The Best Breakfast and Brunch Spots in Guayaquil, Ecuador

Lúdica Coffee House is a European-style coffee house popular with locals. This cafe specializes in espresso drinks and cold brews. They serve brunch, lots of great desserts, and local handcrafted, microbrew beers.

El Café de Tere was once a local secret. Nowadays, with several stores in the city, lines of hungry customers wait their turn to buy the specialty of the house, bolón de verde, or a hefty platter of tigrillo, both dishes made from green plantains. Arrive early for the best selection as they stop serving once sold out, usually just before closing.

Sailor Coffee is the perfect name for a port city like Guayaquil. They also make a superb cup of coffee, whether pour over, Aeropress, French press, or espresso. They have a great selection of bagels, sandwiches and salads, some with an international twist. Healthy options are on the menu as well, including an extensive juice bar. With weekend hours that start at 9am, this is one of the coffee shops that also makes a great place for brunch.

If you’re looking for a typical seafood breakfast, then locals recommend Picanteria La Culata, located only a couple of blocks from the Malecón 2000 boardwalk. The encebollado, a soup made with fish and garnished with onions and tomatoes, comes highly recommended and makes for an excellent hangover cure.

A local favorite with Guayaquileños, the Marrecife Marisqueria offers some of the best seafood dishes around. This restaurant is open early, but don’t look for omelettes, pancakes, or French toast – they serve traditional Ecuadorian fare only.

While ceviche may not immediately strike you as breakfast food, that isn’t the case for the thousands of people living on the Ecuadorian coast – head to any local morning market and you’ll see ceviche being sold by the bucketful. If you prefer your ceviche in a restaurant, you could do a lot worse than head to the chain restaurant, Los Cebiches de Rumiñahui, known for serving excellent Ecuadorian-style ceviches of high quality.

At El Rey del Tigrillo, you can choose from all kinds of Ecuadorian dishes but tigrillo, a dish made from mashed green plantains, eggs, and cheese, is the specialty of the house. This no-frills restaurant is laid back and very local. Be warned, the coffee is served like most Ecuadorians expect – hot water with a side of Nescafé.