Where to Eat and Shop in Comuna 13: Supporting Local Businesses

How you spend money in Comuna 13 matters more than how much you spend. A tourist who drops COP 50,000 at community-run food stalls and artisan vendors has more economic impact than one who spends COP 150,000 on a tour operated by a company based in another neighborhood. Here's where your money goes furthest — for you and for the community.

Street Food That Funds Families

The food vendors along the escalator corridor are overwhelmingly neighborhood residents running small-scale operations. Many are women who started selling during the early tourism days and have grown their businesses as foot traffic increased.

Empanadas (COP 3,000–5,000): Corn-based empanadas stuffed with beef, potato, or chicken, deep-fried to order. The best vendors have lines — follow the queue. Served with ají (green hot sauce) that varies from mild to eye-watering.

Mango biche con sal y limón (COP 3,000–5,000): Green mango sliced and served with salt and lime. Refreshing, tangy, and perfectly paired with the physical effort of the escalator route. A quintessentially Colombian street food that most international visitors haven't encountered before.

Fresh juices (COP 4,000–8,000): Tropical fruit juices made to order — lulo, maracuyá (passion fruit), guanábana, and mango are the hits. Some vendors add milk (en leche) for a smoothie-like consistency. Specify if you want it with or without sugar (con o sin azúcar).

Chorizos and arepas (COP 5,000–8,000): Grilled chorizo sausages with arepa (corn cake) and lime. A heavier snack that functions as a light meal. Look for vendors who grill over charcoal rather than gas for the best flavor.

Artisan Goods Worth Buying

The souvenir vendors along the corridor sell a mix of community-produced and commercially imported goods. Here's how to tell the difference:

Community-produced: Handpainted postcards and small canvases depicting specific murals, often signed by the artist. Handmade jewelry using local beads and materials. Screen-printed t-shirts with original designs by neighborhood artists. Small wooden or ceramic pieces painted in the mural style. Prices are negotiable but fair — COP 10,000–40,000 for most items.

Commercially imported: Mass-produced Colombia-branded merchandise (flags, magnets, keychains with generic designs). These are available anywhere in Medellín and your purchase doesn't specifically benefit the community. Not bad products — just not unique to Comuna 13.

The easiest way to ensure you're buying community-produced goods: ask the vendor "¿Esto lo hiciste tú?" (Did you make this?). If they say yes, you're supporting a local artisan. If they redirect to a different vendor who did, consider buying from that person instead.

Cafés and Sit-Down Options

A growing number of small cafés and restaurants have opened along and near the escalator corridor. These range from basic local eateries serving menú del día (daily set lunch, COP 12,000–18,000 for soup + main + juice) to more tourist-oriented cafés with specialty coffee and international menus.

For the most authentic experience — and the most community impact — choose the simpler local restaurants over the newer tourist-facing ones. The food is better (Colombian home cooking beats tourist-menu versions), the prices are lower, and your money goes directly to a neighborhood family rather than to a commercial operator.

What Not to Buy

Don't buy art or photographs taken from the internet and printed on cheap materials — some vendors sell reproductions of famous murals without any connection to the original artists. Don't buy from aggressive sidewalk salespeople who intercept you on the escalators — they're often not from the neighborhood. And don't negotiate aggressively on prices that are already fair — COP 15,000 for a handpainted postcard is a reasonable price for original artwork, not a starting point for haggling.