How we verify listings

Every listing carries a badge with the month of its latest check and how it was done. We never write a bare “verified”.

Checked Nov 2026 · certifier list

What each method means

• Certifier list. We matched this listing against the certifier’s published list.
• Phone. We confirmed the details by phone.
• In person. We checked the details in person.
• Hotel reply. The hotel answered our questions in writing.
• Official site. We checked the details on the place’s own or an official website.
• Press. These details come from published press or travel articles; we haven’t confirmed them directly.
• Community contact. The community passed these details to our team directly; they aren’t published online.
• From maps and listings. We found the place on maps or listing sites but haven’t checked it any other way yet. These listings carry a warning badge instead.

At launch, most listings were checked online in November 2026. Phone, in-person and hotel checks are marked as such when we make them.

Kashrut

We show the certifying agency and what it says: meat, dairy or pareve, chalav Yisrael, pas Yisrael, bishul Yisrael, mehadrin. When the certifier doesn’t say, we leave the line out rather than guess. Certification can change at any time, so check the certificate on the wall when you arrive.

Hours and Shabbat

Hours are in Panama time (UTC−5, all year). We don’t publish hours that would put a kosher place open on Shabbat: on Friday they must end by 5:15 PM, before the year’s earliest candle lighting, and on Saturday start at 7:30 PM or later. The only exceptions are a few shops run by non-Jewish owners that sell certified products, and each of those says so beside its hours. If we can’t read a place’s published hours with certainty, we leave them out.

“Open now” counts every kosher food place as closed on Shabbat and Yom Tov.

Walking times

Walks from hotels to shuls are measured along a mapped walking route between the two buildings’ map points, at about 80 metres a minute. Other distances are straight lines between map points, and we say so where we show them.

What we never publish

• Security details of community buildings, or who uses a mikveh and when.
• Other operators’ kosher programs, tours or packages.
• Our own internal research notes.

Corrections

Something wrong or missing? Write to info@panamaunpacked.com or WhatsApp us from the box below. We change a listing once we’ve confirmed the change, and its badge then shows the new date. Start with the kosher restaurants or the synagogues.