One of the most interesting things about eating in Panama is realizing just how much of the country's food scene has been influenced by its neighbors. Panama is often described as a crossroads between North and South America, and nowhere is that more obvious than in its restaurants.
Walk through Panama City and it doesn't take long to encounter arepas, Colombian empanadas, Venezuelan cachapas, tequeños, pabellón criollo, bandeja paisa, chicharrón and pan de jamón. These aren't simply occasional specialty dishes anymore. Colombian and Venezuelan food has become a significant part of everyday dining in the capital.
Panama City currently has numerous dedicated Colombian and Venezuelan restaurants, with particularly strong concentrations around El Cangrejo, San Francisco, Bella Vista and surrounding neighborhoods. A current city food guide, for example, identifies eight places serving arepas alone, with El Cangrejo having the strongest concentration.
Why Is There So Much Colombian Food in Panama?
The Colombian connection goes back much further than modern immigration.
Panama and Colombia were once part of the same country, and the two regions have maintained strong cultural, commercial and family connections for generations. The Caribbean coast of Colombia and Panama also share many culinary traditions, particularly their use of corn, plantains, meat, beans, rice and fried foods.
Today, Colombian food is particularly easy to find in Panama City.
One of the best-known examples is Arepas de Via España, a Colombian restaurant in El Cangrejo known for arepas, empanadas, bandeja paisa and grilled meats. It has even become a popular late-night destination. Another long-running option is Cali Ají Restaurant in El Carmen, where Colombian comfort food includes arepas, fried snacks and hearty traditional plates.
For something a little more tourist-oriented, Hacienda Colombiana sits along the Amador Causeway and combines Colombian dishes with a waterfront setting.
Arepas: The Great Meeting Point Between Colombia and Venezuela
If there is one food that best represents the Colombian and Venezuelan presence in Panama, it is the arepa.
Arepas are made primarily from cornmeal and can be grilled, baked or fried before being sliced open and stuffed with an enormous variety of ingredients.
The fascinating part is that Colombia and Venezuela both claim the arepa as an important part of their culinary identity, but they don't always prepare it in the same way.
Colombian arepas tend to come in many regional forms, including thinner versions that can be served alongside a meal. Venezuelan arepas are particularly famous for being opened and stuffed with elaborate fillings.
And Panama has embraced both.
A 2016 Panamanian television feature described arepas, empanadas and other Colombian and Venezuelan specialties becoming increasingly common throughout Panama City, reflecting the capital's growing multicultural food scene.
The Reina Pepiada
For anyone trying Venezuelan food for the first time, Reina Pepiada is one of the dishes worth ordering.
It is an arepa filled with a mixture traditionally based around shredded chicken, avocado and mayonnaise.
The name itself has a fascinating history. It was reportedly created in honor of Venezuelan beauty queen Susana Duijm after she became Miss World in 1955.
You can find Reina Pepiada and other Venezuelan-style arepas throughout Panama City.
And the choices can get much more elaborate.
There are arepas filled with shredded beef, chicken, cheese, black beans, plantains and combinations of several ingredients. Some restaurants essentially turn the humble corn cake into a complete meal.
Colombian Arepas Are Different
Colombian arepas can be considerably simpler.
You might receive a warm corn arepa alongside eggs, meat, cheese or another breakfast dish rather than a giant stuffed sandwich.
That's part of what makes exploring Colombian and Venezuelan restaurants in Panama so interesting. The word "arepa" doesn't necessarily tell you what you're going to receive.
A Colombian restaurant may serve an arepa as an accompaniment.
A Venezuelan restaurant may turn it into a gigantic stuffed meal.
And some Panamanian restaurants now offer both styles.
Empanadas Everywhere
If arepas are the great shared food of Colombia and Venezuela, empanadas may be the great street-food champion.
Colombian-style empanadas are commonly made with corn dough and filled with combinations such as beef, chicken or potato before being fried until golden.
