Caracas has a lively restaurant scene. The local upper and middle classes support a host of fine restaurants and trendy joints. World and fusion cuisines are the rage, along with sushi bars and upscale steakhouses. New places open and close with the frequency and fanfare worthy of New York City. If you're serious about delving into the local restaurant scene, pick up a copy of the latest edition of Miro Popic's Guía Gastronómica de Caracas/Caracas Restaurants Guide (www.miropopic.com), a comprehensive, accurate, and bilingual guide to metropolitan restaurants, cafes, and nightspots.
In addition to the places listed, Chez Wong, Plaza La Castellana (tel. 0212/266-5015), is widely considered the best Chinese restaurant in town, while Da Guido, Avenida Francisco Solano, Sabana Grande (tel. 0212/763-0937), and Vizio, Avenida Luis Rocha, bottom floor of the Casa Rómulo Gallegos, Altamira (tel. 0212/285-5675), are recommended for Italian cuisine.
On a more popular level, simple arreperías and informal fuentes de soda, the local equivalent of diners, are ubiquitous. Be sure to stop in to one or two of them for a light meal and a bit of local color. Given the prevalence and popularity of huge modern malls, you can usually count on finding a wide selection of restaurants, as well as an assortment of U.S.-based and -styled fast-food chains, in most of them.
Snacks & Cafes
For a good view of the passing spectacle of bustling Caracas, you can grab a table at any one of the many covered sidewalk cafes lining the Sabana Grande. In addition to the News Café , another nearby coffeehouse worth checking is the Café Arábica, Avenida Andres Bello between 1st Transversal and Avenida Francisco Miranda (tel. 0212/285-3469), an upscale place on the ground floor of the Multicentro Los Palos Grandes mall that roasts its own beans bought from local producers.
If you're hungry for a quick bite and there's a fuente de soda handy -- the local equivalent of a diner or deli -- you should definitely try an arepa, the traditional cornmeal patty that usually comes stuffed with meat, cheese, or chicken.
