Restaurant in Panama City, Panama
Go deeper than Maito. Book this next.
La Tapa Del Coco is the right next step after Maito for anyone who wants to go deeper into Panama's food culture. Chef Isaac Villaverde's project reinterprets Afro-Antillean and Afro-Colonial cooking with clear purpose on Calle 68 Este. Booking is easy, making this one of Panama City's more accessible serious dining choices.
If you've already done Maito and want to go deeper into Panama's culinary roots, La Tapa Del Coco is where to go next. This is not a safe, crowd-pleasing Panamanian restaurant. It's a mission-driven project led by Chef Isaac Villaverde that treats Afro-Antillean and Afro-Colonial cooking as serious culinary heritage worth preserving and reinterpreting. If that framing interests you, book it. If you want a broader modern Panamanian menu with more familiar reference points, Maito remains the safer first call.
La Tapa Del Coco occupies a specific and underserved niche in Panama City's dining scene: the rescue and reinterpretation of Afro-Panamanian gastronomy. Chef Villaverde's approach takes traditional dishes from Afro-Antillean and Afro-Colonial traditions and reworks them into modern presentations without erasing their origins. This is not fusion for its own sake. The cooking is grounded in a documented cultural preservation effort, which gives the restaurant a clarity of purpose that many contemporary concept restaurants lack.
The address on Calle 68 Este puts the restaurant in Panama City proper, away from the tourist-facing clusters of Casco Viejo and Marbella. That location matters: this is a restaurant operating for people who want to eat seriously, not for foot traffic. For a returning visitor to Panama City, or someone who has already covered the obvious stops, that positioning is part of the appeal. For first-timers who want one reliable, well-known modern Panamanian dinner, Maito or Atope may be more immediately accessible entry points.
Specific details on private dining configuration at La Tapa Del Coco are not publicly confirmed, so take any specific claims elsewhere with caution. What the restaurant's positioning does suggest is that a group visit here would carry a different weight than booking a private room at a hotel restaurant or a standard upscale steakhouse. The cultural and educational dimension of the menu gives a group dinner here a built-in conversation anchor that most Panama City restaurants can't match. If you're organising a dinner for guests who want something with genuine local specificity rather than general regional cooking, La Tapa Del Coco is worth prioritising over a more generic private dining option. Compare that with venues like Cantina del Tigre, which skews more towards energy and a broader crowd-pleasing range, or Caleta, which offers a different kind of contemporary Panamanian experience. For a group that wants depth over breadth, La Tapa Del Coco makes a strong case.
Phone and website details are not currently listed in our database, so the most reliable booking path is direct contact via in-person enquiry or through a local concierge. Booking difficulty rates as easy relative to Panama City's dining scene, which means you are unlikely to face a multi-week wait, but confirming before you arrive is always advisable for any dinner with a group or a specific date in mind.
Price range is not confirmed in our current data. Given the restaurant's positioning as a serious cultural project rather than a casual eatery, expect mid-range to upper-mid pricing by Panama City standards — broadly comparable to what you'd pay at Maito or Atope, though we'd recommend confirming directly. Dress code is not specified, but the restaurant's tone suggests smart-casual is appropriate.
For the broader Panama City picture, see our full Panama City restaurants guide, our Panama City hotels guide, our Panama City bars guide, and our Panama City experiences guide.
| Detail | La Tapa Del Coco | Maito | Cantina del Tigre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | Afro-Panamanian heritage cooking | Modern Panamanian | Broader regional/casual |
| Booking difficulty | Easy | Moderate | Easy |
| Leading for | Return visitors, cultural depth | First-time Panama City diners | Groups, casual nights |
| Private dining | Not confirmed | Available | Not confirmed |
| Price range | Not confirmed | Mid-upper | Mid |
Specific menu items are not confirmed in our current data, so we won't invent dish names here. What Chef Isaac Villaverde's project is built around is modern reinterpretations of Afro-Antillean and Afro-Colonial Panamanian dishes, which historically means ingredients like coconut, plantain, yuca, seafood, and rice preparations central to the Caribbean and coastal traditions of Panama. Ask the kitchen what's currently on and what they'd recommend as the leading expression of the Afro-Panamanian tradition that day. That question will get you further than a preset order at a restaurant with this kind of mission.
Yes, and possibly better solo than in a large group for a first visit. The cultural dimension of the menu rewards curiosity and conversation with the staff, which is easier to pursue at your own pace when dining alone. Panama City's mid-range dining scene offers plenty of options for solo diners across different cuisines — see our full Panama City restaurants guide , but La Tapa Del Coco specifically offers something you won't replicate at a generic city-centre restaurant. For solo diners who want a livelier, more social atmosphere, Cantina del Tigre or Umi Restaurante Bar Izakaya would be better fits.
Booking difficulty here rates as easy, so a last-minute reservation is more feasible than at higher-demand Panama City venues. That said, given that phone and website details are not currently confirmed in our data, the practical advice is to sort contact details before you arrive in the city and confirm your reservation at least a few days out, especially if you're visiting with a group or on a specific date. For harder-to-book Panama City dining, Maito typically requires more lead time.
Bar seating details are not confirmed in our current data. Given the restaurant's positioning as a cultural and culinary project rather than a bar-forward venue, a dedicated bar counter in the style of, say, an izakaya like Umi Restaurante Bar Izakaya seems unlikely, but we'd recommend confirming directly when you make contact. If bar-side dining and a drinks-led atmosphere are priorities, our Panama City bars guide will point you in the right direction alongside your dinner plans.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Tapa Del Coco | A culinary movement dedicated to rescuing and preserving Afro-Panamanian gastronomy, highlighting Afro-Antillean and Afro-Colonial traditions. Led by Chef Isaac Villaverde, it offers modern versions of traditional dishes in the heart of Panama City. | Easy | — | ||
| Maito | Panamanian | World's 50 Best | Unknown | — | |
| Cantina del Tigre | Unknown | — | |||
| Umi Restaurante Bar Izakaya | World's 50 Best | Unknown | — | ||
| Fonda Lo Que Hay | Unknown | — | |||
| Patagonia Grill | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Panama City for this tier.
The menu isn't confirmed in our current data, so we won't invent dish names. What Chef Isaac Villaverde's project is built around is modern reinterpretations of Afro-Antillean and Afro-Colonial traditions — so the right approach is to ask the team what's leading the menu that week. This is a project driven by cultural rescue, not trend-chasing, which means the most meaningful dishes are likely the ones rooted deepest in that tradition.
Yes, and probably better solo on a first visit than in a large group. Chef Isaac Villaverde's work is built around rescuing Afro-Panamanian culinary traditions — that kind of cultural specificity rewards conversation and curiosity more than it rewards a group splitting plates. If you're coming from Maito and want more context on Panama's food heritage, solo or a table of two is the right format.
Booking difficulty here is lower than at high-demand Panama City venues like Maito, so last-minute reservations are more feasible. That said, this is a project with a specific cultural mission rather than a high-volume operation, so capacity may be limited. Given that phone and website details aren't currently listed, your most reliable booking path is a direct in-person enquiry or through a local concierge with Panama City contacts.
Bar seating details aren't confirmed for La Tapa Del Coco. The venue's positioning as a cultural and culinary project — focused on Afro-Panamanian gastronomy under Chef Isaac Villaverde — suggests the dining room experience is the main event here, not a bar-forward format. check the venue's official channels or check through a local concierge before planning a bar-only visit.
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