushi master in Denmark. Today, at the head of his own restaurant, Junior is literally fanatical about the quality of the fish and other ingredients that go into his sushi.
The food selection is not at all restricted; in fact, it’s quite large and includes panko-covered shrimp and seared tuna with mango, thinly sliced nigiri and sashimi, of course, mixed rolls such as the Shibumi kaburimaki made with bluefin tuna, crab and cucumber, without unnecessary distractions.
Preparations that seem simple but are at the same time complex, honoring the name of the restaurant, which comes from a Japanese word meaning “beauty in simplicity”. Discover a side of Quito cuisine that values restraint, clarity and craftsmanship above all else.
El Ventanal: the panorama of Quito served with dinner Imagine a restaurant floating between earth and sky. This is El Ventanal (“panoramic window” in Spanish).
Situated on the edge of a dormant volcano, with the city below, the restaurant offers guests an unparalleled bird’s eye view of Quito’s historic “old town” district. On a clear day, guests can even see the chain of other volcanoes in the distance.
But the El Ventanal restaurant is not just about its breathtaking view; it has been the stronghold of international gourmet cuisine in Quito since 2009. The restaurant offers dishes created from South American ingredients prepared using European and Ecuadorian techniques. However, even in the case of cooking in Latin America, the dishes of Ventanal eclipse. The restaurant’s Ecuadorian ceviche is said to be “even juicier” than the world-famous Peruvian ceviche.
Ventanal is committed to providing all its guests with a culinary experience that includes the best of world cuisine and the visual beauty of the Ecuadorian capital. It is a gastronomic paradise where all the senses are satisfied; a setting where you not only have the opportunity to experience wonderful tastes, but also incredible natural beauty.
The last dish: Quito restaurants to remember Quito’s best restaurants tell a story much richer than trends or technique.
The city’s three elements — altitude, rich biodiversity and collective memory — are revealed through the chefs’ new creations, inspired by ancient Peruvian style and modern gastronomy. It’s not just a city finding its culinary voice, but also a city deeply rooted in place and finally ready to make itself heard.
Alphonse Tandazo Alfonso Punzo is President and CEO of Tour operator Surtrek. Surtrek Tour Operator is a well-established company specializing in tailor-made luxury tours to Ecuador, Galapagos and the rest of South America. If you would like to become a guest blogger on A Luxury Travel Blog to raise your profile, please Contact us.
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