Joy Ride Cafe — Restaurant in Municipio Sucre

Bragging about the best Pique a lo Macho in town, but totally failing to live up to it

-19.048926°, -65.259607° Joyride, the name says it all, is not really a restaurant, but more a pub with pub grub and an attitude that calls itself probably the best bar in town with probably the best menu in “twon” (typo in the logo). Bragging is certainly a quality of kids joyriding, but does Joy Ride deliver in modesty?

Located in the heart of Sucre, Joy Ride is known for its vibrant ambiance, with a bar with TVs and sometimes live music, making it a fun place to socialise. During our visit, bar life at Joy Ride was lively with American gringos not only watching the final of the Masters Golf Tournament on big TV screens, but also commenting loudly on every shot. You may have to eat elsewhere if the Bolivian national soccer team is playing Peru, Chili or Paraguay or if the soccer giants Argentina of Brazil are not showing their dominance.

The menu offers a wide range of options, including pasta dishes such as Alfredo, which some guests found exceptional, but other options are considered mediocre, indicating variability in food preparation. In April 2025, we ordered the super Pique a lo Moche (125BS) for 3 with beef loin sautéed in medium cubes with onion, tomato, seasoned with herbs (probably pimenton), boiled egg, locoto slices, parsley, French fries and special sauce of the house. In the Joy Ride tradition, they call it probably the best traditional and flavoured pique in town.

Pique a lo Macho can be a Bolivian culinary masterpiece. The dish originated in Cochabamba, one of Bolivia’s culinary capitals, at a restaurant called Miraflores. According to legend, very hungry and drunken guests demanded food and were served a spicy, everything-left-in-the-kitchen platter. Pique a lo macho is now more than a dish, it is a social meal, often shared among friends or family and popular in local eateries (called “pensiones”) and fast-food style restaurants across Bolivia after heavy beer drinking. The name “a lo macho” was a humorous challenge to eat something so spicy and filling. Both the name and size contribute to a kind of informal challenge: can you finish it alone; are you “macho” enough?

We went looking for the flavour in the Pique a lo Macho, but did not find it. Instead, we found a lot of liquid of juice on the bottom which made the French fries soggy. This was not a Bolivian culinary masterpiece, served in probably the best place in town. On the contrary, the taste and textures of the dish greatly disappointed. We were not drunk enough to care less about the taste of the Pique a lo Macho. Service was good.

The Pique a lo Macho was a failure, so stop...

Got breakfast here and my God am I glad I did! The pancakes were absolutely delicious (and that's without any syrup or butter).

I can tell they were that good because I normally dislike pancakes A LOT (I just had a weird craving for them).

The breakfast comes with a hot drink (you can upgrade for 3 bolivianos to a hot chocolate). The hot chocolate was easily the best hot chocolate I've had since being in Central and South America... Gorgeous.

It also comes with a juice that was delicious!

Really couldn't have asked for more, the breakfast was probably a little more expensive than some cheap cafes but it is worth EVERY...

Came here in 2018 and 2023 and was amazing, excellent service and good atmosphere. Came here March 2024, waiter didn’t come to collect our order after 15 mins despite there only being one other person in the place. Ordered 2 coffees at the counter, after another 20 mins chased these up - was told there was a problem with the machine, not offered an alternative or apology. Sandwich came which was great, ate this and as we were leaving (40 mins after ordering) they brought one coffee over, no apology for the delay. They were very surprised when I said after 40 mins and eating I didn’t...