Harry’s Cartagena

Harry's Cartagena is the Cartagena outpost of Harry Sasson, one of Colombia's best-known chefs. Sasson, who is based in Bogotá, began studying cooking at 17, trained at the Hilton and worked for about five years in Canada before opening his first restaurant in Bogotá in 1995. His cooking has moved from international trends towards Colombian ingredients and traditions, using products such as Amazonian honey and palm heart from Putumayo. In 2024 he received the Woodford Reserve Icon Award at Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants. According to his own account, Harry's Cartagena is one of the two restaurants in his group that continued after the pandemic.

The restaurant is inside the Charleston Santa Teresa hotel, a former 17th-century cloister on the Plaza de Santa Teresa, so it works for guests and non-guests alike. It serves from early morning to late evening: breakfast runs from 06:30 to 10:30, and lunch and dinner from 12:00 to 23:00.

Colombia.com's 2026 food guide highlights the local Caribbean side of the menu: arepas de huevo, carimañolas, cheese fingers and toasts of green plantain patacón, with coconut lemonade, fresh juices and coffee to drink. Sasson's broader repertoire is known for dishes such as crispy duck and sweet-and-sour prawns, Japanese robata grilling and wood-fired cooking, although the Cartagena menu should be checked before you go, as it is published separately on his site.

It is a versatile, all-day choice: a good breakfast before a morning at the museums, a long lunch out of the heat or a relaxed dinner. It suits families and groups who want a reliable menu with something for everyone, as well as those staying at the hotel.

Reservations can be made online through the restaurant's booking link or by phone on +57 318 350 1950. The Plaza de Santa Teresa is inside the walled city, with the Museo Naval del Caribe on the same square and the Santuario de San Pedro Claver and the Torre del Reloj a few minutes' walk away. Sasson's foundation, Fundación Gastronomía Social, trains people from disadvantaged backgrounds to work as waiters, part of his long-standing work in Colombian hospitality.