5 Best Restaurants in Huancayo, The Central Highlands

Over-the-top decorations and labyrinthine rooms give this restaurant charm, but the food has made it a favorite. Wash down wood-fired pizzas and grilled meats with a pitcher of calientitos (hot spiced rum punch). The service can be slow, but sitting in the garden on balmy days or by the fire on cooler ones makes it worth it.

The owner can arrange cooking classes, Spanish lessons, music instruction, and long-term local homestays.

Grilled meats, wood-smoked pizzas, and hearty sandwiches draw a diverse crowd of travelers and locals alike to this dimly lit, wood-paneled restaurant. The daily lunch special is filling and varied, and the locale is an excellent venue for lazy midday people-watching. At night, try the anticuchos (charcoal-grilled skewers of beef heart) and a glass of Peruvian wine while enjoying the live band, and stay for the nightclub atmosphere that prevails after midnight.

Rustic wood tables and soft candlelight set the mood for a meal of roasted lamb, grilled trout, pasta, and other platos típicos in this cozy restaurant, just steps from the cathedral. Service can be slow, so be prepared to linger or take advantage of the free Wi-Fi.

This throwback restaurant, open for more than 60 years, still serves cheap, hearty Andean specials to a downtown crowd. It's the kind of place you come to with your grandparents for a leisurely Sunday lunch; tables are consistently packed, but the food is worth the wait. Try the lomo saltado (stir-fried beef) or papa a la huancaína for a taste of the Andes.