Where to eat in Santo Domingo: a list organised by what you actually want

Santo Domingo eats better than Punta Cana, and it is not close. Five centuries of Spanish connection, a large Italian community that has been here for generations, a Japanese restaurant scene older and more serious than the size of the city would suggest, and Dominican home cooking that has never had to be adapted for a buffet of 400 people. A serious dinner in Piantini costs roughly what a mediocre one costs in Bávaro, which is on its own a decent argument for the 200 km.

The list below is grouped by what you are in the mood for rather than numbered one to twenty-five, because nobody chooses dinner alphabetically.

Getting there and parking

About 200 km from Punta Cana, two and a half to three hours on the Autovía del Coral and the Autopista del Este. Toll booths take RD$100 each for a car and you pass three or four per direction, so carry small notes.

Park in a guarded lot at the edge of the Colonial Zone — a few hundred pesos for the day — and walk in. Those streets date from the 1500s and most restaurants there have no car park at all. In Piantini and Naco, the modern restaurant districts uptown, parking is easier and usually attended.

A rental car from Punta Cana with unlimited mileage makes this a day you decide on at breakfast rather than an excursion you book a week ahead.

In the Colonial Zone, for the setting

Pat’e Palo has occupied its corner of Plaza de España since 1505 and claims the title of first tavern in the New World. It is a European brasserie now — steaks, pasta, seafood — with a terrace facing the Alcázar de Colón across the square, and you are unquestionably paying something for the address. Go at dusk, when the Alcázar is lit and the square empties of day visitors, and the premium stops feeling like one.

Maraca, a few streets away, does the opposite. Modern Dominican cooking, bright room. Live music often enough that you should ask when you book, if you would rather it were quiet.

Buche Perico occupies an old building with a green courtyard and cooks contemporary Dominican food with local produce. Of the three, it is the one to choose for the cooking rather than the view.

El Mesón de la Cava is not in the Zone but belongs in this section, because it is built inside a natural limestone cave and reached by a staircase down into the rock. The menu is international — steaks, fish, pasta — and honestly the room is the reason to go.

Dominican and Spanish

Don Pepe is the old guard. Paella, tapas, seafood, a classic dining room, and waiters who have worked there for twenty years.

El Gallego does Galician cooking specifically: seafood, paella, tarta de Santiago for pudding. Family atmosphere. Unshowy. Very good.

Boga Boga brings the Basque end of Spain — pintxos, tapas, grilled fish. Order like a Basque: several small things rather than one large one.

Italian, of which there is a lot

Il Caminetto is the grown-up option. Handmade pasta, thin pizza, and a room built for a long dinner with wine rather than a quick one.

Trattoria Angiolino is the family trattoria. Simple food done properly. Good wine list. No fuss.

Curcio does Roman-style pizza al taglio: long-fermented dough, baked in trays and cut by the slice, light and crisp rather than Neapolitan and wet. Twelve to sixteen varieties at a time, plus Italian charcuterie, salads and a deli counter. There are branches in the Colonial Zone and in Piantini, the latter on the corner of Federico Geraldino and Gustavo Mejía Ricart, with a terrace and the longer menu of the two. Best cheap lunch on this page.

Japanese, Peruvian, Pan-Asian

Samurai has been the serious Japanese restaurant in this city for decades: sushi, sashimi, teppanyaki with the full performance at the table. It works as a business lunch at 13:00 and as an anniversary at 21:00, which is a rare thing for one room to manage.

Nacionsushi is the everyday version. A local chain, sushi and Pan-Asian food, sensible prices, relaxed room.

Qero Pisco Bar is Peruvian: ceviche, causas, and pisco sours made properly. Peruvian cooking has quietly become one of the things this city does better than most of the region, and this is where to meet it.

Modern, seasonal, chef-driven

This is where the city has changed most in ten years. It is also where the prices still look wrong — in the customer’s favour — to anyone arriving from Europe or the United States, because a tasting menu here costs what a main course costs in Madrid.

Temporada builds the menu around whatever is in season and shifts it as the ingredients change. The clue is in the name.

Central Gastronómica experiments with Dominican produce against international technique, in a deliberately plain room. Tasting menus and good cocktails.

Laurel is the elegant one: fusion cooking, Dominican ingredients, a large bright space that handles both business dinners and family celebrations, with themed gastronomic evenings worth checking the calendar for.

Turo leans Mediterranean, with a focus on local sourcing and a room smart enough for an occasion.

Mila puts real effort into presentation. The menu runs from classics to the chef’s own ideas.

LILA feels the newest of the group. Contemporary cooking, design-led room. The place someone in their thirties suggests.

Casa Vera is smaller and more romantic than anything above it, cooking Dominican and international dishes from seasonal produce.

Lighter, and for the middle of the day

O’Livia is Mediterranean and health-minded. Salads, pasta, fresh seafood, a bright room full of plants. Good lunch.

Time Creative Vegetarian Kitchen does plant-based properly rather than apologetically — vegan versions of local dishes, inventive salads, desserts worth ordering. Bright, quiet, laptop-friendly.

Laiali covers the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean. Hummus, kebabs, herbs and spices. Warm room.

El Búho Eatery is the gastro-café. Sandwiches and salads by day, cocktails and small plates at night. Young crowd.

Allez Bistrot is a French bistro doing croque-monsieur, onion soup, steak and proper desserts. Useful when nobody can agree on anything else.

Man Up and Cook is burgers, steaks and grills in a loft-style room. Portions sized for people who skipped lunch.

A practical note

This city’s restaurant scene moves quickly and any list ages, this one included. Before you drive 2.5 hours for one specific table, send a WhatsApp or look at reviews from the last month. Book ahead for Thursday to Saturday dinner, when Piantini fills from about 20:00. And leave for home by 22:00 if you are driving back the same night — the Coral is fast and empty at that hour, and much less so after midnight.

If you are combining dinner with the sights, our guide to a day in Santo Domingo sets out the order that works, with opening hours and entry prices.