The best restaurant for lunch in Quito, Ecuador isn’t on TripAdvisor or Instagram. It isn’t in any travel guides, either. In fact, it’s tucked between a gas station and the Lions Club Medical Center.

But after almost a month in Ecuador, it’s hands down our favorite place for lunch in Ecuador, and we can promise that for just $3.60 per person, you will walk out full, happy, and feeling as though you’ve found a home away from home.

Habana 360 was located less than a block away from our AirBnB during our month in Quito, Ecuador. Having heard about the Ecuadorian custom of having a small “brekkie” and light dinner, with a large almuerzo in between, we quickly set about visiting various options for lunch both in our neighborhood and in the old center where most visitors stay.

But after trying other options, it quickly became apparent that it was futile to try to find a better spot, and much more efficient to visit Habana 360 as often as possible.

If you’re headed to Quito, be sure to visit. Here are some tips (most of which apply to any restaurant far from the tourists):

The lunch menu is posted out front on a chalkboard each day around 11:00 or so. Take a moment to read it if you aren’t willing to gamble on pointing and ending up with tripe. (A delicacy I only narrowly avoided one day . . . .) If you’re really cautious and your Spanish isn’t great, you can try using the camera feature on Google translate to decipher the offerings, though in our experience it can be less than reliable with handwritten menu boards. (One day it told us the main dish choices included shoes. Fortunately, it was not correct.)
Walk through the first room, up two stairs, and pay in cash at the register on your left. If the person at the register asks you any questions and you don’t speak Spanish, she’s probably asking whether you have something smaller than whatever bill or coin you just paid with, so try to pay with smaller bills. (Advice that applies all over Ecuador.)
Don’t bother buying an additional beverage; a juice and glasses of water are included in the price (both of which we drank daily and never got sick).
Head to the cafeteria-style line at the back and take a tray. You’ll need to select one of two daily flavors of juices, and then will need to tell the worker which of the two soups and which of the two entrees you’d like. Pointing is fine. He’ll ask what side dishes you want. We always got them all. (Just say “todos.”) Then he’ll ask which salad you want. (There are usually two options, often coleslaw or a garden salad.) Again, pointing is fine. You’ll take a dessert and then you can pour yourself a glass of water from the dispenser at the end.
We had zero problems with any of the food we ate or drank there, including fresh salads and other foods our “peel it, cook it, or skip it”-advising doctor would not have approved.
Although we genuinely couldn’t come up with a dish we didn’t enjoy, favorites were the fajitas de pollo (chicken fajitas), lasaña (lasagna), and bandeja paisa (a Colombian dish with rice, beans, a fried egg, pork, and more).
The first day we were there, we couldn’t figure out what to do with our dishes. Through the magic of watching what everyone else did and finally asking a solo diner, we figured out that you should leave your dishes on the table and a staff person will pick them up.
Don’t go anything less than very hungry. One day I couldn’t possibly eat another bite, and it caused a bunch of worried inquiries from the very kind staff, concerned I hadn’t enjoyed my meal. After that, I started eating breakfast much earlier so I’d be hungrier when I went.
Go. The first day we went, we were intimidated. We didn’t see anyone who wasn’t a local. (In fact, out of all our visits, we never saw anyone with a guidebook or camera.) As with most good local restaurants, a McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, and local chains (Pollo Campero!) are all within a block or two. But resist. The food is better and cheaper at Habana 360, and after your lunch surrounded by office workers and retirees, you’ll feel full in more ways than one.

Not listed on TripAdvisor, Instagram or in a guidebook?! Best lunch in Quito.