Medellín Named One of the World’s Best Food Cities for 2026
Time Out released its annual best food cities ranking today, June 8, 2026, surveying more than 24,000 locals worldwide. Medellín made the top 20. CNN Travel picked it up the same day.
For a city that spent years being written about for the wrong reasons, landing on a global food ranking alongside London, Bangkok, and Mexico City means something. We’ve been based here since 2015 and eat here every day. Here’s the honest version of what earned that ranking and what it means if you’re coming to visit.
What the Ranking Says
After London, Medellín scored the highest of any city on the list for food quality, with 94% of locals rating it highly. It also ranked first for grocery shopping at 95%, with a 79% affordability score. GitHub
That affordability number is the one that sets Medellín apart. Most cities that make global food lists are expensive. Medellín is not. Quality and price pointing in the same direction is genuinely rare at this level.
Time Out noted that the city has expanded its culinary range while keeping traditional Colombian dishes at the center, with new restaurants rethinking local ingredients rather than replacing them. The best food cities evolve without erasing themselves. Medellín is doing that.
You can read the full Time Out ranking here.
What the Food Scene Actually Looks Like
The Traditional Foundation
Bandeja paisa is the dish that defines the region. Beans, rice, ground beef, chicharrón, chorizo, fried egg, sweet plantain, avocado, and an arepa — all on one plate. It’s generous and unapologetic. This is Antioquian cooking.
Arepas show up everywhere and at any hour. The paisa arepa is white, thick, and grilled — different from the thinner versions you find in Bogotá or on the coast. One from a street stall with butter and cheese at 7 AM tells you everything about why Medellín locals don’t skip breakfast.
Time Out flagged Empanadas El Machetico de Nico for what they called Colombia’s most perfectly crunchy beef and potato empanada. That’s a fair call.
The Coffee
Antioquia produces some of Colombia’s best beans and Medellín’s café culture takes that seriously. This is not the instant Nescafé that older visitors associate with Colombia. The specialty coffee scene here is real — proper sourcing, good technique, baristas who know what they’re doing.
Laureles has the highest concentration of good independent coffee shops. El Poblado has more options but also more tourist markup. For coffee, go to Laureles.
The New Wave
Restaurants like Idílico, Test Kitchen Lab, and Salón Centro are leading a new generation of Medellín cooking. Long-time stalwarts El Cielo and Carmen are rethinking traditional dishes rather than replacing them. Chef Jaime Rodríguez, whose Cartagena restaurant Celele ranked fifth-best in Latin America, is set to open Boro in Medellín.
Carmen Medellín is the current benchmark for fine dining here, with tasting menus built around Colombian ingredients with international technique. The kind of restaurant that holds its own anywhere.
Where Locals Actually Eat
Laureles. El Poblado has good restaurants but prices reflect tourist demand. Laureles is residential, local, and where serious food visitors are gravitating.
For a burger locals actually order, Chef Burger started as one El Poblado spot in 2011 and earned enough of a following to expand across the city. For plant-based options, Oh! Food in nearby Envigado offers budget-friendly lunch that Time Out called a hidden gem.
Why This Ranking Matters Beyond the Food
A top 20 global food city ranking from Time Out picked up by CNN is not just a food story.
For years the international narrative about Medellín was shaped by crime statistics, narco tourism mythology, and more recently the post-pandemic party tourism problem the city has been actively dismantling. A ranking based on 24,000 real local opinions about quality, affordability, and experience shifts that narrative toward what the city actually is.
Time Out’s survey data showed that 91% of Medellín locals said they liked their neighborhood — the highest of any city surveyed. Those numbers don’t come from a city in trouble. They come from a city that knows what it has.
What This Means if You’re Visiting
Good food in Medellín is not hard to find. The baseline quality of street food here is high because locals have always demanded it.
Where to Base Yourself for Food
El Poblado for convenience and variety. Laureles for quality and local feel. Envigado for hidden gems and residential calm. All three are safe and walkable.
What to Order First
Bandeja paisa at a traditional restaurant. A paisa arepa from a street stall. A specialty coffee in Laureles. An empanada from El Machetico de Nico. In that order.
What to Expect on Price
Medellín is no longer the budget destination it was five years ago; digital nomads and expats pushed prices up in El Poblado. But compared to any major North American or European city, the value is still exceptional. The 79% affordability score in Time Out’s ranking reflects real conditions.
The Mountains Are Still the Main Event
Food is one reason to come. The mountains surrounding the city are another.
Within two hours of the city center: paragliding over the Andes, white water rafting through jungle canyons, canyoning down waterfalls, ATV trails through mountain villages, via ferrata climbs next to thundering waterfalls, and day trips to Guatapé. Most activities combine into a single day — paragliding in the morning, rafting in the afternoon, dinner in El Poblado by evening.
We’ve been running private English-speaking adventure tours out of Medellín since 2015. See what we do.
