Introduction: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), or simply fatty liver, is a major cause of hepatic disease worldwide: its prevalence is approximately 30% in adults. In our environment the clinical charac- teristics of these patients are not known. Methodology: This was a descriptive and retrospective review of medical records from January 1, 2009 to May 31, 2013 of 266 patients diagnosed with fatty liver disease in the hepatology outpatient service at the Clinica Universitaria Colombia. Results: Of the 266 patients included in this study, 52.3 % were men and 47.7 % were women. The mean age at diagnosis was 51.6 years. The most frequently found antecedent of importance to the development of NAFLD was dyslipidemia which was found in 113 patients (42.5 %). 127 (47.8%) patients had nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and 108 (40.6%) had simple steatosis. Thirty-one patients (11.6%) had cirrhosis which was classified according to CHILD scale: 22 (70.9%) were classified as A, 8 (25.8%) were classified as B, and one (3.2 %) was classified as C. Liver biopsies were taken from 31 patients (11.6%). Conclusions: Elements of metabolic syndrome, especially dyslipidemia, are often identified in our patients with FLD. Since most of these patients are in early stages of the disease with a low percentage of cirrhotic patients, it may be that the disease progresses more slowly in our environment than elsewhere. This is a hypothesis that should be validated in other studies.