Dine at Interno restaurant
Dining at Restaurante Interno, Cartagena
Because of the cozy ambiance, we almost forgot we were in a prison….until we saw the bars in front of the kitchen!
Restaurant Interno, is a restaurant in la Cárcel de Mujeres de San Diego, Cartagena’s women’s prison. Interno’s cooks have been trained by professional chefs, and the waitresses have also received professional training. The project was created with the motto: “Segundas oportunidades.” Here the inmates are given a second chance and will soon be able to reintegrate better into society. Through training and experience gained, the cooks often have jobs even before they leave prison. With the proceeds from the restaurant, living conditions in prison are improved.
Dinner
From the moment we walked into Restaurante Interno, the atmosphere was nice; serene, a cozy setting and quiet Latin music. Because of this ambiance, we almost forgot we were in a prison. Until we saw the bars in front of the kitchen! It was a strange idea to eat in a prison, but it was also nice that we could make a small contribution to improving the living conditions of the women.
Star chefs
We chose an appetizer of Ceviche in coconut milk, a main course of -Cartagena-style steak with coconut rice and a dessert with 3 preparations of coconut. We could indeed tell that the cooks were trained by Michelin “star chefs,” because the food was beautifully prepared and tasted delicious.
The lady in the service was friendly, but somewhat shy, so it did not come to a chat. Because the food was served quickly, we were done in an hour. Afterwards, we thought it would have been helpful to say we wanted to take it easy and allow time between the courses.
After dinner, we took a taxi back to Getsemaní. Here we ended the evening on the cozy Plaza de Trinidad, with a glass of wine and some people watching, while we thougt of the women in the prison and their untold stories.
#ColombiaMyWay tips and information
- By Colombian standards, Interno is an expensive restaurant. We paid COP90,000/$22.50 for a 3-course menu. If you want a bottle of wine to go with it, you pay about COP120,000/$30 extra
- Reservations are required. We did so via WhatsApp and we quickly received confirmation
- Restaurante Interno is easily accessible by taxi and Uber
Click on these links for more information: Website Restaurante Interno
Written by Jeanette
Travel date September 2019
Updated September 2025
September 2020 update: Restaurant Interno closed end end 2019/beginning 2020. Update September 2025: Restaurant Interno is permanently closed. According to information on the internet, the future of the restaurant already became uncertain in june 2019, because the San Diego prison was slated for relocation to a new facility in Turbaco. This move was mandated by a 2009 Constitutional Court ruling citing poor infrastructure and health risks within the prison, not because of problems with the restaurant itself.
Want to know more about Cartagena? Then check out our travel guide Cartagena.
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