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We've compiled the best of the best in The Southern Andes and Lake Titicaca - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
This laid-back café-bar is the only thing keeping La Casa del Corregidor alive these days. It offers some of the best international food and bar snacks you can find in Puno, as well as a wide variety of craft beers and great coffee drinks. Teas, cocktails, and smoothies—along with sweet treats like cakes and pies—round out the menu. After 9 pm, there's more of a bar scene, with savory food choices like tapas.
This cozy and colorful juice bar with charming white sillar walls serves coffee, fruit salads, smoothies, yogurt, waffles, and empanadas. At happy hour, try one of the reasonably priced pisco sours.
Try this wonderfully artsy and hip Italian bistro, café, and outdoor beer garden, filled with chill vibes, colorful mural art, and driftwood furniture. Regulars swear by the lasagna, claiming it's some of the best in Peru.
With an extensive variety of sweet and savory crepes, as well as quality espresso, pisco sours, and craft beers, you could easily spend the day in this artistic, Euro-styled restaurant, little sister to the Zig Zag restaurant on Calle Zela. Check out the terrace for great views of the Monasterio de Santa Catalina and volcanoes. Crepisimo also offers prix-fixe menus for S/30 or S/35 and happy hour specials from 4 to 6 and 9 to 11 pm.
The welcoming off-white walls and wooden floors of this cool and very Instagrammable San Lazaro coffee spot make it a popular brunch option. The quaint plant-filled courtyard is perfect for escaping the city's hum, and there’s a cute little corner where patrons park their pets.
This large café has a mix of Peruvian-, American-, and Argentinian-style coffee, all prepared with proper Italian coffee machines, and cakes and tortas.
Rivaling La Nueva Palomino for Arequipa's favorite picantería, La Lucila has been in operation for more than 70 years. Although its beloved namesake owner passed away in 2012, her recipes—iconic regional dishes that have been passed down through generations—live on, as does the simple, rustic atmosphere. Come here for classic rocoto relleno, cuy chactado, or chupe de camarones (spicy shrimp chowder). It's outside of town, and though you'll spend about S/10–S/15 on a taxi, the prices here make up for it.
This no-frills vegan restaurant, one of the few such options in Puno, is actually decent, and the inexpensive set-lunch menu is a great value. The options are many and varied, with dishes like soups, quinoa, and falafel.
It’s easy to relax and catch up on digital work while having coffee, cakes, and pizzas in this large sillar hall furnished with wooden tables. It's right next to Centro Cultural Peruano Norteamericano.
This specialty coffee roastery tucked inside a traditional courtyard serves perfectly crafted coffee and tea drinks, tasty pizzas, vegan-friendly shakshuka breakfasts, and a variety of excellent tapas. In the evenings, come to sample the inventive cocktails infused with local ingredients.
Craving hand-pulled pasta in the southern Andes? Fight for a spot at one of the two rustic wooden tables, and belly up for authentic Italian cuisine. Pastas, sauces, and toppings are all customized to preference.
With its attractive rooftop patio dotted with greenery and plants, this vegan bistro tucked inside the courtyard of a traditional home is a perfect choice for a quick meal or spending a few hours away from the plaza. It dishes up a bit of everything from plant-based burgers to vegan salchipapas, and offers a selection of local craft beers.
An upscale modern restaurant but with colonial-era artwork and antiques throughout, this two-decades-old local institution is filled with savory aromas of flavorful soups and grilled meats and fish. Try local fare, such as the alpaca steak or their take on quinoa soup, a must-try dish wherever you go in Peru. Or ask for the Menu Turistico, a set meal including an appetizer, main, and dessert for S/30.
Enter this cozy, luminous café near the plaza and find the loaves of bread, empanadas, and cakes from Ricos Pan bakery. Beyond, a large loftlike room is a perfect place to sit, sip coffee, and work on your laptop.
This simple café offers a good selection of local brews, such as pungent Tunki coffee, plus flavored iced coffees, lattes, and the like. It's just off the southeastern corner of the Plaza de Armas.
