Managua Restaurants

At Metrocentro shopping mall there is one of these typical food courts of malls, full with fast food restaurants and a constant background noise of music, lots of people talking, food and drinks being prepared at many restaurants and chairs being moved.
At Metrocentro you can find McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway, several chicken places (at least four) and Chinese, vegetarian and Nicaraguan fast food. And there is an Eskimo with a large assortment of ice cream flavours.

Reminded me of some small places in China Town, San Fransisco. Comfotrtable seating, great music and friendly service; Sabor is one of the first Asian restaurants in Managua that has a chance of making it.

Favorite Dish: I had the curry chicken which was very good. I've also had the hummus appetizer which was excellent.

On my first morning in Managua I was eager to explore to city and also hungry for breakfast. I decided to take a walk around town, expecting to find a suitable restaurant. More than one hour and 25 blocks later I was hungrier than ever and still had found no place to eat - not a single open restaurant of any kind. I passed a couple of restaurants that I had seen the afternoon before, but they did not open until lunch. I stopped at least a half dozen people on the sidewalk and asked if there were any restaurants nearby. The kind folks directed me to three or four places but they were also closed.

I began to wonder- do the people of Nicaragua eat breakfast? My imagined answer to my own question is that in this desperately poor country - the second poorest in the Western Hemisphere - relatively few people eat in restaurants at all. Although I am sure there must be places in Managua that serve breakfast, I didn't find any.

I remembered that the Tica Bus Hotel where I was staying had a "cafeteria" so I returned there. The Tica Cafeteria consists of only a small glass case with a few pastries in it and another refrigerated case with bottled and canned drinks. I'm sure they must have a coffee pot too, but I never did like coffee. I've always preferred something cold to drink - and especially so in a hot climate like that of Managua. In the cases I found a pastry that resembled a chicken pot pie and a fruit drink with mango juice. The cost of both was less than two dollars US, and it held me over until lunch when I found an open restaurant.

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Plaza Inter, in downtown Managua, has a very nice food court with more than a dozen selections, from chinese to chicken to ice cream. There is even a McDonald's and a Pizza Hut.

I ate at the Paza Inter Food Court twice while I was in Managua, once having Indian cuisine and the other time my favorite - fried chicken. I also enjoyed an ice cream sundae. I ate here because it was convenient, inexpensive, and most of all AIR CONDITIONED. Also, there were not many other restaurants in the downtown area.

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Pollo Estrella is a Central American fast food chain which specializes in fried chicken. The also offer other dishes such as Arroz Con Pollo (Chicken and Rice). The restaurant pictured here was only about three blocks from my hotel and I ate here on the second evening that I was in Managua. Only a couple of other diners were eating at the same time, between 6 and 7 p.m. There were a couple of delivery motorcycles parked in front of the restaurant, but I saw them make no deliveries. I don't know if this means that the place was hurting for business, or that most folks in Managua eat either earlier or later.

The service was good and my fried chicken was very tasty - almost as good as Colonel Sander's original recipe, which happens to be my favorite. It was served with French fried potatoes, cole slaw and a roll. I have seen KFC outlets in many countries of the world, but I saw none in Nicaragua.

In the photo of the restaurant note the armed guard at the front door, watching the move of every passer by.

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This food stand out side the national flights terminal, next to the taxi stand is Great. They have a variety of food and refreshments that are delicious and wont dent the budget.

Favorite Dish: The dish we ordered had carne(pork I think), yuca (a root similar to potatoes) and another side, all came to about 2.50 cordobas (17crds to the $1usd). And Gatorade was about .30 crds. There was a lot of food and we were able to share it well enough. Try it... everybody that worked there was friendly and helpfull. They understood english well enough if not really brave enough to talk to long. Muy simpatico!

TGI Friday's
sports watching,
People watching,
Happy hour!

Favorite Dish: Cocktails, try Italian Margarita! Cajun Fried Chicken Salad, Cheese Nachos, Baby Back Ribs.

A Car Workshop with Chinese Restaurant inside of it!!

Favorite Dish: All!!