As an expat, it can take a while to venture out and find all the “bare necessities” like bacon. My go-to place for meat is a butcher shop called “Koller” and it’s located near the corner of Carrera 15 and Calle 95 (not sure what the exact address is but it’s easier to remember 15 and 95). The building’s facade is blue so it’s easy to find once you know where it is. Also, usually there’s a avocado cart outside, but this doesn’t distinguish it from other street corners.
When you go inside, it’s so sort of like shopping in Ye Olde Europe. Shopping is a three stage process. There are chairs in the center of the shop for those who are not actively shopping. Right inside the door is a red number dispenser (just like in Europe) and once your number is called or is visible on the flashing sign, you go round the butcher shop’s meat counters from right to left. First is the counter with cuts of beef. Then, as you move to your left, with the butcher lady mirroring your move on the other side of the counter, you reach the pork, deli meats, sausages, hotdogs, bacon, pates, and so on. All the meats are prepared by Koller and other grocery stores and restaurants advertise that they carry Koller brand hotdogs or ham. The butcher lady puts all your meat in a plastic basin. When you move to the sandwich stand and checkout, another person will ring you up. Then you take the chit from that person over to the cashier which completes the circle around the room. Once you’ve paid (you can pay by credit card), you go back to the checkout and get your (now) bagged meat. The security guard offered to help carry my bag to my car.
I find the prices at Koller to be slightly less than in the U.S. as I’ve bought three pound filet for about $30. The shop is very clean and the only part that is a big strange is that you can’t buy just a part of the tenderloin. All or nothing. They do have pre-cut pieces so I guess one could buy those. I just buy the whole thing and cut them myself. The bacon is almost without fat so it cooks up really fast. It’s more like Danish bacon or pancetta.
This is where I get my chiles.