You’ll also find another place to keep roots if you drive an hour east, into the hills around El Carmen de Viboral. La Casa de Vero. Operating on weekends and for special events, the open-air restaurant is run by chef and cultural guardian Verónica Gómez, who embodies cocina de montaña with dishes that draw on family traditions and the land around her. Ingredients are sourced from veredas in the nearby mountains. The centerpiece is usually a pot of simmering meat and vegetables sancocho. This is more of a home-cooked experience, a way to immerse yourself in the food heritage of Antioquia. La Casa de Vero channels mountain cooking’s intimacy.
Sancho PaisaAntioquia also has a second pole, the expansive roadside meal. With two locations along the highway between Medellín and José María Córdova International Airport, it’s the kind of place where bandeja paisa arrives in unapologetic abundance—beans, chicharrón, arepas, and grilled meats stacked high—and where weekends turn into family gatherings in the open-air pavilion. This is the perfect way to end a Medellin visit, whether you’re stopping off at the airport or heading home.
In 2026, Medellín belongs on any traveler’s eating calendar. Medellin is not only a city to feed you, but also to pull you into its rhythm. —Allie Lazar
Medellín Our list includes the following: Best Places to Go in Central and South America in 2026. Visit in 2026 for more reasons here.
Minas Gerais, Brazil
Get ready to go forRoad trips to vineyards are a must, and the old mercados have been reimagined.
Brazil Minas Gerais is famed for a gastronomic culture rooted in rural, homestyle dishes and farm-made ingredients—particularly, its cheese and coffee. The bounty that this state has to offer is now being discovered by a wider audience as these traditions and foraged food are found on the menus of Belo Horizonte. UNESCO has recognized Minas Gerais artisanal cheese as Brazil’s intangible cultural treasure. This is a celebration of the 106 municipalities that have produced cheeses for over three centuries using only raw milk, natural rennet and salt. pingo Each farm has its own (natural yeast starter). Serro, a city in the state, is known for its mildly tangy, namesake product. second official tourist route: With around 800 small producers and family farms in Serro, the self-guided trail allows visitors to tap into the 300-year-old craft of cheesemaking and the enduring gastronomic heritage of Minas Gerais across the Cordilheira do Espinhaço mountain range—and aims to boost experiential travel and celebrate rural traditions. Fazenda Ventura is a family-run farm in the rolling hills of Minas Gerais, with grazing cows. The family will guide guests from the barn to their dairy, before serving award-winning cheeses. Fazenda Córrego do TaboãoThe experience includes a visit to a farm museum and watermill. It ends with a tasting of classic Minas pastries and cheeses, which are then wood-fired. All of this is just four hours away from Belo Horizonte.
Meanwhile, Tiradentes—a village established in the 18th century and home to Brazil’s longest-running gastronomy festival—is experiencing a new passion for wine. Pioneers such Vinícola Luiz Porto In town Vinícola Trindade, which opened in nearby Bichinho (five miles away), are poised to grow wine tourism: Visitors can now taste Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah wines while gazing at the lush Serra de São José, or sample them straight from the tanks inside the cellars. Visitors can reach the vineyards in a 50-minute drive. Mil Vidas, where the enological experience begins with a guided tour of the vineyard, focusing on the particularities of cultivation—especially the dupla poda (double pruning) technique that allows for winter harvests in Brazil—followed by a wine pairing with five award-winning cheeses. Then there’s the Tiradentes Cultural and Gastronomy FestivalThe tradition of the Tiradentes Food Festival, which began in 1998 when there were only a few restaurants in the town, continues every year, showing how far the local food scene has progressed. The streets of Tiradentes are lined with dozens and dozens of restaurants, ranging from the traditional to modern. TragaluzThe colonial-style mansion, which dates back 300 years, has been joined by its more modern sister. LagarYou can also find contemporary places such as AngatuRodolfo Maier, the young chef who gives local products a new twist.
