El Gatopardo Restaurant - Tarija, Bolivia

by David Schneider
(Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and USA)

While living in Bolivia from 2002-2005, my wife, daughter, and I spent one year in Tarija and loved it there. The restaurant we usually ate at was the Gatopardo on La Plaza Principal, probably one of the two most popular restaurants in Tarija. We were always treated nicely (gringo customers generally are!) and made friends with several of the waiters and waitresses (see the above foto of Lin with Eli, our favorite waitress).

We would highly recommend the food and service; especially the filet mignon (although we are not generally red meat eaters) just can't be beat. I believe the price in 2005 was about $3.00 US.

Even though Lin and I are living in Washington now, we have plans to return to South America soon...especially as our 22-year-old daughter elected to stay and live in Cochabamba with her many friends (JW's).