The relaxed yet refined restaurant at Casa San Agustin is a must visit. Begin your night in the picturesque courtyard or eclectic dining room with a libation from the creative gin and tonic menu. Afterwards, savor the excellent ceviche and other Colombian specialties. The top-notch food and drinks are matched by the impeccable service, and there is live music at dinner from Wednesday to Sunday.

Café del Mar is a lounge on the top of the Old City’s muralla. Great drinks are served, complemented by music and the occasional dancer. It’s spacious so during the high season (December) you can either relax or get in on the party.

Just a few blocks outside the old town walls, the Getsemani neighborhood asserts its own bohemian personality.  Bustling Plaza de la Trinidad is a vibrant central point and home to Demente Tapas Bar. The owners wanted to be as much a part of the plaza as possible so classic wood and leather rocking chairs are arranged around cocktail tables on the sidewalk—a hipster take on the habit of area residents who drag their rocking chairs out in front of their houses to catch the evening breeze and the day’s gossip. This small but stylish place also has the only retractable roof in Cartagena, which lets even more of the outside in.

A chalk board tapas menu includes addictive sweet peppers (flash-fried then salted), brochette of remarkably tender shrimp, fried local cheese with onion marmalade and secreto de cerdo, a little-used but delicious cut of pork. The most popular plate of all is a sweet, rich, satisfying oxtail slider served with homemade potato chips. Everything is served on custom-made plates, which each have a quote from Colombian poet Raúl Gómez Jattin hand-painted onto them.

Demente is as much a bar as an eatery with a comprehensive list of liquors, wines and beers, including hard-to-find Aguila beer on tap. Bar staff make ice cubes the size of navel oranges by hand so they don’t melt too quickly in the Caribbean heat.  No one wants that 20-year-old Colombian rum you just ordered to end up watered down.

This casual place in the Getsemani neighborhood just outside the old city walls is well known for its pizzas, though a full Italian menu is also offered. Over the years the restaurant has sprawled to include three adjoining locations. The roofless, crumbling, peeling façade of a gutted historic building serves as an outdoor dining room, and it’s one of the most atmospheric al fresco dining locations in town.  Just try not to feel romantic on a clear night with the stars as your ceiling.

The chic, blue-and-white palette, denim napkins, floor-to-ceiling wine racks, an intimate bar and inevitable crowd of smartly dressed locals make Donjuán Cartagena the kind of casual fine dining restaurant that Hampton residents wish they had. Here Chef Juan Felipe Camacho and his energetic staff (who wear white Crocs as part of their uniform) present wonderfully fresh and well-rounded dishes like grilled grouper on lemon parmesan risotto and pork chops with fried yucca and artichoke aioli.  Even ingredients that are often not done well in Cartagena, like lamb, succeed in the hands of this chef who trained at Michelin-starred restaurants before opening his own in 2009.

Indagare Tip: Don’t settle for a reservation at Maria, the restaurant chef Camacho opened next door. It does not get the same kind of raves.  And be aware that when large groups are dining, service at Donjuán Cartagena can become rushed. Reservations required.

This local favorite is one of the top spots in Cartagena for ceviche. The charming restaurant, with only 16 seats, puts an upscale spin on the South American classic, infusing their ceviches with ingredients like tamarind and coconut, while also serving such elevated dishes as grilled octopus with a light potato foam. One of the owners, Oscar Colmenares, even trained at the Michelin-starred Martin Berasategui in the Spanish Basque country.

The original restaurant of the growing empire of the legendary Juan del Mar, this restaurant specializes in seafood. Set in a colonial house on the same square as the Hotel Santa Clara, Juan del Mar is one of the most popular restaurants in Cartagena. Its owner oversaw the kitschy décor, a colorful celebration of the sea in garden courtyard, but he also mans the kitchen and even joins the band most evenings to sing. The menu emphasizes local seafood.

Considered by many to have the best pizza in Cartagena. Open for dinner only.

This brightly painted little ceviche joint stylishly occupies a corner right behind the Hotel Santa Clara. Innovative, flawlessly fresh ceviche is served on hand-painted plates to diners at a handful of outdoor tables. Though still a favorite among locals and visitors, some grumble that the high prices may have more to do with La Cevicheria’s fame after appearing on an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations series in 2008 than for its cuisine.

