Celele

Celele is the most internationally recognised restaurant in Cartagena, with the highest placing of any restaurant in the city on The World's 50 Best list. It was created by chef Jaime David Rodríguez Camacho, and it grew out of Caribe Lab, a research project that spent two years documenting the products, recipes and techniques of the Colombian Caribbean before the restaurant opened in 2018 in a blue house in Getsemaní. Its kitchen is built on the food culture and biodiversity of the region, working with farmers' associations, small producers, fishers, foragers and craftspeople, and following the seasons and long fermentation processes.

The recognition has been steady. Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants named it the One to Watch in 2019, and in 2025 it ranked No. 5 in Latin America and No. 48 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants; it was also one of four Cartagena places picked by the 50 Best Discovery guide that year. The 50 Best describes a colourful, relaxed and stylish dining room rather than a formal one.

The menu is à la carte and changes regularly, so specific dishes come and go. Recent descriptions give a flavour of the style: a colourful salad with cashew notes, confit chicken with banana served in a chicken-shaped pot, chicken with a sour guava barbecue sauce, roasted bananas with coconut oil, fried banana peels and a smoked beef-rib broth, with flowers from at least 15 species appearing across the menu. Ingredients such as ñame, fresh fish and caña flecha are typical. The 50 Best suggests asking about the house-made fermented drinks, and the wine list is short but well chosen.

Celele suits food lovers who want to understand Caribbean Colombian cooking at its most creative, and it is a good choice for a special dinner. The 50 Best puts the average spend at around 61 US dollars a person, so it is at the upper end of Cartagena prices but not the most expensive. It serves lunch and dinner from Monday to Saturday.

Book ahead through the reservation link on the restaurant's website, especially for dinner in high season; the phone number is +57 301 742 0389. The restaurant is on Calle del Espíritu Santo in Getsemaní, a short walk from the Plaza de la Trinidad and the Torre del Reloj. After dinner, the bars and live music of Getsemaní are on the doorstep.