El Puestico

From street cart to the top of the food chain

In El Puestico, you start as a man fresh out of rehab with one last chance, an improvised stove, plastic tables and a loan shark who wants his cut every day. Serve traditional Colombian food on a 90s Bogotá street — cheese arepas, empanadas, Bogotá-style ajiaco, bandeja paisa — manage perishable stock, and grow your business from a street cart into your own restaurant.

But cooking is only half the job. In this barrio you'll deal with greasy griddles, running out of gas, blackouts, counterfeit bills, police patrols and the dangers of the night.

The barrio has a story

Six neighbors live on your block: a mechanic, a pharmacist, an old coffee vendor, a security guard, a cop and a homeless man who knows more than he says. Over six weeks the neighborhood slides into crisis, and every conversation counts. Earn their trust, betray them, fall in love — or get yourself killed.

161 story passages · 6 character routes · 12 endings.

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Features

• Real-time kitchen: run several cooking stations at once, wash the piling dishes and restock at the market.
• Rush hours: feel the lunch rush and the after-work crowd, the quiet afternoon lull and the lonely tension of late night.
• Orders and service: check the order pads, serve dishes before they go cold and collect the bill before impatient customers walk out.
• Unforgiving economy: daily cash count, loans from the loan shark or the bank, credit with suppliers, nightly books.
• Staff and security: hire cooks, waiters, cashiers and guards to delegate work and protect the register.
• Choices with consequences: your relationships with the neighbors decide how — and whether — you make it out.
• Fully bilingual (EN / ES): switch languages at any time from Options, plus text-size accessibility settings.

How to install (Windows)

1. Download ElPuestico_Beta.zip.
2. Unzip it anywhere on your computer.
3. Run ElPuestico_Beta.exe.

Content note

Violence, extortion, drug references and strong language. Recommended for 16+.

Feedback

This is an active beta. Found a bug, or have thoughts on prices, cooking times or order pacing? Leave a comment below — every one gets read.

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En español

En El Puestico empiezas recién salido de rehabilitación, con una última oportunidad, fogones improvisados, mesas plásticas y la presión diaria de pagar la cuota del gota a gota. Atiende comensales con recetas tradicionales (arepas de queso, papas rellenas, empanadas, ajiaco bogotano, bandeja paisa), gestiona insumos perecederos y crece de una caseta ambulante a un restaurante propio en la Bogotá de los 90.

Pero cocinar es solo la mitad del trabajo: en este barrio tendrás que lidiar con la grasa en la plancha, el gas por acabarse, los cortes de luz, los billetes falsos, las visitas de la patrulla y el peligro de la noche.

El barrio tiene historia: seis vecinos, seis semanas de crisis y 12 finales. Gánate su confianza, traiciónalos, enamórate… o no salgas vivo.

Instalación: descarga ElPuestico_Beta.zip, descomprímelo y ejecuta ElPuestico_Beta.exe. ¡A la orden y a cocinar!

Feedback: es una beta activa. Déjanos tus comentarios sobre errores, precios, tiempos de cocción o ritmo de los pedidos; todos se leen.

If Windows shows a "Windows protected your PC" warning, click More info → Run anyway. The game isn't digitally signed yet; this is normal for indie games.

Enjoying El Puestico? You can buy me an arepa on Ko-fi to support development.