Turtle's Head sits on La Nina near Juan Leon Mera in La Mariscal, a block south of the JW Marriott, brewing its own beer since 1999. The Scottish owned pub predates almost every craft name in the city, and Tripadvisor reviewers still rate it among the best places in Ecuador for a home brewed pint.
Who would love it: beer drinkers who want house ales and a game of pool in a low key local. Who would hate it: anyone expecting a glossy taproom with a tasting flight menu and table service.
The pub lives in a converted house set back behind a gate, and entry is by ringing the intercom at the door, a quirk that keeps the room feeling like a club for those in the know. Inside there are dartboards, a pool table and a long bar with the house beers on tap. The setup has barely changed in decades, which is part of why the regulars guard it.
Order whatever sits freshest on the house lineup, which runs through ales and a stout brewed on the premises, then a plate from the pub kitchen if you want to settle in. Untappd check-ins point to the darker house beers as the picks, and the pints are priced fairly for the neighbourhood. The kitchen leans toward pub staples built to soak up a session.
Best time to go is a weeknight evening, when the room is calm enough to chat with the bar and the beer is poured without a wait. Weekends bring darts and pool games and a fuller house. The pub keeps evening hours and closes on Sundays, so plan a Saturday visit before the week winds down.
It belongs on any tour of Quito's best craft beer bars and the wider best bars in Quito. Run a beer crawl from here to Bandido Brewing in the Old Town, Cherusker for German style pours, or back to Finn McCool's a few streets over.
