Montevideo - Post Report Question and Answers
What typical restaurants, food delivery services, and/or takeout options are popular among expatriates?
There is great dining here, but unfortunately not a ton of diversity in the types of food you can get. Lots of good quality options for Uruguayan food, both sit down, food hall, and delivery (through PedidosYa and Rappi). Very few international options. There are a few Chinese, Indian, Korean, Lebanese, Salvadorian, Mexican options and they are not at the level you might be used to. This is the thing I miss the most about the US. Be aware that Uruguayans usually eat dinner at 9pm or later and most restaurants don't open until 8pm or later. This can limit your options quite a bit if you're dining on a different schedule. - Aug 2022
Steakhouses, sushi and pizza are widely available. PedidosYa and Rappi are two delivery services that match UY meal times (often meaning late dinners). Many restaurants offer takeout as well. - Nov 2021
The restaurants are plenty...lots of steak and sushi but not a lot of variety in the food options. This was starting to change a little with more immigrants moving into the country. Pedidosya and Rappi were available for food delivery- expensive but convenient. - Jul 2020
In Carrasco there are very few food delivery options and mostly after 7 PM. Very few restaurants around punta Carretas-Pocitos have more options. The restaurants are expensive and not good but there doesn't seem to be much else to do. There seems to be a lot of pasta, pizza, Chivitos (Uruguayan hamburger), and meat, meat and more meat. - Apr 2019
Lots of meat-the-grill restaurants of all price ranges, pizza/pasta places, and some upscale 'international cuisine' is what comes to mind when I think of restaurants. There are well-organized food delivery services that many people use, and many mid-range restaurants have takeout options. - Aug 2018
PedidosYa is a popular food delivery app that many local restaurants use. Almost anything can be delivered, including groceries from the grocery store. - Jun 2017
There is a delivery service called PedidosYa that people are happy with but I personally have never used them. They will deliver items from hundreds of restaurants around town. There are plenty of restaurants serving typical Uruguayan meats (asados), or their country's national sandwich, the 'chivito', which is like a hamburger loaded with everything you can imagine and more. There isn't a great deal of variety among restaurants and menus; if you want something 'haute' or creative, you can find it, but people that go out a lot run through the handful of places pretty quickly. And for ethnic restaurants such as Thai, Indian, or Vietnamese - you'll have to leave Uruguay to find! - Aug 2016
McDonald's and Burger King are the American fast food choices. Nothing here is really fast food. There are a lot of good places to eat here, but beef is the main thing. You can find other stuff, but you need to just look around. Local food is very bland, even the salt and pepper seem a bit bland. - Mar 2014
McDonald's and Burger King are here, although expensive. Figure on dropping around $50 per couple to eat out at a decent restaurant. Also note that the Uruguayans are obsessed with beef/BBQ, so your options will be limited. - May 2013
Fast food is limited to McDonalds and Burger King. There are lots of pizza and empanada restaurants. Most Uruguayan restaurants serve steak and potatoes. The grilled meats are great, but restaurants lack variety and spice (they don't even put black pepper on the tables). You will miss any kind of ethnic foods. Prices at restaurants are higher than I would have expected, but steak is a relative bargain. Go to Buenos Aires for the weekend if you want more variety. - Mar 2012
McDonald's and 1 Burger King. Limited. You will NOT find a Starbucks, TGIFridays, Pizza Hut or anything of that sort in Uruguay. You'd have to go to B.A. or better Santiago, Chile if that's what you want. Few decent restaurants and almost NO ethnic food. They pretty much just like their parilla = unseasoned beef as tough as leather. Oh, and mate! They cradle those mate thermoses like babies. - Jan 2009
