Peru walked away from the Los Fuegos 2026 gala in San Salvador with 70 restaurant recognitions, confirming what most food-obsessed travellers already suspect: Lima and beyond are eating extremely well right now.
The awards, run by Fine Dining Table, were handed out at El Salvador's National Palace on October 17, covering 508 restaurants and wellness hotels across 16 countries. Thirteen Peruvian spots took the top Tres Fuegos rating, including the heavyweight names you'd expect — Central, Maido, Astrid y Gastón, Kjolle, La Mar, Mayta and Rafael — alongside Osaka, Cosme, Don Eduardo, Mérito, Piedra and Verbena. What's interesting is the range: tasting-menu temples sit next to a coastal cevichería (La Mar) and chef-driven neighbourhood tables.
Below the top tier, the list gets genuinely useful for trip planning. Eighteen restaurants earned Dos Fuegos, a mix that runs from Mil in the Sacred Valley to Nikkei spot Tomo Nikkei, traditional Fiesta, and Testeo, one of Lima's most buzzed-about young kitchens. Sixteen more took Un Fuego — including Isolina, Huaca Pucllana (dining beside pre-Inca ruins), Arequipa's La Nueva Palomino favourite La Picanteria, and Salo Omakase — plus 23 recommended tables like Pescados Capitales, Panchita and La 73.
The scoring goes beyond the plate, apparently. Evaluators weigh service, design, atmosphere, consistency and the overall emotional punch of a meal, not just technique. That matters if you're using the list to build an itinerary — these are places where the whole evening is the point.
One caveat worth noting: the write-up flags that at least one closed restaurant appeared among the winners, a reminder to double-check that a place still exists before booking a table around it.
The gala followed the first Fine Dining Week El Salvador (October 12–16), which brought over 100 chefs from a dozen countries into Salvadoran kitchens for 27 one-off collaborative dinners. Peru cooked alongside teams from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, the US and others — and the host country itself earned 43 recognitions, with El Xolo and Monarca taking Tres Fuegos. Career honours went to Leonor Espinosa, Juan Manuel Barrientos and others.
For travellers, the takeaway is simple: a Peru food trip no longer means chasing three reservations. The list spans traditional picanterías, Nikkei kitchens, regional classics and avant-garde tasting menus, so you could build a week in Lima alone — then add Arequipa, Cusco or the coast and still have untried tables left over.
