Ica offers a decent array of restaurants to satisfy most palates and budgets. As well as the usual Peruvian offerings that are fairly ubiquitous, you can find decent Italian eateries and good places for breakfast or sandwiches. There are also a couple of more upscale restaurants, if your budget can stretch to it.

Chifas are a fixture in Ica, though few have vegetarian dishes. Pizza places selling by the slice or pie surround the Plaza de Armas. Small cafés in town of regional bodegas is the place to go to sample Ica's wines and piscos without going out of the city. Several are on Lima, two blocks from the main square. Other local treats to try are all types of dishes prepared with pallares (butter beans), and the chocotejas, a delicious mouthful of chocolate filled with soft caramel and pecans, lemon rind, güinda (sour cherry), castañas (cashews), fig, coconut or pasas borrachas (raisins soaked in pisco).

Daily specials run $1.35-4.70. Ica Market is a centrally located supermarket (Avenida Municipalidad 260). Mercado La Palma (San Martín and Ayabaca) and the mercado central (Calle Grau, between Amazonas and Tumbes) are open daily 6 a.m.-6 p.m., with eateries serving only until 2 p.m.