Santo Domingo Dining

The cosmopolitan city of Santo Domingo is constantly reinventing itself. New restaurants open every month, catering to the demanding local crowds. Eating out is big in Santo Domingo, a city that lives to socialize till the early hours of the morning (breakfast places abound), lunchtime (check out the lunch specials) and evening. Most restaurants are located in the Polígono Central (Naco, Piantini areas), including the busy Gustavo Mejía Ricart and Winston Churchill avenues, the Malecón, Chinatown or Colonial City areas of the city. Santo Domingo has more restaurants than any other city in the Caribbean or Central America. They serve Dominican, Caribbean, Latin, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Scandinavian, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Japanese specialties, many with a Dominican twist and of course with fresh local ingredients. Here to try the local food? It’s all about Dominican seasoning (sazón or sofrito) where cilantro, oregano, garlic, onions, peppers, tomatoes, capers and olives make the difference. Popular restaurants for Dominican fare in Santo Domingo are the Adrian Tropical on the Malecón, Mesón de la Cava and El Higüero in the Mirador del Sur Park, Cafetería El Conde and Mesón de Bari in the Colonial City, and Cane in modern Santo Domingo.