Walking into La Mulata is like walking into a super stylish dorm room.  Cool graphic logo stares down from the wall, utilitarian wooden furniture has been painted in bright primary colors, and the floor is a checkerboard of black and white tiles. Thankfully, the kitchen is turning out gourmet versions of classic Caribbean meals, not cafeteria food.  Each day of the week has its own lunch menu with three set main course options, including seafood and meat dishes. Each remarkably affordable selection includes a bowl of homemade soup and their homemade lemonade is a must in the Caribbean heat. This is the best place to try thoughtfully prepared Colombian Caribbean food in a bustling setting along with local workers and clued-in visitors.

The historic center of Cartagena has no shortage of shops selling some form of frozen treat. It’s hot here, after all.  What makes La Paletteria, opened at the end of 2012, stand out from the frosty crowd is their all-natural, handmade approach to gourmet popsicles and their celebration of local flavors and ingredients.  Water, yogurt or cream based flavors include tamarind, maracuya (passion fruit’s sweeter sister) and mora (a sort of rustic blackberry), along with classics like pistachio and chocolate and newbies like Nutella. Seriously consider having your selection dipped in chocolate. Be prepared for a crowd and seating is limited to take your paletta to one of the nearby plazas and enjoy.

Opened in 2008, La Perla quickly rose to the top of Cartagena’s culinary list and has managed to stay there, thanks to a regularly changing seafood-heavy menu from Peruvian chef Carlos Accinelli. There’s also the city’s most creative cocktail menu from owner and mixologist Roberto Carrascal. Some favorites are always on offer, including tuna tiraditos (thin strips) cured in yellow chilies and ginger, crispy, succulent suckling pig, house-made limoncello and the signature La Perla cocktail, an electric blue gin martini mixed with Hpnotiq, basil, cucumber and lime juice which tastes far more sophisticated than it looks. Amber lighting and a convivial crowd make the restaurant’s long, narrow space especially inviting.

For those who remember Harry’s Bar in Venice or Mortimer’s in New York back when neighborhoods had watering holes that operated as informal eating clubs for café society, La Vitrola will feel familiar. Opened in 1994, La Vitrola is now a favorite haunt of a who’s who of Colombia’s elite who table hop between courses or get up to merengue to the Cuban house band.

Though the quality of the food can vary, the restaurant remains an institution. With tiled floors, a long mahogany bar and overhead fans, La Vitrola (named for the old Victrola that commands a central spot) harkens back to an earlier era, as does the menu. Starters include grilled calamari, smoked salmon and carpaccio, which can be followed by grilled fish, lobster, mini hamburgers or an inventive salad like lettuce heats topped with blue cheese and a slice of pear perfectly poached in red wine. Don’t miss the homemade coconut cake for dessert.

This charming café owned by pastry wizard Camila Andrea Vargas serves up delicious coffee drinks and pastries from tarts and custards to churrios as well as salads and sandwiches in a bright modern white space.

If you are lucky enough to snag a table here, don’t bother showing up for dinner before 9 p.m. (Attractive Colombian couples that may be dressed in clothes by Silvia Tcherassi, the hotel’s owner, do not even order drinks until 10:30) Order what the chef recommends. Daniel Castaño, who worked at Lupa and Babbo, stops to chat at each table. Once you’ve tasted his fried chickpeas, you will find yourself craving them as the perfect accompaniment to a chilled drink on a hot afternoon. Even seemingly typical Italian dishes like Caprese salad come with a twist; a ball of buffalo mozzarella rolled in pesto sauce is served with oven-roasted tomatoes. Other dishes that had our group oohing and ahhing: the risotto with portobello mushrooms, the tuna carpaccio and the chopped asapargus tossed in olive oil and parmesan.

Thanks to a wine list more than 100 labels strong, there are fantastic New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs and Italian Barberas and much in between. Be sure to save room for dessert, though. We were so won over by the chef’s guidance that we let him choose our dolci. The Pane Mocca, a brioche bread pudding with coffee ice cream, mocha drizzle and a sour cream ricotta foam was a standout. Vera, which means true, can truly be named as one of my all-time favorite restaurants. No walk-ins; you must have a reservation.