Weekend getaway from Bogota · #9 of 10
Chia & Andres Carne de Res
The legendary Andres Carne de Res: an 11-dining-room hacienda of grilled meats, costumed staff and all-night dancing in Chia, 45 minutes north. Family circus by day, Colombia's wildest party after dark.
Andres Carne de Res in Chia is less a restaurant than a rite of passage: a sprawling hacienda with 11 dining rooms and space for 3,300 people, where costumed staff serve mountains of grilled meat and the whole place turns into Colombia's most joyful party after dark. Build a lazy sabana afternoon around it - dairy-town desserts, a plaza stroll - then surrender to the show.
Getting there
Everyone cabs or rideshares home after a night at Andres; arrange the return ride rather than driving yourself if you plan to stay late.
Afternoon and night - Saturday
Sabana snacks, then the temple of asado- 13:00 PMDrive
Head north into the sabana
Roll out of Bogota on the Autopista Norte; Chia is only 45 minutes north, so this is the gentlest of all the weekend escapes.
📍 Bogota, Colombia
- 24:00 PMFood
Dessert detour to Sopo
Swing east to Sopo, the sabana dairy town where Alpina was founded in 1945. Its strip of shops selling yogurt, arequipe and postres is a beloved pre-dinner pilgrimage of its own.
📍 Sopo, Cundinamarca
Tip · Treat it as an appetizer round; the main event can feed a village.
- 35:15 PMSight
Stroll Chia's center
Back in Chia, walk the town center and plaza as the afternoon cools; the town has been Bogota's weekend playground for generations.
📍 Chia, Cundinamarca
- 46:00 PMFood
Enter the madhouse: Andres Carne de Res
Arrive early to take it in: a hacienda-like compound of 11 themed dining rooms packed with found-object art. By day it is family territory, complete with a children's zone of clowns, crafts and face painting.
📍 Andres Carne de Res, Chia
Tip · Reservations are strongly recommended; weekends sell out.
- 57:30 PMFood
The asado feast
Order the classics: plates piled with grilled meats and roast papas criollas, plus pitchers of fresh juice or aguardiente. Staff in wild costumes, gauchos to jungle animals, keep the show rolling between courses.
📍 Andres Carne de Res, Chia
Tip · Go in a group and order to share; the menu is famously enormous.
- 69:30 PMActivity
The restaurant becomes the party
After dark the tables push back and Andres turns into a raucous dinner-and-a-show nightclub: dancing between the tables, roaming performers, and a crowd that carouses into the early hours. Not the hour for young kids.
📍 Andres Carne de Res, Chia
- 712:30 AMDrive
Roll home to Bogota
Cab or rideshare back down the Autopista Norte with the rest of the pilgrims. Nobody leaves Andres early; plan for a late one.
📍 Chia, Cundinamarca
Tip · Not up for the trip? Andres DC in Bogota's Zona Rosa runs the same party across four floors, from cielo down to infierno.
Where to eat
Grilled meats piled high with roast papas criollas; the defining Colombian country feast, served with maximum theater.
The dairy town where Alpina was born in 1945; yogurt, arequipe and cuajada con melao make the classic sabana dessert stop.
The party runs on both; pace the first to survive the dance floor.
When to go
The show never stops; weekends are the full spectacle, weekdays are calmer and easier to book.
Good to know
- Reserve a table ahead for Friday or Saturday; the place packs out despite seating 3,300.
- Bring the kids by day for the children's zone, but wrap the family visit before the nightclub hours.
- Arrange your ride home in advance; the party ends late and everyone leaves at once.
- Andres DC in Bogota's Zona Rosa is the four-story in-town alternative when you cannot make the trip to Chia.
