Last updated on December 21st, 2024
Unsure where to eat in Cusco? We’re sharing our 11 favorite cafes, dessert spots, and restaurants in Cusco, Peru!
With trendy cafes, upscale dining, local hole in the wall spots, and markets, Cusco is loaded with delicious and fun restaurants to check out. And during our 2.5 weeks (off and on) in the city, we tried to check out as many as we could!
In this guide we’re sharing 11 Cusco restaurants that we LOVED during our visit. With some we loved so much that we went back multiple times, which is something we normally don’t do when we travel.
Whether you’re looking for a quick bite to eat after a tour, a longer meal while exploring the city, a caffeine boost, or a sweet treat to end the day, we have a suggestion to help you figure out where to eat in Cusco, Peru.
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11 MUST try Cusco, Peru restaurants & cafes
Curious which Peruvian foods you should try in Peru? We have a guide all about the best traditional Peruvian dishes, plus where to get them!
Coffee & breakfast
1. Florencia y Fortunata
Our absolute favorite coffee shop in Cusco was Florencia y Fortunata. The design of this spot is gorgeous! It has a beautiful mix of traditional and modern, with white walls, wood and stone accents, and touches of blue.
But what makes this place even more amazing is that it is a women owned and run coffee shop. Their goal is to close the gender gap for women in coffee, which we think is incredible!
We came here countless times while in Cusco and our go-to drink was the flat white, but we’d bet you can’t go wrong with any of the coffee here. They also have a light food menu, including avocado toast, pastries, yogurt and oatmeal bowls, and sandwiches.
2. Cercanía Pan y Cafe
Another spot with some of the best coffee in Cusco is Cercanía Pan y Café. This tiny little cafe makes a delicious flat white, plus also has an in-house bakery, with pastries, bread, and sandwiches. The smell as soon as you walk in is heavenly!
Seating is very limited here, so you may need to take it to go. But there are some benches in the small plaza right outside of the cafe!
3. Organika Bakery & Coffee
If you’re looking for the best breakfast restaurant in Cusco, look no further than Organika Bakery & Coffee! And the best part? They serve breakfast all day!
When you walk in you’ll be asked if you want to eat at the restaurant or the cafe. We came here multiple times and always ate at the cafe portion. Here you’ll find an extensive menu with coffee and breakfast items, plus lunch and dinner. We loved their empanadas, chicken sandwich, pumpkin soup, and beef medallions with hash brown. Everything tasted super high quality and fresh!
Lunch & dinner
4. Morena Peruvian Kitchen
Morena Peruvian Kitchen is easily one of the best restaurants in Cusco, Peru. It’s located right in the Plaza de Armas, with an incredible view of the square, plus a colorful interior.
They serve many of the classic Peruvian dishes here, but with an upscale twist. We tried their lomo saltado, ceviche (they pour the Leche de Tigre right in front of you!), and a tropical drink. Everything was presented beautifully and delicious! Plus, the service was top notch.
Make sure to make a reservation in advance! We walked up for lunch and snagged the only free table.
Want to learn how to make Peruvian dishes yourself? Take a cooking class! These classes look really fun because you first go on a market tour to pick up some ingredients. Then, you head back to the kitchen and prepare your dishes. So it’s not only an experience, but also a delicious meal! PS: Use our code APLUSK10 for 10% off any tour booked on Tripadvisor
5. Samaritano
If you want to eat as the locals do, head to Samaritano. This small restaurant in Cusco wins for the BEST value. For S/6 ($1.60 USD!!!) you’ll get an almuerzo (lunch set) that includes a delicious quinoa soup, choice of main dish, and a tea. It doesn’t get much more affordable than that!
The main dish changes daily and both times we tried their beef dish, but the other items looked good as well. It’s simple food, but the portions are a good size, especially for the price. And you’ll get to eat in a small dining room, likely sharing a table with a local.
It’s cash only, so make sure to bring enough!
6. Kusykay Peruvian Craft Food
Another one of the best restaurants in Cusco, Peru is KUSYKAY Peruvian Craft Food. You can order lots of Peruvian dishes here, but one iconic dish that is a “must-try” (if you’re brave) is cuy.
