The Best Restaurants Near Humo Negro, by the Record

The name came from the first time the grill was lit, when black smoke poured through the Chapinero neighborhood. This izakaya-style restaurant takes Colombian ingredients through Latin American, Nordic, and Japanese techniques, all of it designed for sharing and paired seriously with cocktails. The chef trained at Fäviken and spent time at El Chato before going solo, and it shows in a room that plays grunge and lands on Latin America's 50 Best list without seeming to care about either.

1. 50 Best #41 · Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants

Leonor Espinosa trained as an economist and an artist before turning to food, and the tasting menus at her flagship fine dining restaurant in Chapinero feel like both. The kitchen works with obscure Colombian ingredients sourced from communities most menus ignore, threading the country's biodiversity across five, eight, or twelve courses. Upstairs, her daughter runs a separate room focused on unusual wines and Colombian distillates. Leo holds a spot on the World's 50 Best Restaurants.

1. 50 Best #76 · The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
2. 50 Best #23 · Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants

1. Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Restaurant Bar – Latin America & Caribbean

Álvaro Clavijo spent years in Paris, then at Per Se and Noma, and came home to open a bistro that feels nothing like any of that. El Chato is a contemporary Colombian restaurant in Chapinero Alto where the menu bends to whatever small producers are harvesting, sometimes because Clavijo asked them to grow it in the first place. It holds the top spot on Latin America's 50 Best and sits on the World's 50 Best list too, worn lightly in a room that stays relaxed and unfussy.

1. 50 Best #1 · Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants
2. 50 Best #54 · The World’s 50 Best Restaurants

1. 50 Best #76 · Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants
2. 50 Best Sustainable Restaurant Award 2025 · Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants