Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
EATING
La Paz has an excellent range of restaurants , cafés and street stalls to suit pretty much all
tastes and budgets. Few places open for breakfast much before 8am, and Paceños treat lunch
as the main meal of the day, eating lightly in the evening. Most restaurants serve set lunch
menus known as almuerzos (typically noon-2pm), which are generally extremely filling and
great value. The city also has an increasingly cosmopolitan range of European-style restaur-
ants, both in Sopocachi , and also on trendy Calle Tarija , just off the end of Linares. In stark
contrast to neighbouring Argentina, restaurants begin serving dinner at around 7pm. As a
general rule, the more gringo-friendly places will open later and fill up later, although it's dif-
ficult to find a formal sit-down meal anywhere after 11pm.
LA PAZ STREET FOOD
For those whose stomachs have adjusted to basic local food, the cheapest places to eat are
the city's markets , where you can get entire meals for less than Bs7, as well as hearty
soups, snacks and large quantities of roast meat (though it's probably best to body-swerve
the pork entirely). Try Mercado Lanza , just up from Plaza San Francisco, or Mercado
Camacho , at the end of Avenida Camacho. Street food is another good low-cost option:
the ubiquitous salteñas and tucumanes - delicious pastries filled with meat or chicken with
vegetables - make excellent mid-morning snacks, especially if washed down by the freshly
squeezed orange and grapefruit juice which is sold from wheeled stalls all over the city.
CAFÉS
100% Natural Sagárnaga 339; map . Against a lime-green backdrop, orange-shirted staff
serve a jungle's worth of fruit juice combinations including “secret house recipes” for flu,
hangover and altitude sickness, though it's hard to beat the American, a mix of banana,
papaya, coconut and strawberry. And if the altitude hasn't killed your appetite, don't miss
the monster Bs22 breakfast. The only drawback is the relentless 1980s music. Daily
8.45am-10pm.
Arábica Av 20 de Octubre 2355 02 2113293; map . Engaging coffee-style bar/bistro con-
verted from a house, and still retaining a front-room feel. While the breakfast menu could
do with beefing up, the coffee itself is lavishly presented, and their lunches aren't bad value
at Bs27. If the altitude is leaving you weak, go with their Popeye salad, a blend of spinach,
hard-boiled egg, parmesan, asparagus, croutons and olive oil. Mon-Sat 7am-11.30pm.
Cafe Banaís Sagárnaga 161 02 2311214; map . Adjacent to Hostal Naira , this is one
of the most reliable and enduring breakfast venues in La Paz, with smiling staff, hideaway
booths, great chocolate milkshakes and mountainous bowls of fruit, yoghurt and muesli.
 
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