Restaurant Guide for San Jose

Let' start our restaurant adventure with a list of our personal choices for best restaurants in San Jose Costa Rica, if you want more information on any of these restaurants, or on Costa Rica, feel free to drop us a line.

Café Mundo

This popular place mixes creative cuisine with an ambience of casual elegance. Wood tables and Art Deco wrought-iron chairs are spread spaciously around several rooms in this former colonial mansion. There's additional seating on the open-air veranda and in the small gardens both front and back. The appetizers include vegetable tempura, crab cakes, and chicken satay alongside more traditional Tico standards such as patacones (fried plantain chips) and fried yuca. There's a long list of pastas and pizzas, as well as more substantial main courses. There are nightly specials and delicious desserts. One room here boasts colorful wall murals by Costa Rican artist Miguel Cassafont. This place is almost always filled with a broad mix of San José's gay, bohemian, theater, arts, and university crowds.

Location:
200m (2 blocks) east and 100m (1 block) north of the INS building, Downtown San José

Telephone:
+(506) 2222-6190

Hours:
Open Mon-Thurs 11am-11pm; Fri 11am-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight

Macchu Picchu

Machu Picchu is an unpretentious little restaurant that is perennially one of the most popular places in San José. The menu is classic Peruvian. One of my favorite entrees is the causa limeña, lemon-flavored mashed potatoes stuffed with shrimp. The ceviche here is excellent, as is the ají de gallina, a dish of shredded chicken in a fragrant cream sauce, and octopus with garlic butter. For main dishes, I recommend corvina a lo macho, sea bass in a slightly spicy tomato-based seafood sauce. Be sure to ask for a pisco sour, a classic Peruvian drink made from pisco, a grape liquor. These folks have a sister restaurant over in San Pedro (tel. 2283-3679), and another in Santa Ana (tel. 2203-7657), set on a hillside with a great view over the valley below.

Location:
150m (1 1/2 blocks) north of the KFC on Paseo Colón, In La Sabana/Paseo Colón

Telephone:
+(506) 2222-7384 (Paseo Colon)

Hours:
Mon-Sat 11am-3pm and 6-10pm

Grano de Oro Restaurant

Even after a relocation, remodeling, and expansion, this elegant restaurant is set around a lovely interior courtyard of the wonderful Hotel Grano de Oro. The atmosphere here remains intimate, relaxed, and refined, all at the same time. The menu features a wide range of meat and fish dishes. The lomito piemontes is two medallions of filet mignon stuffed with Gorgonzola cheese in a sherry sauce, while the pernil de conejo is a rabbit thigh stuffed with a mushroom pâté and served with a Dijon mustard sauce. If you opt for fish, I recommend the macadamia-encrusted corvina, which is served with a light and tangy orange sauce. Be sure to save room for the "Grano de Oro pie," a decadent dessert with various layers of chocolate and coffee mousses and creams. This place has a good wine list, including a range of options by the glass. When the weather's nice, grab a table around the fountain in the courtyard, a particularly nice option for lunch.

Location:
150m (1 1/2 blocks) south of Paseo Colón, In La Sabana/Paseo Colón

Telephone:
+(506) 2255-3322

Hours:
Open Daily 6am-10pm

Olio

The exposed brick walls, dark wood wainscoting, and stained-glass lamps imbue this place with character and romance. Couples might want to grab a table in a quiet nook, while groups tend to dominate the large main room or crowd the bar. There are even a few outdoor tables on a narrow sidewalk beside some train tracks. The extensive tapas menu features traditional Spanish fare, as well as bruschetta, antipasti, and a Greek mezza plate. For a main dish, I recommend the chicken Vesuvio, which is marinated first in a balsamic vinegar reduction and finished with a creamy herb sauce; or the arrollado siciliano, which is a thin filet of steak rolled around spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese and topped with a pomodoro sauce. The midsize wine list features very reasonably priced wines from Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Chile, Greece, and even Bulgaria.

Location:
Barrio California, 200m (2 blocks) north of Bagelman's, San Pedro/Los Yoses

Telephone:
+(506) 2281-0541

Hours:
Mon-Fri 11:30am-1am; Sat 4pm-midnight

La Luz

La Luz serves up some of the more adventurous food in Costa Rica, mixing fresh local ingredients with the best of a whole host of international ethnic cuisines. The fiery garlic prawns are sautéed in ancho-chile oil and sage and served over a roasted-garlic potato mash. Then the whole thing is served with a garnish of fried leeks and a tequila-lime butter and cilantro-oil sauce. I also enjoy the beef tenderloin in a strawberry-balsamic reduction, served over a champagne-infused risotto. On top of all this, there are nightly specials and a wide selection of inventive appetizers and desserts. The glass-walled dining room is one of the most elegant in town, with a view of the city lights. The waitstaff is attentive and knowledgeable. La Luz is also open for breakfast and lunch.

Location:
In the Alta Hotel, on the old road to Santa Ana, Escazú

Telephone:
+(506) 2282-4160

Hours:
Daily 6:30am-10pm

Tin Jo

San José has hundreds of Chinese restaurants, but most simply serve up tired takes on chop suey, chow mein, and fried rice. In contrast, Tin Jo has a wide and varied menu, with an assortment of Cantonese and Szechuan staples, as well as a range of Thai, Japanese, and Malaysian dishes, and even some Indian food. This is a true Pan-Asian restaurant. It's also a restaurant that pays attention to the details. Some of the dishes are served in edible rice-noodle bowls, and the pineapple shrimp in coconut-milk curry is served in the hollowed-out half of a fresh pineapple. Other dishes not to miss include the salt-and-pepper shrimp, beef teriyaki, and Thai curries. For dessert, try the sticky rice with mango, or banana tempura. The waiters here are some of the most attentive in Costa Rica. The decor features artwork and textiles from across Asia, and you'll have real tablecloths and cloth napkins. Tin Jo is also a great option for vegetarians, and even vegans.

Location:
Calle 11, between avs. 6 and 8

Telephone:
+(506) 2221-7605, 2257-3622

Hours:
Mon-Sat 11:30am-3pm and 5:30-10pm (Fri-Sat kitchen open till 11pm); Sun 11:30am-10pm