Traditional Santanderean dishes include:
Cabro : Goat meat.
Mute : A thick soup made with beans, corn, garbanzos, potatoes, various meats including fresh pig feet, pork loin chops, beef spareribs.
Fritanga : If you don't mind some grease and fried food, you should try fritanga. It consists of an assortment of different kind of sausages, yuca, potatoes, corn, steak, and others, all deep-fried. You can find a traditional Fritanga market in the town of Girón located about 15 minutes from Bucaramanga.
Culonas : Short for Hormigas Culonas which literally translates 'big ass ants', is a traditional dish, found nowhere else in Colombia, and maybe around the world. The Culonas are 'leaf-cutter' ants big ones!. Their heads, wings and legs are removed and the rest of the body is toasted and salted.
Caldo : It's a light soup. It contains water of course, but sometimes milk is added, potatoes, cilantro coriander, and tostados traditional flat round toasted bread. Additionally it may contain rib meat with bone or 1 or 2 eggs. It's accompanied with Santanderean Arepa.
Don't forget to try all the fresh fruits you can find at either the traditional markets, or at the supermarkets. Pineapples from Lebrija Located 35-40 minutes from Bucaramanga are famous for their size and sweetness. The best pineapples in the world, with only competition from the Hawaiian pineapples. Oranges, tangerines and limes are traditional crops and can be found all year round like most of the other fruits. Mango, Papaya, Watermelon, Maracuyá passion fruit, Guava, Curuba, Pitahaya... the list is very extensive.
Some of the most popular places to eat in Bucaramanga are:
"Desayunadero Tony"
"Desayunadero El Viejo Chiflas"
"Restaurante Mercagán"
"Restaruante La Puerta del Sol"
"Restaruante Shanghai"
"PizzerÃa Caracol"
"Zirus Pizza"