What is cuy you might ask? Well…it’s guinea pig.
For those of you from the United States, you may be gasping and think “but guinea pigs are pets!” However, that is not the case in Peru. In fact, they are considered a sacred animal to the Incas and have been a staple of Andean cuisine for hundreds of years.
It is served whole at most places, which means you see the guinea pig itself. At KUSYKAY, they bring it to you whole and decorated (see the photo above to get what we mean!), let you take a photo of it, and then they take it back to cut it up. However, the head does stay on the plate. So the guinea pig will be looking at you.
When traveling, we try to be open minded to new foods. So we gave it a shot! And while we may not ever have it again, we are glad we tried it. The meat itself reminded us of chicken thighs and the seasoning was delicious.
Not interested in trying cuy? They have many other dishes to enjoy. Including lomo de alpaca, which is alpaca medallions. It was served on a bed of quinoa and was delicious!
7. Green Point
If you’re looking for a Cusco restaurant with a great vibe, head to Green Point! This vegan restaurant is gorgeous. Tucked into a courtyard, with colorful murals and plants, plus a clear ceiling, it feels like you’re eating in a greenhouse!
Although be warned, if it’s very sunny and mid-day, it will also feel like a greenhouse. We sat towards the back and it was pretty toasty!
But it was worth it for the ambiance and the food. We aren’t vegans and tend to prefer meat based dishes, but we really enjoyed the food here. The samosas, sweet potato and mushroom ravioli, sushi, and fruity kombucha were top notch!
8. El Pisonay
Tucked down a narrow street in San Blas is a hidden gem called El Pisonay. During our time in Cusco we ate here THREE times and almost a fourth, but it was unexpectedly closed.
This tiny, cozy spot has a handful of tables, plus a giant wood burning pizza oven. And we highly recommend getting their lomo saltado pizza! It was one of our favorite meals in Peru. But besides pizza, you can also get a variety of other dishes, including Adam’s favorite Peruvian soup, sopa criolla.
We recommend going before 7 PM because it fills up fast!
9. San Pedro Market
No list of Cusco, Peru restaurants is complete without San Pedro Market! While technically not a restaurant, this is Cusco’s main food market and the oldest market in the city. Here you’ll find clothing, souvenirs, trinkets, household items, fresh and raw ingredients, cooked food, and so much more.
It’s a great place for a quick, cheap lunch, but our personal favorite item at this market are the smoothies and milkshakes! There are multiple long aisles lined with at least 20 identical fruit stands, which sell fresh squeezed juices, smoothies, and milkshakes.
All the ladies in the stands are very friendly and it’s hard to decide who to go to, but we enjoyed our lucuma with milk and mango with milk at Jugueria de Janet!
Want to try some local foods with a guide? Go on a food tour!
Curious Monkey Cusco offers a couple different food tour options in Cusco, which will take you to markets and hidden gems. This is a great way to experience the Cusco food scene and learn more about the city!
- Curious Monkey Cusco- Eat the Streets, Walking Food Tour
- Curious Monkey Cusco- Market and Streets, Walking Food Tour
Don’t forget! Use our code APLUSK10 for 10% off any tour booked on Tripadvisor
Dessert
10. Picarones
Picarones are one of the BEST Peruvian desserts! These are donuts made out of squash and sweet potato and served with Chancaca, which is a Peruvian sauce made out of sugarcane.
While you can find them all over Peru, this spot in Cusco was one of our favorite spots that we tried them at. They make them fresh right in front of you and have three different flavors to try. We personally liked the chicha morada ones the best!
11. Qucharitas
Last, but certainly not least, one of the best Cusco, Peru restaurants for a sweet treat is Qucharitas. Tucked into a gorgeous courtyard, this fun, colorful dessert shop offers a wide mix of sweet treats and homemade ice creams.
The menu is a bit overwhelming, with tons to choose from. But we ended up sharing the volcán de chocolate with lucuma ice cream and it was so warm, gooey, and decadent!
Besides the dessert, one thing we loved about this place is that while you wait, they have pictures you can color with colored pencils. We thought this was a genius idea to help pass the time!
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