In Costa Rica, you'll find a great selection of restaurants, serving food from a variety of world cuisines. No matter what your tastes or dietary needs, Costa Rica has just the place for you. With both Caribbean and Pacific coasts, seafood is fresh, abundant and cheap. Try a filet of fresh sea bass, have a lobster cooked to mouth-watering perfection, or try one of the local ceviches, a delicious seafood cocktail.
There are plenty of restaurants with an open grill, where tender slices of home-grown beef simmer. Most hotels and restaurants offer excellent vegetarian fare, and a several restaurants cater exclusively to vegetarians. Immigrants to Costa Rica have founded some outstanding French, German, Swiss, Middle Eastern, and Chinese restaurants. The country has a long tradition of accommodating a wide variety of tastes.
In downtown San Jose, you can put together your own move able feast, walking from one restaurant to another to sample a variety of specialties.
In Costa Rica your day will begin with a cup of aromatic, locally-grown coffee. Some of the world's finest coffee is grown here, and the country offers tours of coffee plantations, where you can sample different roasts and blends. After dinner, you'll have another cup. Be sure to sample the excellent, local beers and liquors as well.
Two hearty Costa Rican dishes offered in virtually every eatery are gallo pinto, a mixture of rice and beans, and casado, a meat and vegetable stew. In restaurants that specialize in traditional food, visitors will find tamales and a variety of other local specialties. For those with a sweet tooth, try some of the delicious local candies and cookies. Popular sweets include chicopilia, made from raspberries, pineapples and other fruit, and soban de trapiche, of sugar cave juice.
Other delicious sweets are the cajetas, made from condensed milk and shaped like cookies or made into halls mixed with coconut Costa Rica is famed for its lively night scene, featuring bars with live music and shows, and plenty of discotheques to work on your Latin dance steps. Guests can enjoy a little light gambling in their hotel casinos. The industrious, fun-loving Ticos work hard, and they also play hard.
After hours, the city comes alive with music and a congenial atmosphere that lasts well into the wee hours. The sounds of live folk music, rock bands, Caribbean music, salsa and merengue drift out into the street from bars filled with merry revelers. After your full days of sunbathing on the beach, climbing volcanoes, river rafting, bungee jumping, fishing or diving, Costa Rica has just the right restaurant and bar to enjoy a wonderful meal and unwind!
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