Inside Job: The Gourmet Restaurant in a Colombian Women’s Prison
- News Deeply
At El Restaurante Interno in Cartagena, diners feast on sirloin steak and coconut shrimp – all prepared, cooked and served by the female inmates of San Diego women’s prison.
On a humid summer night in the heart of Cartagena, the ominous front doors of the San Diego Women’s Prison swing open, not to admit new inmates, but to welcome customers hungry for an unusual dining experience.
This is El Restaurante Interno, a gourmet restaurant housed within the prison and staffed by inmates. A sign reading “second chances” frames the entrance, and inmates-turned-waitresses clad in colorful headwraps stand by with notebooks in hand, ready to serve guests.