3 restaurants for discovering the best of Panama City
A city best understood at the table
Panamanian cooking unites the Caribbean and Pacific, Afro-Antillean and Asian migrations, Indigenous roots, and a geography of transit. Coconut rice, corn, tubers, seafood, culantro, and tropical fruits appear in restaurants that have given this mixture new visibility.
Recognized quality is not confined to formal dining rooms.
Three restaurants with distinct strengths
Fonda Lo Que Hay
Jose Olmedo Carles’s contemporary fonda serves Panamanian flavors with irreverence, fire, and plates made for sharing. The informal atmosphere brings highly recognized cooking into a direct experience of fried foods, corn, meats, seafood, and bold sauces.
It offers the group’s strongest balance of personality and accessibility; arrive hungry and order for the table.
Maito
Mario Castrellon’s restaurant explores Panama’s cultural and biological diversity through ingredients, research, and contemporary technique. The kitchen connects Indigenous, Afro-Antillean, Asian, and rural roots in an experience more ambitious than a fonda.
It is the occasion choice and the group’s most expensive; review menu formats and reserve ahead.
Cantina del Tigre
A contemporary cantina known for ceviche, bold flavors, and an informal reading of Panamanian ingredients. The compact menu, cocktails, and neighborhood atmosphere provide recognized quality without the formality of a tasting menu.
It works for couples or friends and makes the bill manageable by sharing ceviche and hot plates.
How to choose your table
Fonda Lo Que Hay serves Panamanian plates with irreverence in Casco; Maito offers the broadest and most ambitious experience; Cantina del Tigre concentrates on ceviche and bold flavors in San Francisco. To control the bill, Fonda and Cantina lend themselves to sharing, while Maito calls for more deliberate budgeting.
What this selection values
The selection favors culinary identity, a consistent body of guest feedback, and an experience that can justify its bill without relying only on luxury or fashion. Menus and prices remain variable.
The best table depends on occasion, appetite, and the cooking you want to understand; these three choices avoid reducing the city to a single style.
Recommended restaurants
These restaurants were selected because their current menus, locations or specialties match the question. The list is based on verifiable information, not on filling a preset number of places.
Fonda Lo Que Hay
Edificio El Colegio, C. José D. de la Obaldía, Casco Antiguo, Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá
Jose Olmedo Carles’s contemporary fonda serves Panamanian flavors with irreverence, fire, and plates made for sharing.
Direct, irreverent Panamanian flavors in Casco
Mario Castrellon’s restaurant explores Panama’s cultural and biological diversity through ingredients, research, and contemporary technique.
Panamanian diversity and contemporary culinary research
Cantina del Tigre
Plaza Centenario, Calle 68 Este, San Francisco, Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá
A contemporary cantina known for ceviche, bold flavors, and an informal reading of Panamanian ingredients.
Ceviche and bold Panamanian flavors in San Francisco
Sources & references
These independent references add context or corroborate key facts used in this guide. Restaurant websites are kept on the business profiles rather than repeated here. Current information can change after the access date shown below.
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Official website of Fonda Lo Que Hay ↗
Primary source
Fonda Lo Que Hay · Accessed September 17, 2026
Primary source for identity, concept, menu, and contact details.
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Official website of Maito ↗
Primary source
Maito · Accessed September 17, 2026
Primary source for identity, concept, menu, and contact details.
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Official website of Cantina del Tigre ↗
Primary source
Cantina del Tigre · Accessed September 17, 2026
Primary source for identity, concept, menu, and contact details.
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Google Maps listing for Fonda Lo Que Hay ↗
Community source
Google Maps · Accessed September 17, 2026
Direct check of rating, review count, operating status, and address; variable data.
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Google Maps listing for Maito ↗
Community source
Google Maps · Accessed September 17, 2026
Direct check of rating, review count, operating status, and address; variable data.
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Google Maps listing for Cantina del Tigre ↗
Community source
Google Maps · Accessed September 17, 2026
Direct check of rating, review count, operating status, and address; variable data.