Cartagena: Street Food Tour with Local Tastings & History

4.64

(133 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I’ll admit it — I signed up for this Cartagena street food tour mostly out of curiosity (and maybe because I can’t resist anything fried). Right away, our guide Juan grinned and handed me an arepa de huevo at Donde Magola. The outside was hot and crisp, but inside? Somehow still fluffy, with that egg yolk just barely set. I got some on my chin. No one seemed to care — everyone was too busy eating or laughing about the first bite surprise.

We wandered through San Diego, stopping at La Orquidea Tienda where Juan insisted we try Cerveza Costeñita (“it’s not just a beer — it’s the coast in a bottle!”). He wasn’t wrong. There was this faint salty breeze coming off the street, mixing with the smell of chorizo sizzling somewhere nearby. At Calle de la Moneda, the arepas de queso were softer than I expected, almost melting into my hand while I tried to juggle my camera and not drop anything. Honestly, I failed at that part.

La Matuna felt like a different city — louder somehow, all these fruit vendors calling out names I couldn’t pronounce (lulo? guanábana?). Juan picked out slices for us to try. The mango was so sharp it made my jaw tingle. We shared a shrimp cocktail from a plastic cup; cold shrimp with tomato sauce and cilantro. It tasted like the sea and summer together. At Portal de los Dulces, the candy sellers waved us over with trays of coconut sweets and something sticky that glued my teeth together for a minute.

I thought I’d be full by then but we ended at La Esquina del Pandebono with warm bread rolls that smelled like cheese and comfort. The whole time, Juan told stories about his childhood snacks or how his grandmother made patacones (I still can’t get them as crispy as he described). By the end, I felt more connected to Cartagena than any museum could’ve managed — maybe it was all the food or just sharing tables with strangers who didn’t stay strangers long.