Don Diablo Steakhouse Medellín — Local services in Medellín

We recently visited Dan Diablo Steakhouse in Medellín with high expectations. The restaurant is stylish, the staff were welcoming, and we were quickly seated on the second floor. However, while the service was prompt and the food was solid, the atmosphere was deeply unsettling — to the point that we couldn’t enjoy our meal.

The upstairs dining room is arranged oddly, with one large communal table in the center and all smaller tables lined against the walls. This made the space feel less intimate and more exposed. Our table was situated very close to the others, which unfortunately made us privy to conversations we wish we hadn’t overheard.

To one side of us sat an older man with a much younger local boy — likely no older than 18 — who, based on their conversation and body language, had just met the man that night. The boy, dressed in shorts and sneakers despite the restaurant’s stated dress code, mentioned this was his first time ever having steak. The man seemed eager to rush through the meal. While the restaurant posts signs about not supporting sex tourism, the reality in the room told a different story — and this interaction, in particular, was difficult to ignore or overlook.

Elsewhere in the room were more examples that gave the space a transactional, uncomfortable energy: on one side, a group of five men dining with two women dressed in highly provocative clothing; on the other, what appeared to be a first date between two men who didn’t seem to know each other well. Behind us, the large center table was filled with 10 to 12 very loud, boisterous guests whose volume overwhelmed the space. The overall result was an atmosphere that felt chaotic, impersonal, and at times, disturbing — not the environment you expect when dining at a restaurant of this caliber.

We did our best to focus on the food, which was quite good. We started with a fresh green salad with stracciatella cheese, which was well-prepared. My wife ordered the steak tartare, which she said was outstanding — among the best she’s had. I ordered the 40-day dry-aged New York strip, which was also flavorful and tender, though the expected boldness from the dry aging process wasn’t as pronounced as I’d hoped. Unfortunately, my original side choice of asparagus was unavailable — a disappointment at this level of dining. I opted for grilled vegetables instead.

Beverage availability was also lacking. My wife initially requested a Soda Michelada, and then a yerbabuena lemonade, both of which were unavailable. She eventually settled for a natural lemonade, which was fine — but again, not what you’d expect from a restaurant positioning itself as premium.

At the end of the meal, although the waiter kindly asked if we’d like dessert or coffee, we declined. Given the uncomfortable nature of the environment and the company in the room, we were eager to leave.

Dan Diablo clearly has talented chefs and a polished front-of-house team, but the management needs to take its stated mission — especially regarding dress code and ethical standards — more seriously. Allowing the presence of what appears to be sex tourism clientele contradicts the image of a world-class steakhouse and ultimately detracts from what could otherwise be an excellent dining experience. For the sake of the restaurant’s reputation — and Medellín’s hospitality scene in general — I truly hope they...

Colombia has some of the best beef and pork in the world. Sadly, they do not import into the US, so I am always excited when I visit to have a delicious grilled steak, as it's usually excellent.

I read about the couple behind this restaurant and decided to make it our first reservation on this trip; we loved it so much that we even came back a week later when we came back into town.

Reservations are highly recommended as it's a small restaurant and popular with large groups. If you only speak English, you will be very comfortable here as the staff all speak English and offer multi-lingual menus. The restaurant shares its ground floor with a sister restaurant, but you should sit upstairs as that is a much nicer room.

The upstairs offers a bar and the main dining room, adorned with rustic polished concrete, hints of natural wood, fine fabric finishings, tall plants, and beautiful wallpaper. If it's not too busy, you can sneak around the back corner to catch a glimpse of the fire grill where the Chef and his team are hard at work, firing up steaks over eucalyptus wood.

I recommend starting with a cocktail as they are all made to order with fresh juices and usually served with a flower as a garnish. As appetizers, we ordered a salad with fresh oranges (excellent) and homemade chorizo, which was a MUST. This is where we first tried the traditional Limon Mandarina, the classic green fruit with an orange interior. This dish is super basic but delicious: grilled pork sausage sprinkled with fresh lemon. YUM!!!

Next came the steak; we ordered a 650gm bone-in dry aged rib eye to share. This was almost $100 US, but it was worth it as everything else was so reasonable. We ordered the baby local potatoes, which came with a steak sauce we never touched. As part of the experience, the server will present you with a decorative box they open with fanfare so you can choose your steak knife. There are at least 10 in a box, and they are from around the world. All are sharp, and each is more unique than the next. My wife chose a Japanese knife with a handle shaped like a Narwhale, and I decided on a rustic French knife with a horn handle.

The steak was delivered by the Chef himself, who introduced the dish and its accompanying potatoes and steak sauce. I am proud of my cooking skills, but I have never gotten a crust on my steak at home that is this delicious. Perfectly rare and tasty, we were in paradise. The potatoes were super potatoey, and while the steak sauce was flavorful, there was no way I would put a sauce on this delightful piece of meat. We ate the whole dish with glasses of Malbec, and I even cleaned off the bone for good measure.

We do not usually order dessert, but the server caught wind that my birthday had just passed, so she brought us a complimentary dessert. It was beautiful and delicious, but I completely forgot what it was. I blame the cocktail and wine.

There is always something special about your first night in a new city, and the team at Don Diablo was the perfect host. We loved the food, the decor, and even the music (until they started playing The Cars, which was weird). What was really special was that when we returned a week later, our server from our first visit remembered us and greeted us like regulars—two special nights in one...

Our expectations were high, we love doing degustation menus and enjoy wine pairings, so we were excited about this experience. We made the rez online and the restaurant was seemingly very exclusive reminding us of our rez several times which I guess was good as they take a charge for your full meal at booking and if you don't show up you are fully charged. Given the restaurant on the Saturday we ate here the rez deal ended up a strange situation as they were not at all full at all. When we made the rez we had to specify we were doing the 7 course dinner but when we were seated in a completely empty restaurant our server had no idea we had planned that menu, so it was just odd as in previous experiences they know exactly what's going on which is a nice part of the experience generally. Our server was nice enough, he spoke English for us which was a nice break from Spanish. Of the 7 course 3 were great, 1 was good and the other 3 were only ok, one I didn't like at all but likely more of a personal preference. The wines they chose in our opinion were odd, all but one were European (with all the great S American wines I expected more of these highlighted the final wine was from Mendoza which makes some of our absolute favorite reds and that wine did not disappoint. The European wines they chose were cheap wine and in a couple cases from regions where wine is not even well known, so more than anything that was odd to us. We got one of their special Margaritas and it truly was special and we know our Margs! The knife thing (I think meant to create engagement and add to the experience) was also a bit odd to us from any other similar dining we have done around the world. I would call it a good dinner but it lacked the true 'experience' feeling that we have come to expect from this type of dining. It just didn't feel special. The last photo was actually the 1st course and our favorite, we had already dug in when the pic was taken it came out much prettier for...