They are usually relatively inexpensive and make an excellent snack.
Venezuelan empanadas are also commonly made with corn dough, but the fillings and regional styles differ. Cheese, shredded beef, chicken, beans and other combinations are common.
Some places specialize almost entirely in them.
Panadería Los Venezolanos in El Cangrejo is particularly interesting because it combines Venezuelan bakery culture with a café and restaurant. Its offerings include empanadas, arepas, cachitos, pabellón criollo, cachapas and pan de jamón.
Venezuelan Cachapas: Something Completely Different
If you have never eaten a cachapa, this may be the dish that surprises you most.
A cachapa is a thick, sweet-savory pancake made from fresh corn. It is usually cooked on a griddle and folded around a generous amount of soft Venezuelan cheese.
Then things can get even more serious.
Cachapas can be served with shredded beef, pork, black beans, plantains and other fillings, turning what initially looks like a pancake into an enormous meal.
One of Panama City's best-known Venezuelan institutions is Cachapas Don Luis in San Francisco.
The restaurant has a particularly interesting history. The Smithsonian's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage documented the restaurant's importance to Venezuela's immigrant community in Panama, describing how founder Luis Hernández opened it in 2015 and built the restaurant around traditional Venezuelan cachapas and Venezuelan cheeses.
The Smithsonian described customers eating cachapas with queso de mano, fried pork, shredded meat, black beans and plantains — essentially a Venezuelan comfort-food feast on a plate.
Tequeños: The Snack You Need to Try
Another Venezuelan specialty that has become increasingly easy to find in Panama is the tequeño.
It is wonderfully simple: a stick of Venezuelan cheese wrapped in dough and fried until golden.
The result is crunchy on the outside and molten on the inside.
They're perfect as a snack, appetizer or accompaniment to a drink, and they're particularly popular at Venezuelan restaurants and bakeries.
Places such as Que Riko offer tequeños alongside arepas, cachapas, empanadas and other Venezuelan staples. Current listings describe the restaurant as a casual Venezuelan restaurant in El Cangrejo with all-day breakfast and delivery.
Pabellón Criollo: The Big Venezuelan Meal
If an arepa is the Venezuelan equivalent of a sandwich, pabellón criollo is closer to a complete national meal.
It traditionally combines:
Shredded beef
Black beans
White rice
Fried plantains
The combination of salty, sweet, creamy and savory flavors is fantastic.
Some versions add cheese, avocado or other accompaniments.
For someone wanting to understand Venezuelan food beyond snacks, this is one of the dishes to order.
Pan de Jamón Is a Christmas Classic
Venezuelan food isn't only about fried snacks.
One of the country's most beloved baked foods is pan de jamón, a soft bread rolled around ham and traditionally combined with ingredients such as olives and raisins.
It is strongly associated with Christmas in Venezuela, but Venezuelan bakeries in Panama can offer it outside the holiday season.
Panadería Los Venezolanos is particularly known for it and describes the bread as one of its signature Venezuelan products.
This is one of those foods that can immediately transport Venezuelan immigrants back home.
And that is one of the most fascinating aspects of the entire Colombian and Venezuelan food scene in Panama.
These restaurants aren't merely selling meals.
They're selling memories.
Venezuelan Bakeries Are Their Own World
A Venezuelan bakery can be quite different from a typical Panamanian bakery.
You might walk in looking for breakfast and discover cachitos, tequeños, empanadas, arepas, pan de jamón, golfeados and sweet breads.
Panadería Los Venezolanos is a good example, functioning simultaneously as a bakery, cafeteria and restaurant.
Another interesting option is Pachapas San Francisco, which focuses heavily on Venezuelan-style cachapas and fried snacks and also sells Venezuelan ingredients and products to take home.
Meanwhile, La Yaya in Costa del Este combines Venezuelan bakery products with breakfast and casual dining, including empanadas, cachitos, tequeños, cachapas and arepas.
