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One of the region’s best-known restaurant ranking programs has included two Panama restaurants on the list of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Both restaurants represent Panama’s growing emergence as a center for world-class gastronomy. The Latin America’s Best Restaurants list reflects the views of 300 restaurant industry experts from across Latin America, giving the results extra credibility. 

Maito, which has been on Latin America’s 50 Best list for seven consecutive years, makes this year’s list at 18. The flagship of Grupo Maito, the pioneer of Panama contemporary cuisine, located in Coco del Mar, is one of the most lauded restaurants in Panama, and was the first Central American restaurant to make the list in 2016, and has appeared as high as 6th.

Chef Mario Castrellón was one of the first chefs to promote a new Panamanian contemporary cuisine, combining Caribbean, Indigenous, Asian, Creole, Afro-Antillean, and American influences, the judges said. His menu takes customers on a “whirlwind tour” of the different cultures present in Panama’s multicultural culinary identity, like nowhere else,” according to the list.

Sample dishes at Maito: shrimp wonton and pesca chombasia, described by the list as “a fish dish celebrating the unique mix of cultural influences that are found in Panamanian cuisine.”

“Being on the #LatAm50Best list is more than a recognition,” Maito posted on social media. “It is an opportunity to open doors from Panama to the world, to show where we come from and where we can go when we cook with identity and purpose.” 

The second Panama restaurant to make the list is Cantina del Tigre, a Calle 68 restaurant specializing in ceviche. Cantina del Tigre came in at 47th, earning praise for chef Fulvio Miranda’s “boldness and creativity.”

Sample dishes: Cebiche de mamón chino (rambutan ceviche), red rice, mondongo (a hearty traditional Latin American stew made with tripe), and rice tamales with prawns. The staff also serves “generous rounds of papaya negronis and pepino (cucumber) mezcal sours.”

“The Panamanian gastronomy scene is living an extraordinary moment,” said Gloria De León Zubieta, administrator of the Tourism Authority of Panama, in a statement shared with ELLAS, the magazine. These recognitions are proof of the talent, discipline, and innovation capacity of our chefs and entrepreneurs.

The 2025 choices for the 13th edition of the Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list were revealed at a live awards ceremony in Antigua, Guatemala, on Dec. 2.