Santaní has no restaurants in the formal sense. What it has are comedores — small family-run eateries serving a set lunch of soup, meat, and rice for a few thousand guaraníes. Look for hand-painted signs near the market and along the main road. The food is plain and satisfying: sopa paraguaya (a dense cornbread baked with cheese and onion), chipa (a cheese and cassava bread sold from street carts), and grilled meat eaten with mandioca.
Street snacks are the best eating in town. Women sell tortillas from baskets near the plaza in the morning, and there are usually a few empanada vendors setting up in the afternoons. Cold drinks — beer, soft drinks, and bottled tereré — are available from the small shops (despensas) scattered through the town.