There are plenty of nice restaurants in San Jose, greater San Jose, and major tourist destinations like Tamarindo, Jaco and Manuel Antonio...

There are plenty of nice restaurants in San Jose, Escazu and Santa Ana in greater San Jose, and major tourist destinations like Tamarindo, Jaco and Manuel Antonio, and in all five-star hotels and resorts. The concurrent influx of immigrants and tourists from all over the world has led to a rapid rise in culinary sophistication. These days, it is not difficult to find ethnic cuisines such as French, Italian, Asian, Brazilian, Lebanese, Indian, Mexican and Peruvian.

Occasionally, you may come across a nice soda, a small, inexpensive restaurant that sells comida tipica (typical food); the food here will be hygienic and wholesome, but do not expect it to be very flavorsome.

The best way to discover good restaurants is by asking the locals, like your hotel manager or your lodging host; they will probably recommend the best places to eat where you do not have to pay tourist prices. They may be a bit out of the way, but the taxi fare would probably be worth it.

There is no shortage of fast-food restaurants in Costa Rica; popular franchises are opening around the country: MacDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Denny’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway and Taco Bell to name a few.