Where to eat in Lima, to suit your cravings?

The formats to know

Three Lima cuisines not to confuse

Criollo cooking is the traditional cooking of Lima and the coast, born of the blending of Indigenous, Spanish and African heritage. Its dishes are often slow-cooked, seasoned with ají and served with rice: ají de gallina, cau cau, carapulcra, tacu tacu. You find it in tabernas and neighbourhood restaurants.

Chifa was born in the Barrio Chino in the centre, where Chinese immigrants settled from the second half of the 19th century. It adapts Cantonese cooking to Peruvian produce: fried rice, soy sauce, ginger (kion), but also ají. Arroz chaufa and lomo saltado, stir-fried beef served with chips and rice, show how far this influence has blended into everyday cooking.

Nikkei cooking comes from the community of Japanese origin, which arrived in Peru from the end of the 19th century. It influenced the way raw fish is cut and served: tiradito, thin slices of fish coated in a sauce, is the best-known example.

Choosing according to the time of day

• In the morning: a pan con chicharrón and a coffee in a sanguchería or a panadería; see Breakfast.
• At midday: the menú on weekdays, or a ceviche in a cevichería. People in Lima eat raw fish at midday, not in the evening.
• In the afternoon: a juice at a market juguería, a dessert (picarones, arroz con leche).
• In the evening: chifa, pollería, anticuchos, or a booked table.

Alone or with others: the question of portions

Many taberna or chifa dishes are served for several people. At Isolina, in Barranco, the menu distinguishes, for example, an individual portion of lomo saltado (S/ 78) and a sharing size (S/ 98). Before ordering, ask: “¿Es una porción personal o para compartir?” (an individual portion or to share?). For two, a dish to share and a starter are often enough.

Some recorded price references

The prices below come from the menus published by three restaurants (a soup house with late opening hours, a taberna in Barranco, a place serving northern cooking in Lince) and, for a ceviche bar in Miraflores that does not publish its menu, from a dated press article. The same individual lomo saltado thus goes from S/ 44.90 at Siete Sopas to S/ 78 at Isolina. They show ranges, not an average for Lima: a neighbourhood menú costs much less, a chef’s table much more. The full listings, with their opening hours and dated prices, are in the guide’s restaurants.

Where, by neighbourhood

• Miraflores: every format, from the pollería to chef’s cuisine, around Parque Kennedy and Avenida Larco.
• Barranco: tabernas, cafés, cevicherías and chefs’ tables, with nightlife.
• Historic centre: chifas in the Barrio Chino, counters at the central market.
• Surquillo: menús and neighbourhood restaurants around Avenida Villarán.
• Lince: regional cuisines, particularly from the north.
• Pueblo Libre: the Queirolo taberna and neighbourhood restaurants.

Twelve addresses for twelve cravings

Twelve restaurants chosen for this guide, each for a specific craving. Their listings cover the menu, the opening hours and what each place publishes; we have not yet tested them for the guide. Within the same chain, opening hours and prices often change from one branch to another.

Craving an American-style burger: Juicy Lucy

After several days of Peruvian food, some people simply want a burger. Juicy Lucy is a Lima chain of American-style burgers: it is not a traditional Peruvian dish, but an openly chosen option for that particular craving. You can eat in: Google Maps, consulted on 7 October 2026, indicates dine-in at three of its restaurants, two in Miraflores (Avenida José Larco 518 and Avenida Alfredo Benavides 871) and one in San Isidro (Avenida Felipe Pardo y Aliaga). The chain’s website publishes a dozen addresses in Lima, which it presents as “delivery branches”: for any address other than these three, check that it has a dining room before you go.

A few prices from the ordering website: the Classic Angus Burger at S/ 31.90, the Juicy Lucy Burger, which gives the place its name, at S/ 35.90. Delivery is charged on top, and the apps may show different amounts. To have food delivered to your hotel, check that your address is within the delivery area.

What we do not publish

No ranking of the “best restaurants”, no ratings, no customer reviews. The addresses mentioned are described from their menus and their public information, and none of them pays us. See our method.