Colombian Food Can Be Much Heavier
Colombian cuisine has a reputation for large portions, and Panama's Colombian restaurants often deliver exactly that.
One of the most famous examples is bandeja paisa.
It can contain beans, rice, ground or shredded meat, chicharrón, fried plantain, avocado, egg and arepa.
It isn't really a light lunch.
It is the kind of meal that makes you understand why Colombian food developed a reputation for being hearty, filling and designed to keep people going through a long day.
Restaurante Coma Rico in San Francisco is one current example of a Colombian restaurant known for home-style plates and dishes such as bandeja paisa.
And Then There Is the Chicharrón
Colombian and Venezuelan cooking both have an appreciation for fried pork, but Colombian restaurants in Panama often take chicharrón particularly seriously.
A good piece can have crisp, salty skin and rich meat underneath.
Combined with beans, rice, plantain and arepa, it becomes an incredibly satisfying meal.
It is also one of the reasons Colombian restaurants can be so popular with people who want inexpensive food that feels substantial.
Colombian Food Has Become Part of Panama's Late-Night Culture
One particularly interesting feature of Colombian restaurants in Panama City is their late-night popularity.
Arepas de Via España, for example, currently operates into the early morning on several nights, making it a natural destination for people looking for food after going out. A 2016 report on the restaurant noted that its strongest sales historically occurred between approximately 2:30 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. on weekends.
That's a fascinating indication of how these foods have integrated themselves into Panama's urban culture.
An arepa or empanada isn't necessarily a special international meal.
Sometimes it's simply what you eat at 3 a.m.
Colombian and Venezuelan Food Is No Longer Just for Colombians and Venezuelans
Perhaps the most important change has been the way Panamanians themselves have embraced these cuisines.
A former Venezuelan restaurant owner told El Venezolano that at one point 75% of Viarepa's weekday clientele was Panamanian, illustrating how Venezuelan food had moved beyond the immigrant community and into the broader local market.
That makes sense.
The foods are accessible.
Corn, cheese, meat, beans and plantains are already familiar ingredients throughout Panama.
And the flavors aren't radically foreign.
Instead, Venezuelan and Colombian restaurants offer different combinations of ingredients that Panamanians already understand and enjoy.
El Cangrejo Has Become a Great Place to Start
If a traveler wants to explore this food scene without driving all over Panama City, El Cangrejo is one of the best neighborhoods to begin.
Current food listings identify multiple Venezuelan restaurants there, as well as Colombian and arepa-focused restaurants.
You can find everything from cheap empanadas and arepas to full sit-down meals.
And the neighborhood's concentration means you can effectively turn Colombian and Venezuelan food into a little culinary tour.
Start with an empanada.
Try a tequeño.
Order a Reina Pepiada.
Then, if you're still hungry, go for a cachapa or pabellón.
You may quickly discover that one meal isn't enough.
The Beautiful Food Overlap
The most fascinating part of Colombian and Venezuelan food in Panama is that the boundaries aren't always perfectly clear.
Arepas belong strongly to both Colombian and Venezuelan culinary traditions.
Empanadas exist across much of Latin America.
Plantains appear everywhere.
Rice and beans are fundamental throughout the region.
And Panamanian restaurants increasingly borrow from all of them.
This creates something new: a Panamanian South American food scene that isn't strictly Colombian or Venezuelan anymore.
It is part of Panama's increasingly multicultural identity.
For travelers, that makes these restaurants much more than alternatives to traditional Panamanian food. They are a window into the enormous cultural changes that have taken place in Panama City — and one of the easiest ways to experience the influence of Colombia and Venezuela without leaving Panama.
If there is one thing to order first, make it an arepa. Then branch out into empanadas, cachapas, tequeños and a full Venezuelan pabellón or Colombian bandeja paisa. Within a few meals, it becomes obvious why Colombian and Venezuelan food has become such an important and delicious part of eating in Panama.